A new report by Allied Market Research, titled, “Global Fish Oil Market (Application, Species and Geography) – Country Analysis, Size, Share, Trends, Company Profiles, Demand, Growth, Opportunities, and Forecast, 2014 – 2020,” predicted the global fish oil market would reach $2.63 billion by 2020, registering a CAGR of 6.1% during 2015 – 2020. Presently, aquaculture holds the largest market share. However, the supplement and functional food segment is forecast to evolve as a promising area of growth, according to the report.  Additionally, Asia Pacific is expected to continue to be the major regional market for fish oil due to the high concentration of aquaculture industry in this area.
 
Fish oil is widely adopted in numerous human and animal nutrition applications as a food and feed supplement due to its high content of essential long chain omega-3 fatty acids. As a prime ingredient in aqua feed, the growth of the fish oil market is largely proportional to the growth of aquaculture industry, the report explained. Additionally, the popularity of omega-3 fish oil in various applications— including supplements, functional foods and pharmaceuticals— is also boosting the market. However, the report noted the global fish oil industry is largely affected by the demand-supply gap, caused by stringent fishing quotas and adverse climatic conditions.
 
More than 50% of the global fish oil is produced in Latin American countries, namely Peru and Chile; however, most of it is consumed in Asia Pacific and Europe. Expanding aquaculture production in Asian countries such as China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia, has led to increased usage of aquaculture grade fish oil in the region. North America and Europe has a larger consumption of pharmaceuticals, supplements and functional food fish oils, collectively accounting for about two-thirds of  the global revenues for these applications. In Japan, the consumption of nutritional and pharmaceutical grade fish oil has significantly increased due to rising health concerns among the country’s geriatric population.
 
Additional findings of the study include:  
·      The supplement and functional food segment fuels the lucrative fish oil category with high year over year revenue growth;
·      Presently, Asia Pacific holds the largest market share, followed by Europe in the overall fish oil market, in terms of consumption;
·      Among all fish species studied, the largest volume of oil is produced from anchovy;
·      China and Japan collectively accounts for about 39% of the market share of global fish oil market;
·      Denmark and Norway are major producers and consumers of fish oil in the Europe market.