Ornamental Fish Production and Management (1+1)

14.1.3 Demand situation

Total world imports of ornamental fish rose from US$216.327 million in 1991 to a peak of US$5337.625 million in 1994. Thereafter, imports declined gradually to US$244.097 million in 1999, raising slightly to US$246.161 million in 2000 and finishing off at US$244.618 million in 2001.

Fish keeping is a hobby, which is practiced mainly in the industrialized countries. Consequently, the main importers of ornamental fish are USA, Japan and countries in Western Europe. Total world imports of ornamental fish in 2001 were valued at US$244.62 million. The top importer was the USA with US$61.77 million worth of imports equivalent to 25.3% of total imports. This was followed by Japan with US$528.40 million or 11.6% of total imports. The other major importing countries were Germany (US$21.09 million; 8.6%), UK (US$21.09 million; 8.6%), France (US$20.56 million; 8.4%), Singapore (US$9.93 million; 4.1%), Belgium (US$9.45 million; 3.9%), Italy (US$9.07 million; 3.7%), the Netherlands (US$8.16 million; 3.3%), China/Hong Kong (3.1%) and Canada (2.7%). Both Singapore and Hong Kong, being important trading hubs, re-export a major portion of their imports.