“This is a record that is only surpassed by the two exceptional years during the coronavirus pandemic,” explained Weigl. In the last pre-coronavirus year of 2019, German citizens bought almost 401,000 tons of fish and seafood and spent almost 4.1 billion euros on it. While the price per kilo was an average of 9.80 euros at the time, it reached 12.13 euros last year.
Last year, salmon replaced Alaska pollock as the Germans’ favorite fish. According to Weigl, this was followed by tuna, herring and shrimp, as in the previous year. Also as in the previous year, Germans preferred to eat fish from a can or frozen product. This was followed by crustaceans and mollusks, as well as fresh fish.
Most fish was traditionally eaten in the north of the country. Schleswig-Holsteiners, with a per capita consumption of 6.7 kilograms, replaced Bremen with a consumption of 6.4 kilograms. This was followed by Hamburg and Lower Saxony with 6.1 kilograms each. As in the previous year, Baden-Württemberg came in last with 4.7 kilograms of fish per capita.