Aquafeed Market Growth: Trends, Drivers, Opportunities, and Forecast to 2031

The global aquafeed market growth is accelerating as aquaculture expands to meet rising demand for nutritious seafood. Aquafeed provides essential nutrients required for the growth, health, immunity, and productivity of farmed fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and other aquatic species. Increasing seafood consumption, technological advancements in aquaculture, and growing adoption of specialized feed formulations are reshaping the global aquafeed industry.

According to MarketsandMarkets, the global aquafeed market is projected to grow from USD 67.71 billion in 2026 to USD 97.12 billion by 2031, registering a CAGR of 7.5% during 2026–2031. The market was valued at approximately USD 63.10 billion in 2025.

Aquafeed Market Overview

Aquafeed refers to formulated feed specifically developed to provide aquatic animals with balanced nutrition throughout different stages of their lifecycle. These feeds contain ingredients such as fishmeal, soybean, corn, fish oil, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, and other functional additives.

The increasing commercialization of aquaculture is creating strong demand for nutritionally optimized feeds. Producers are increasingly looking for feed solutions that can improve feed conversion efficiency, support immunity, enhance growth performance, and increase overall farm productivity.

The market is segmented based on ingredient, form, species, lifecycle, function, and region. Key ingredient categories include soybean, fishmeal, corn, fish oil, additives, and other ingredients. Product forms include dry, wet, and moist feeds, while major species categories include fish, crustaceans, and mollusks.

Aquafeed Market Size and Forecast

The aquafeed industry is expected to maintain strong momentum throughout the forecast period.

• Market Size Value in 2025: USD 63.10 Billion
• Market Size Value in 2026: USD 67.71 Billion
• Revenue Forecast in 2031: USD 97.12 Billion
• Growth Rate: CAGR of 7.5% from 2026 to 2031
• Data available from 2022 to 2031
• Base year: 2025
• Forecast period: 2026–2031
• The Asia Pacific region is estimated to account for 63.7% of the aquafeed market in 2026.
• The dry segment is projected to witness the highest CAGR of 7.8% from 2026 to 2031.

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Key Factors Driving Aquafeed Market Growth

Rising Global Demand for Seafood

Growing consumption of seafood is one of the major factors supporting aquafeed demand. As wild fisheries face resource and sustainability constraints, aquaculture is becoming increasingly important for meeting global seafood requirements.

The expansion of commercial aquaculture farms directly increases the need for reliable and nutritionally balanced feed. As producers seek higher yields and improved production efficiency, demand for formulated aquafeed is expected to increase.

Expansion of the Aquaculture Industry

The rapid development of aquaculture across emerging and established markets is a major contributor to market expansion. Increasing investments in fish and shrimp farming, improvements in farming technologies, and the professionalization of aquaculture operations are creating additional demand for specialized feed products.

Growing Adoption of Functional and Specialty Feeds

Aquafeed manufacturers are increasingly developing functional formulations designed to provide benefits beyond basic nutrition. Functional additives, probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals can support gut health, immunity, growth performance, and feed efficiency.

This shift toward value-added formulations is expected to create new opportunities for companies operating across the aquafeed value chain.

Advances in Feed Formulation Technologies

Innovation in feed formulation is another important contributor to aquafeed market growth. Manufacturers are focusing on improving nutrient utilization, palatability, digestibility, and feed conversion efficiency while developing formulations tailored to specific aquatic species and growth stages.

Precision feeding technologies and improved nutritional strategies are also helping producers optimize feed utilization and reduce operational inefficiencies.

Emerging Aquafeed Market Trends

Shift Toward Sustainable Feed Ingredients

Sustainability has become a central theme within the aquafeed industry. Manufacturers are exploring alternative protein sources and innovative ingredients to reduce dependence on conventional marine-derived resources.

Plant-based proteins, microbial ingredients, insect-based proteins, algae-derived ingredients, and other alternative sources are gaining attention as the industry seeks more sustainable feed formulations.

Increased Use of Functional Ingredients

Functional ingredients are becoming increasingly important in modern aquafeed formulations. Probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, and other additives can help support aquatic animal health and improve nutritional performance.

The growing focus on disease resistance and animal health is expected to encourage further development of functional aquafeed products.

Species-Specific Feed Formulations

Different aquatic species have distinct nutritional requirements. Consequently, manufacturers are developing specialized feeds for fish, shrimp, mollusks, and other species.

Species-specific formulations can help optimize growth, feed utilization, and overall production performance, making specialized aquafeed an increasingly important area of innovation.

Precision Feeding and Smart Aquaculture

The integration of digital technologies into aquaculture is creating opportunities for more precise feed management. Data-driven monitoring, automated feeding systems, and improved farm-management technologies can help producers optimize feeding schedules and reduce feed waste.

As aquaculture becomes more technologically advanced, the integration of feed products with precision farming systems could become an important source of competitive differentiation.

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Fishmeal Segment Continues to Play an Important Role

By ingredient, fishmeal is estimated to account for a 27.3% share of the aquafeed market in 2026, according to MarketsandMarkets. Fishmeal remains an important ingredient because of its nutritional characteristics, digestibility, palatability, and ability to support aquatic animal growth.

At the same time, sustainability concerns and raw-material availability are encouraging manufacturers to investigate alternative protein sources. This creates opportunities for companies developing cost-effective and nutritionally efficient substitutes for traditional marine ingredients.

Dry Aquafeed Segment Poised for Strong Growth

By form, the dry aquafeed segment is projected to register the highest CAGR of 7.8% between 2026 and 2031. Dry feeds are widely used because of their convenience, storage characteristics, handling advantages, and suitability for automated feeding systems.

The continued expansion of commercial aquaculture operations is expected to support demand for dry feed products, particularly as producers prioritize operational efficiency and consistent nutritional delivery.

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Asia Pacific Leads the Aquafeed Market

Asia Pacific is expected to remain the dominant regional market. The region is estimated to account for 63.7% of the global aquafeed market in 2026. China represents a particularly important market because of its significant aquaculture production and large-scale aquafeed industry.

Strong aquaculture activity across countries in Asia Pacific, combined with growing seafood consumption and investments in modern farming systems, is expected to sustain regional market growth.

Opportunities in the Aquafeed Market

The evolving aquaculture industry is creating several opportunities for aquafeed manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, and technology providers.

The development of alternative protein ingredients represents one of the most promising opportunities. As producers seek to improve sustainability and reduce dependence on traditional feed ingredients, innovative protein sources could gain greater adoption.

Government support for aquaculture development is another opportunity. Policies and investments designed to strengthen fisheries and aquaculture infrastructure can encourage production expansion and stimulate demand for commercial aquafeed.

There is also significant potential in functional feeds that combine nutritional benefits with health-supporting properties. Manufacturers capable of developing effective, sustainable, and species-specific formulations may gain competitive advantages in the evolving market.

Leading Aquafeed Companies:

The report profiles key players such as ADM (US), Cargill, Incorporated (US), dsm-firmenich (Switzerland), Nutreco (Netherlands), Alltech (US), Ridley Corporation Limited (Australia), Purina Animal Nutrition LLC (US), Adisseo (France), Aller Aqua Group (Denmark), Avanti Feeds Limited (India), The Waterbase Limited (India), JAPFA Ltd. (Singapore), Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (Thailand), BioMar Group (Denmark), Norel Animal Nutrition (Spain), and others.

Future Outlook for the Aquafeed Market

The future outlook for the global aquafeed industry remains positive. The combination of rising seafood consumption, expansion of aquaculture production, increasing demand for high-quality protein, and technological advances is expected to support continued market development.

The transition toward sustainable ingredients and functional nutrition is likely to remain a major industry theme. Meanwhile, innovations in precision feeding, alternative proteins, species-specific formulations, and health-focused feed additives could create new avenues for market expansion.

With the market projected to reach USD 97.12 billion by 2031 at a CAGR of 7.5%, aquafeed is positioned as a critical component of the expanding global aquaculture ecosystem.

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