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Data for 1981

Fisheries and Aquaculture Production, 1981

1981, as FAO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

This is how much fish, shellfish and other aquatic animals a country catches at sea and in rivers and lakes, or farms, in a year, in tonnes of live weight. It is FAO's global production record, kept for every country since 1950, with wild capture and aquaculture stored side by side.

Fisheries and Aquaculture Production, 1981 covers 190 countries on 4 measures. Japan is highest, at 10,759,143; 6 countries share the lowest reading, 0. The middle country reads 18,289. Against 1980, 171 values changed (110 up, 61 down), the same countries are covered.

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Fisheries and Aquaculture Production · Data for 1981

HighestJapan

10,759,143

Lowest6 countries share it

0

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the highest end.

01Values only

The table

Every country and every column of Fisheries and Aquaculture Production, 1981, as published. The file carries values only, so no position is shown. “=” marks a shared position.

Showing 25 of 190 countries · select a heading to sort

Fisheries and Aquaculture Production, 1981: every country, as published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
JapanJPNEastern Asia10,759,14310,188,669570,474648,210
ChinaCHNEastern Asia4,608,0453,135,4921,472,5531,565,962
United StatesUSANorthern America3,881,1823,651,071230,11148,703
ChileCHLSouth America3,393,4873,392,688799109,631
PeruPERSouth America2,718,3902,716,8601,53091
NorwayNORNorthern Europe2,551,9752,538,93313,042148,365
IndiaINDSouthern Asia2,448,3422,041,720406,622—
South KoreaKOREastern Asia2,366,0212,044,264321,757444,237
ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia1,990,0851,860,988129,097375
IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia1,891,9581,669,779222,17955,031
DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe1,859,4451,838,24321,202—
PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia1,685,3811,416,282269,09991,240
MexicoMEXCentral America1,610,8701,599,78111,08929,275
IcelandISLNorthern Europe1,441,8061,441,747598,100
CanadaCANNorthern America1,418,6551,414,5814,07429,746
SpainESPSouthern Europe1,391,6931,176,543215,1504,958
North KoreaPRKEastern Asia1,059,6051,046,00013,605390,749
TaiwanTWNEastern Asia1,021,029707,635313,39411,522
United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe871,547867,4984,0499,500
South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa863,509863,4981115,897
FranceFRAWestern Europe833,290633,040200,25039,432
BrazilBRASouth America811,565805,7715,794—
MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia800,154726,89273,262—
BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia651,256554,47696,780—
PolandPOLEastern Europe623,088608,89814,190—

02In 1981

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.

Highest

  1. Japan10,759,143
  2. China4,608,045
  3. United States3,881,182
  4. Chile3,393,487
  5. Peru2,718,390

Lowest

  1. Timor-Lesteshared0
  2. San Marinoshared0
  3. Palestineshared0
  4. Luxembourgshared0
  5. Liechtensteinshared0

Neither end is better. The values describe a shape, not a score. The middle country reads 18,289. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

Each measure’s ends

  • Capture fisheries (tonnes, live weight)

    HighestJapan10,188,669

    Lowest7 share it

    Middle country: 16,189

  • Aquaculture (tonnes, live weight)

    HighestChina1,472,553

    Lowest101 share it

    Middle country: 0

  • Algae, capture and farmed (tonnes, wet weight; not in the total)

    HighestChina1,565,962

    Lowest8 share it

    Middle country: 5,127

031980 → 1981

Since 1980

  • +0 / −0countries joined / left
  • 171values changed, of 190 in both
  • 110 · 61rose · fell
  • 19unchanged

Rose most

  • Chile2,816,798 → 3,393,487+576,689
  • Mexico1,250,399 → 1,610,870+360,471
  • Japan10,451,673 → 10,759,143+307,470
  • South Korea2,091,172 → 2,366,021+274,849
  • North Korea862,267 → 1,059,605+197,338

Fell most

04Caveats

Read before you use

How values are stored

  • One year of the 2026 release

    Every year in this series comes from FAO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 1981.

  • 185 distinct values among 190

    Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 6 countries share 0. Countries sharing a value share a position too.

  • 151 empty cells

    An empty cell means the publisher gave no figure. It is never a zero.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (1981). Fisheries and Aquaculture Production, 1981 [data set], describing 1981. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/fish-production/1981

0675 held

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