Key figures on food chain – EU’s fishing fleet

Key figures on the European food chain - 2025 edition, published in December, traces the journey of our food from farm and sea to fork. The publication covers the entire food chain, including production, processing, distribution, international trade, consumption and environmental concerns. Today, we focus on the EU’s fishing fleet.

In 2024, the EU’s fishing fleet counted 68,863 catching vessels, with a gross tonnage (a measure of fish-holding capacity) of 1.2 million tonnes and a total engine power (an indicator of the power available for fishing gear) of 5.0 million kilowatts. The vast majority of vessels within the EU’s fishing fleet were no more than 10 metres long. 

Over the past decade, the EU’s fishing fleet has declined steadily in terms of number, tonnage and engine power. Compared with 2014, the fleet had 10,850 fewer vessels in 2024, a decrease of 13.6%; its combined capacity was 14.9% smaller, while the total engine power was 12.3% lower.

Click to enlarge

Source dataset: fish_fleet_alt

The Key figures on the European food chain - 2025 edition offers essential data on the EU and allows you to compare developments across EU and EFTA countries. For a more detailed view of the EU’s performance in other fields, explore other key figures publications.

For more information

• Key figures on the European food chain – 2025 edition
• Thematic section on agriculture
• Database on agriculture
• Agriculture facts visualisation tool
• A look at European farms – agricultural census results
• Key figures publications
• Podcast episode on the 2020 agricultural census

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