China is currently the world’s largest octopus catcher, but until 2002, China only managed to catch less than 1,000 tons per year.
However, since China began actively engaging in deep-sea fishing in 2003, it has been catching over 100,000 tons annually, and as a result, the octopus fishery in Mauritania in particular has come to be completely dominated by China. However, not only are the abuses of labor persistent, but there are also suspicions that the amount China reports to the FAO has been understated.
Anyway, let’s look at the octopus catch statistics based on FAO data.
| ranking | Country name | ton |
| 1 | china | 106,297 |
| 2 | Morocco | 63,541 |
| 3 | Mexico | 37,386 |
| 4 | Mauritania | 27,277 |
| 5 | japan | 27,100 |
| 6 | Indonesia | 19,098 |
| 7 | korea | 19,049 |
| 8 | India | 12,743 |
| 9 | Senegal | 8,809 |
| 10 | thailand | 7,739 |
| 11 | Portugal | 6,803 |
| 12 | Spain | 6,304 |
| 13 | Italy | 5,754 |
| 14 | france | 5,117 |
| 15 | Tanzania | 3,172 |
| 16 | Philippines | 2,820 |
| 17 | Tunisia | 2,715 |
| 18 | Greece | 2,696 |
| 19 | Chile | 2,089 |
| 20 | brazil | 1,700 |
| 21 | Gambia | 1,618 |
| 22 | Peru | 1,151 |
| 23 | Kenya | 985 |
| 24 | Mauritius | 634 |
| 25 | Algeria | 499 |
| 26 | South Africa | 376 |
| 27 | Egypt | 345 |
| 28 | Croatia | 320 |
| 29 | uk | 311 |
| 30 | taiwan | 250 |
| 31 | Türkiye | 243 |
| 32 | Guinea | 170 |
| 33 | Albania | 141 |
| 34 | Venezuela | 134 |
| 35 | russia | 126 |
| 36 | Belgium | 125 |
| 37 | New Zealand | 115 |
| 38 | Angola | 100 |
| 39 | Fiji | 92 |
| 40 | Liberia | 69 |
| 41 | USA | 65 |
| 42 | Canada | 32 |
| 43 | Cook Islands | 30 |
| 43 | Sierra Leone | 30 |
| 45 | Malta | 24 |
| 46 | Gabon | 20 |
| 46 | Federated States of Micronesia | 20 |
| 48 | Dominican Republic | 18 |
| 49 | Yemen | 18 |
| 50 | Guinea-Bissau | 15 |
| 51 | Ghana | 14 |
| 52 | Montenegro | 11 |
| 53 | Republic of the Congo | 9 |
| 54 | Nicaragua | 9 |
| 55 | Cape Verde | 8 |
| 56 | Ecuador | 7 |
| 57 | Slovenian | 7 |
| 58 | Ireland | 5 |
| 59 | Cyprus | 5 |
| 60 | Equatorial Guinea | 5 |
| 60 | Iceland | 5 |
| 60 | Israel | 5 |
| 60 | Puerto Rico | 5 |
| 60 | St. Helena | 5 |
| 65 | Sweden | 5 |
| 66 | Falkland Islands | 2 |
| 66 | Wallis and Futuna Islands | 2 |
| 68 | Martinique | 2 |
| 69 | Guadeloupe | 1 |
| 70 | Costa Rica | 1 |
| 71 | Kiribati | 1 |