Oil and gas extracted from beneath the seabed, metals and minerals mined from it, electricity generated by offshore wind and other marine renewables, and the desalination of seawater all supply energy, minerals and fresh water from the ocean. This chapter examines offshore energy and marine non-living resources using the OECD’s estimates of ocean economic activity.
The Ocean Economy at a Glance
Abstract
Offshore energy and marine non-living resources grew slower than the ocean economy as a whole between 1995 and 2025 but was its largest area in 12 of those years. It generated USD 1.1 trillion of gross value added in real terms in 2025, up 73% from 1995, compared with 133% for the ocean economy.
Offshore oil and gas extraction generated the majority of its gross value added, which shifted from crude oil towards natural gas and, after 2019, offshore wind. Offshore oil and gas extraction produced 85.0% of the output of offshore energy and marine non-living resources in 2025, down from 92.6% in 1995. Crude oil’s share of that output fell from 66.1% to 44.6% while offshore wind’s rose from nothing to 7.5%.
Non-OECD Asia gained the largest share of offshore energy and marine non-living resources between 2008 and 2019 while the largest reduction in share was in OECD Europe. Non-OECD Asia’s share of world gross value added rose from 32.1% in 1995 to 45.5% in 2025, while OECD Europe’s fell from 30.8% to 19.9%.
Its real growth slowed sharply after 2008. It grew in 2009 and 2020, when the ocean economy contracted, but fell in seven years in which the ocean economy grew. Its growth slowed from 2.7% a year before 2008 to 1.0% a year between 2008 and 2019.
The global landscape shifted as new producers gained prominence. Its fastest growth came from economies that were small producers in 1995. Norway generated 12.5% of world gross value added in 2025 and the United Kingdom 5.4% (compared to 13.4% previously). The People’s Republic of China increased its share substantially, becoming the fourth-largest economy and growing by 13.5% a year.
Its employment grew by almost half while its labour productivity grew less than the overall economy’s. Full-time equivalents rose from 1.1 million to 1.7 million, most of the increase coming from offshore oil and gas extraction. Real gross value added per full-time equivalent job rose by 16%, compared with 58% in the overall economy.
Offshore energy and marine non-living resources generated gross value added (GVA) of USD 1.1 trillion in real terms in 2025 but it grew slower than the rest of the ocean economy between 1995 and 2025 (Figure 4.1). Its GVA reached 1.7 times its 1995 level, compared with 2.1 times for marine fishing, aquaculture and processing, 2.2 times for marine and coastal tourism, 2.5 times for ocean education, research and goods distribution and 3.4 times for maritime industries. Had energy and non-living resources grown at the ocean economy’s rate, its GVA would have reached USD 1.5 trillion in real terms in 2025 (36% more than it actually did). It grew fourth fastest of the five components in the 1995-2008 period, at 2.7% a year, and slowest in the 2008-2019 and 2019-2025 periods, at 1.0% and 1.4% a year. It grew more than marine fishing, aquaculture and processing for the last time in 2010. But it grew more than marine and coastal tourism in 2020 and 2021, when tourism contracted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its gap with the trajectory of the ocean economy therefore widened in each of the three periods.
Gross value added of offshore energy and marine non-living resources, USD billions in real terms, plus the gross value added of the five components of the ocean economy, real terms index 1995 = 100, 1995-2025
Note: Panel A shows the gross value added of offshore energy and marine non-living resources in real terms. The dotted and dashed lines give the levels it would have reached had it grown from its 1995 level at the real growth rates of the ocean economy and of the overall economy. Panel B shows the gross value added of each of the five components of the ocean economy in real terms as an index. Each area’s index is set to 100 in 1995. Gross value added is given at basic prices. Real terms are chain-linked volumes in previous years’ prices set to a 2022 reference year. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity
The real GVA of offshore energy and marine non-living resources grew during the only two years when the ocean economy as a whole contracted in 2009 and in 2020 (Figure 4.2). It fell in seven years in which the ocean economy grew. Its growth slowed from 2.7% per year between 1995 and 2008 to 1.0% per year between 2008 and 2019. In 2009 its GVA grew by 1.1% in real terms while the ocean economy’s fell by 2.5%. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it grew by 0.3% while the ocean economy’s fell by 11.4%. Between 2019 and 2025 it grew by 1.4% a year compared with 2.6% for the ocean economy, so it grew more slowly on average than the ocean economy in each of the three periods. Offshore energy and marine non-living resources therefore followed a different cycle to the ocean economy.
Annual real growth of gross value added of offshore energy and marine non-living resources and of the ocean economy, %, 1996-2025
Note: The horizontal segments mark the average annual real growth of offshore energy and marine non-living resources in each of the three periods. Gross value added is given at basic prices. Real terms are chain-linked volumes in previous years’ prices set to a 2022 reference year. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
Offshore wind and marine renewables grew fastest in real terms between 1995 and 2025, while offshore oil and gas extraction contributed most to its real growth in each of the three periods (Figure 4.3). Offshore wind and marine renewables’ real terms GVA grew by 16.9% a year, compared with 1.7% for offshore oil and gas extraction and 1.8% for offshore energy and marine non-living resources as a whole. Offshore oil and gas extraction contributed 2.7 p.p. a year to real growth in the 1995-2008 period, 0.7 p.p. in the 2008-2019 period and 1.2 p.p. in the 2019-2025 period. Natural gas contributed 1.5 p.p. a year to the real growth of offshore oil and gas extraction in the 2019-2025 period while crude oil subtracted 0.3 p.p. a year. Offshore wind and marine renewables was the second-largest contributor in that period, at 0.2 p.p. a year. Desalination grew by 3.6% a year and offshore mining support services by 2.9%, both faster than offshore oil and gas extraction. Offshore mining contracted by 0.1% a year. The growth of offshore energy and marine non-living resources therefore reduced as offshore oil and gas extraction, the largest activity by GVA, slowed down.
Average annual real terms gross value added growth, %, 1995-2025, plus average annual contributions to real growth of offshore energy and marine non-living resources, percentage points, 1995-2008/2008-2019/2019-2025
Note: Panel A shows the average annual real growth of gross value added between 1995 and 2025. Panel B shows the average over the years of each period of the contribution of each activity to the annual real growth of offshore energy and marine non-living resources, so that the columns add up to the average of its annual real growth rates in the period. Offshore crude oil, offshore natural gas and offshore condensates are shown together as offshore oil and gas extraction. Offshore metal ores and offshore other mining are shown together as offshore mining. Offshore wind and marine renewables are shown together. Gross value added is given at basic prices. Real terms are chain-linked volumes in previous years’ prices set to a 2022 reference year. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
Offshore oil and gas extraction generated over 90% of the GVA of offshore energy and marine non-living resources in every year between 1995 and 2025 (Figure 4.4). Its share increased to 95.0% in 2008 before decreasing by 2.2 p.p. between 2008 and 2019 and by a further 1.8 p.p. between 2019 and 2025. Offshore crude oil extraction’s contribution in isolation fell from 68.7% in 1995 to 47.9% in 2025 while offshore natural gas extraction’s rose from 24.0% to 39.2%. The largest part of both changes came in the 2019-2025 period, when crude oil lost 9.6 p.p. of the total and natural gas gained 8.6 p.p. of it. Offshore mining support services was the second-largest activity by GVA at 4.5% in 2025. Offshore wind and marine renewables’ share increased from nothing in 1995 to 3.0% of GVA in 2025, 2.2 p.p. of its increase occurring in the 2019-2025 period. It has produced more GVA than desalination in every year since 2022. Desalination’s share rose from 0.4% in 1995 to 0.8% in 2025.
Share of each activity in the gross value added of offshore energy and marine non-living resources, %, current prices, 1995 and 2025
Note: Panel A shows the share of each activity in the gross value added of offshore energy and marine non-living resources. Panel B shows the four activities other than offshore oil and gas extraction with the axis enlarged. Gross value added is given at basic prices in current prices. Shares are calculated of the sum of the nine activities’ gross value added in current prices. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: experimental international statistics on ocean economic activities.
Non-OECD Asia’s share of world GVA in offshore energy and marine non-living resources increased from 31.9% in 1995 to 44.8% in 2025 while OECD Europe’s fell from 30.9% to 20.2% (Figure 4.5). The largest part of both these changes came between 2008 and 2019. During the 2008-2019 period, non-OECD Asia gained 16.3 p.p. of the world total while OECD Europe lost 12.7 p.p. and the OECD Americas 7.2 p.p. Non-OECD Asia’s share peaked at 55.8% in 2016. The OECD area’s share was at its lowest in 2020 at 23.1%. Between 2019 and 2025 the shift partly reversed, with OECD Europe regaining 6.5 p.p. of the world total and non-OECD Asia losing 5.7 p.p. of it. Over the whole period the OECD area’s share of energy and non-living resources decreased from 48.2% to 34.0%, so that two-thirds of its world GVA is now produced outside the OECD area.
Share of each regional group in world gross value added, %, current prices, 1995-2025, plus the change in each regional group’s share in three periods, percentage points
Note: Regional groups are the UN M49 regions split by OECD membership. Panel A shows the shares of the four regional groups with the largest shares and of the OECD area. Panel B shows the change in each regional group’s share over each of the three periods and ordered by the change over the whole period. Gross value added is given at basic prices in current prices. Regional and world totals include economies that are not identified separately in the experimental ocean economy supply and use tables. The dotted line in panel A marks 2020, the year of the OECD area’s lowest share. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
Many of the economies that depended most on offshore energy and marine non-living resources in 1995 were less dependent on it by 2025 (Figure 4.6). Of the ten most dependent economies of 1995, only Norway and Myanmar were more dependent in 2025 with Norway’s share having risen by 8.0 p.p. to 20.7%. Angola remained the most dependent economy, although energy and non-living resources decreased from 37.8% of its GVA in 1995 to 28.3% in 2025. Viet Nam’s dependence fell from 12.2% to 0.4%. Norway and Saudi Arabia were the largest producers in 2025, with 12.7% and 11.4% of world GVA, after the United Kingdom, which produced 13.4% in 1995. Norway first produced more than the United Kingdom in 1997 and then Saudi Arabia in 2009. The United Kingdom’s share of world GVA fell to 5.5% by 2025, when it was fifth among economies. The People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”) rose from 21st in 1995 to sixth by 2025. The current largest producer of offshore energy and marine non-living resources is therefore also the economy whose dependence on it has grown the most.
Ten largest economies in gross value added of offshore energy and marine non-living resources, USD billions, current prices, 2025 and 1995, plus the share of offshore energy and marine non-living resources in national gross value added in the most dependent economies, %, current prices, 1995 and 2025
Note: Panel A ranks economies by their gross value added in offshore energy and marine non-living resources in 2025, with markers showing their 1995 gross value added and their 1995 rank among economies given in brackets. Panel B shows the share of offshore energy and marine non-living resources in each economy’s gross value added in 1995 marked by the unfilled circle and in 2025 marked by the filled circle. Only the economies that were among the ten most dependent in either year are shown and ordered by their 2025 share. Gross value added is given at basic prices in current prices. Economies that are not identified separately in the experimental ocean economy supply and use tables are not ranked. Dark bars and dark markers indicate OECD Members. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
Offshore energy and marine non-living resources employed 1.7 million full-time equivalents (FTEs) in 2025, 47% more than in 1995 (Figure 4.7). Offshore oil and gas extraction accounted for most of the increase. Ocean economy FTEs rose by a third over the same period. Energy and non-living resources employed only 1.6% of ocean economy FTEs in 2025 even though it generated 23.7% of ocean economy GVA. Offshore oil and gas extraction added 421 000 FTEs over the period. Desalination added 102 000 FTEs. In 2025 it employed 8.4% of the FTEs of energy and non-living resources while producing 0.8% of its GVA. Offshore wind and marine renewables added 129 000 FTEs, almost all of them after 2008, and employed 7.7% of the FTEs of energy and non-living resources in 2025 while producing 3.0% of its GVA. China employed 238 000 FTEs in 2025, 14.1% of the world total. Brazil rose from seventh in 1995 to second and Indonesia, the largest employer in 1995, was third in 2025. The United Kingdom fell from third to fifth. Only five of the ten largest employers are among the ten largest producers in GVA terms. The economies that employ the largest number of FTEs in energy and non-living resources are not necessarily those that produce the most GVA.
Change in full-time equivalents between 1995 and 2025, thousands, plus full-time equivalents of the ten largest employers, thousands, 2025 and 1995
Note: Panel A shows the change in full-time equivalents between 1995 and 2025. Panel B ranks economies by their full-time equivalents in 2025 (filled circles) and 1995 (unfilled circles). Their rank in 1995 is in brackets. Dark markers indicate OECD Members. Economies that are not identified separately in the experimental ocean economy supply and use tables are not ranked. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity
Labour productivity in offshore energy and marine non-living resources rose by 16% in real terms between 1995 and 2025, compared with 58% in the overall economy (Figure 4.8). It decreased 14% in the OECD area and increased 46% outside it. Labour productivity as measured by real terms GVA per FTE rose because GVA grew by 71% while FTEs rose by 47%. GVA per FTE in energy and non-living resources was USD 464 300 in current prices in 2025, 17.7 times the level in the overall economy, reflecting the capital intensity of offshore extraction and mining. In the OECD area it was USD 925 000 in 2025, 2.5 times the level outside it, and smaller than the 3.1 times gap in 1995. The gap was widest in 2001 at 4.8 times and narrowest in 2020 at 1.6 times. The typical country’s GVA per FTE was USD 168 400 in 2025, less than half the world level. The economies outside the OECD area, where each FTE produces less GVA, employ 83% of its FTEs.
Gross value added per full-time equivalent in offshore energy and marine non-living resources, index 1995 = 100 in real terms, OECD area, non-OECD economies and world, with the overall economy, plus the ratio of the OECD area’s level to the non-OECD level and of the typical country’s level to the world level, current prices, 1995-2025
Note: Panel A shows gross value added per full-time equivalent in offshore energy and marine non-living resources in real terms as an index with 1995 equal to 100, with the same index for the overall economy. Panel B shows the ratio of gross value added per full-time equivalent in the OECD area to that in non-OECD economies, and the ratio of the typical country’s level to the world level, both in current prices. World combines both OECD and non-OECD economies. Real terms are chain-linked volumes in previous years’ prices set to a 2022 reference year. The typical country is the median of the economies with offshore energy and marine non-living resources. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
Offshore oil and gas extraction produced 35.1% of the GVA of the overall oil and gas extraction industry in 2025, almost the same share as in 1995 (Figure 4.9). Desalination rose from 0.9% to 3.0% of water supply. Offshore wind and marine renewables rose from nothing to 1.2% of electricity supply. Within the oil and gas extraction industry, offshore crude oil’s share of GVA decreased from 26.1% to 18.5% while offshore natural gas’s increased from 9.1% to 15.1%. The offshore part of the industry therefore held its share while its composition shifted from crude oil to natural gas. The offshore part was largest as a share of the total in 2022 at 39.8%. Desalination’s share of water supply peaked at 4.2% in 2017. The offshore parts of mining stayed small, offshore mining support services at 14.4% of their industry in 2025 and offshore mining at 0.7%. The offshore and marine parts of these industries therefore grew most in the production of fresh water and generation of electricity from the ocean.
Share of each activity of offshore energy and marine non-living resources in the gross value added of its parent industry, %, current prices, 1995-2025
Note: Each panel shows the share of the gross value added of a parent industry produced by its offshore or marine part. Panel A shows offshore oil and gas extraction as a part of the extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas. Panel B shows offshore wind and marine renewables as a part of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply. Panel C shows desalination as a part of water collection, treatment and supply. Panel D shows offshore mining support services as a part of mining support service activities and offshore mining as a part of other mining and quarrying and the mining of metal ores together. Gross value added is given at basic prices in current prices. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity
Further reading
IEA (2026), Global Energy Review 2026, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-review-2026
Ocean Energy Systems (OES) (2026), IEA-OES Annual Report: An Overview of Ocean Energy Activities in 2025, Report by OES for the International Energy Agency (IEA), OES | Annual Report 2025.
OECD (2025), The Ocean Economy to 2050, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/a9096fb1-en