Is salmon or tuna higher in vitamin D?

Salmon, Atlantic, farmed, cooked has 7.7× more vitamin D per 100 g, 13.1 µg against 1.7 µg in Tuna, fresh, yellowfin, raw. That is 66% of the Daily Value against 8%.

What this means for you

Salmon, by a wide margin. A 3 oz portion of cooked farmed Atlantic salmon carries about 11 micrograms of vitamin D, which is more than half the daily reference of 20. Fresh yellowfin tuna is in a different league entirely.

This is not a knock on tuna, which is a good source of protein and other nutrients. It is a reminder that "oily fish" is doing the work in the vitamin D advice, and that fresh tuna sits at the lean end of that description.

Few foods contain vitamin D naturally, so the fish that do are worth knowing by name. Trout, salmon, mackerel and fish liver oils are the reliable ones. Tinned versions count and cost less, which matters more than the small differences between species.

Worth saying plainly, because the fish is often sold on this promise: topping up vitamin D does not reduce fractures in people who already have enough of it. Pooled across 81 trials the effect on fractures is a relative risk of 1.00. We set out the whole picture, including the group where supplements do work, in a separate review.

Written from the evidence cards and the data on this page, then checked back against the sources. Bioma Learn has no human medical reviewer at this time and we say so rather than invent one. Information, not medical advice. How we verify.

The comparison is per 100 g of edible portion, so the two foods sit on the same footing. Real portions differ, and so does how much of the nutrient your body actually absorbs from each food. The guide below has the absorption details.

Salmon, Atlantic, farmed, cooked → · Tuna, fresh, yellowfin, raw →

Full guide: Vitamin D: what supplements do for bones, and what large trials found they do not do

Data: USDA FoodData Central, FDC IDs 175168 and 175159. Checked 2026-09-15.