Seaweed is already
a $16.7 billion global industry.
And it's growing fast.
We travelled to the world's
biggest farming regions
to learn what's really
happening in the water.
Five species.
Millions of livelihoods.
One rapidly changing sector.
Innovation is booming.
But the future of seaweed
starts with understanding
the industry that already exists.
How to use this platform
Regional Production
These pages provide an overview of seaweed production worldwide and introduce the major commercial species, their utilisation and their unique supply chain setup.
Interactive graphs on our regional production pages showcase the leading seaweed-producing countries and the primary commercial species they farm.
At least 98% of global seaweed production comes from Asia, where China, Indonesia, the Philippines, North and South Korea, Japan and Malaysia have the longest tradition in seaweed farming.
Species Production
Our species insights pages contain the in-field data that we collected from more than 200 farm visits across the largest seaweed production hotspots globally. This offers practical insights on the reality of the seaweed cultivation industry today.
Besides farms, we also visited input suppliers, local collectors and traders, processors and exporters, alongside research institutes, industry associations and government agencies to get the bigger picture of the supply chain.
Although more than 12,000 species of seaweed have been described to date, five species varieties make up 95% of global seaweed production both by volume and value.
