The ocean economy supplies energy, food, transport, recreation and knowledge to societies across the world. This chapter uses the OECD’s estimates of ocean economic activity to give an overview of the ocean economy across five components: marine fishing, aquaculture and processing; offshore energy and marine non-living resources; maritime industries; marine and coastal tourism; and ocean education, research and goods distribution.
The Ocean Economy at a Glance
Abstract
The ocean economy produced around 3% to 4% of world gross value added since 1995 and outgrew the overall economy. It generated USD 3.5 trillion in real terms in 2025, up 132% from 1995 compared with 125% for the overall economy.
Ocean economic activity shifted from the OECD area towards non-OECD Asia, the largest regional ocean economy since 2010. The OECD area’s share of world ocean economy gross value added fell from 73% to about half, and in every area of the ocean economy, most in marine fishing, aquaculture and processing.
Marine and coastal tourism and offshore energy and marine non-living resources took turns as the largest component of the ocean economy and maritime industries grew fastest. Maritime industries grew by 4.2% a year in real terms and led growth in more years than any other, while tourism made 82% of the 11.3% fall during the pandemic.
Ocean economy employment grew more slowly than the overall economy’s while its productivity premium lies outside the OECD area. Full-time equivalents increased by 33% and real gross value added per full-time equivalent by 75%, compared with 42% and 58% in the overall economy. Its gross value added per full-time equivalent was below the overall economy’s in the OECD area and 1.65 times it outside.
Differences in the relative importance of the ocean economy across national economies narrowed. Overall, the ocean economy’s share of national gross value added declined in 44 of the 81 economies with the largest decreases generally occurring where initial dependence on the ocean economy was highest.
The OECD plans to develop future indicators that capture new dimensions of the ocean economy and its interdependencies with marine ecosystems. Working with key stakeholders, the expanded measurement agenda could cover public administration and defence activities, ocean innovation, marine ecosystem assets and services, and illegal activities at sea.
The ocean economy generated gross value added (GVA) of USD 3.5 trillion in real terms in 2025, around 3.0% of world GVA in current prices, and its share of GVA was higher outside the OECD area than within it in every year between 1995 and 2025 (Figure 1.1). The ocean economy’s share of world GVA increased from 2.9% in 1995 to a peak of 3.7% in 2012. It dropped to 2.7% during the pandemic in 2020 before recovering to 3.0% in 2025. In 2025, the ocean economy accounted for 4.0% of the GVA of non-OECD economies, compared with 2.5% in the OECD area. In the typical country its share was 3.2%, which is close to the world share.
Ocean economy gross value added, USD billions in real terms, plus the ocean economy’s share of gross value added, %, current prices, 1995-2025
Note: Panel A shows ocean economy gross value added in real terms. Panel B shows the ocean economy’s share of the gross value added of the world, the OECD area and the non-OECD economies, plus its share in the typical country, all in current prices. The dotted lines in panel B mark 2012 and 2020 when the world share was highest and lowest. World combines both OECD and non-OECD economies. Gross value added is given at basic prices in current prices. Real terms are chain-linked volumes in previous years’ prices set to a 2022 reference year. The typical country is the median economy. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
Ocean economy GVA grew by 132% in real terms between 1995 and 2025, faster than the overall economy’s 125% (Figure 1.2). The ocean economy outgrew the overall economy in the 1995-2008 period (3.5% a year compared with 2.9%), grew more slowly in the 2008-2019 period (2.2% compared with 2.6%) and at the same pace in the 2019-2025 period. Its lead over the overall economy peaked at 12 index points in 2015, was lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, and then stood at 7 points in 2025. Its annual growth fluctuated about twice as widely as the overall economy’s, falling by 2.5% in 2009 after the global financial crisis and by 11.4% in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It then rose by 9.0% and 8.9% in 2021 and 2022 during the recovery. The lead over the overall economy came mainly from the strong growth of the largest non-OECD economies, which accounted for 86% of the gains relative to the world trend (above all the People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”), Indonesia and Singapore). Maritime industries and ocean education, research and goods distribution were the fastest growing components, growing by 4.2% and 3.1% a year against 2.7% for the overall economy. Outside the OECD area, ocean economy GVA grew by 255% in real terms, compared with 68% within it. The ocean economy’s advantage over the overall economy was therefore built mainly before 2008 and rests on its largest non-OECD producers.
Gross value added, real terms index 1995 = 100, 1995-2025, plus annual real growth, %, 1996-2025
Note: Panel A shows the real gross value added of the world ocean economy and of the world overall economy as indices with 1995 equal to 100. Panel B shows their annual real growth, with the horizontal segments marking the average annual real growth of each 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.
Non-OECD Asia became the largest regional producer of ocean economy GVA in 2010, having passed OECD Asia in 2002 and OECD Europe in 2010, and the OECD area’s share of world ocean economy GVA decreased from 73.2% in 1995 to less than half between 2019 and 2024 (Figure 1.3). Non-OECD Asia’s share of world ocean economy GVA in current prices rose from 16.0% in 1995 to a peak of 39.0% in 2020 and was 36.0% in 2025. OECD Asia’s share fell the most of the nine regional groups, from 27.3% to 8.6%. OECD Europe’s decreased from 27.4% to 21.4%. The OECD area’s share reached a low of 46.6% during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 but had returned to 50.5% by 2025. The shift away from the OECD area took place in every component of the ocean economy, but by 2025 the OECD area still produced more than half of world GVA in maritime industries, marine and coastal tourism and ocean education, research and goods distribution. This compares with 34.0% in offshore energy and marine non-living resources and 25.3% in marine fishing, aquaculture and processing.
Shares of world ocean economy gross value added, %, current prices, 1995-2025, plus the OECD area’s share of world gross value added, %, current prices, 1995 and 2025
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, with the dotted lines marking 2002 when non-OECD Asia passed OECD Asia and 2010 when non-OECD Asia passed OECD Europe. Panel B shows the OECD area’s share of world gross value added in the ocean economy and in each component. The unfilled circle marks 1995 and the filled circle marks 2025. 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.
Marine and coastal tourism was the largest area of the ocean economy by GVA in 19 of the 31 years between 1995 and 2025, offshore energy and marine non-living resources was the largest in 11, and maritime industries was the largest in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic (Figure 1.4). Offshore energy and marine non-living resources’ share of ocean economy GVA in current prices increased from 17.4% in 1995 to a peak of 34.6% in 2012 and fell back to 23.7% in 2025. Marine and coastal tourism’s share decreased from 33.5% to 28.6%, the largest fall of the five components, with a low of 22.3% in 2021. It regained the lead in 2015 and again in 2023. Maritime industries held around a quarter of ocean economy GVA throughout (24.8% in 1995 and 25.6% in 2025). And ocean education, research and goods distribution held around an eighth (12.6% and 13.0%). Marine fishing, aquaculture and processing’s share decreased from 11.7% to 9.0%. The composition of the ocean economy therefore moved back and forth between its two largest components, while the shares of the other three areas changed by less than 3 p.p. over the period.
Shares of ocean economy gross value added, %, current prices, 1995-2025
Note: The five components add up to the total ocean economy. The strip above the columns is coloured by the area that was the largest in each year. 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. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
Maritime industries grew fastest, by 4.2% a year in real terms between 1995 and 2025 and contributed most to the ocean economy’s real growth over the period (Figure 1.5). Marine and coastal tourism topped growth in 11 years and accounted for 81% of the ocean economy’s 11.4% fall during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ocean education, research and goods distribution grew second fastest, by 3.1% a year, faster than the ocean economy’s 2.8% and the overall economy’s 2.7%. Marine and coastal tourism grew by 2.6% a year, marine fishing, aquaculture and processing by 2.6% and offshore energy and marine non-living resources the slowest at 1.8%. In 2020, tourism alone removed 9.3 p.p. from the ocean economy’s growth while offshore energy and marine non-living resources actually grew during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2009, the only other year beyond 2020 in which the ocean economy contracted, maritime industries contributed most of the 2.5% decrease. Maritime industries and tourism together made up 90% of the rebound in 2021 and 2022. The ocean economy’s swings therefore come from maritime industries and tourism, the two components whose contributions fluctuated most, while offshore energy and marine non-living resources grew slowly and helped counterbalance them.
Average annual real growth of gross value added, %, 1995-2025, plus the contribution of each area to the annual real growth of ocean economy gross value added, percentage points, 1996-2025
Note: Panel A shows the average annual real growth of gross value added between 1995 and 2025. Panel B shows each area’s contribution to the ocean economy’s annual real growth. 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.
A broader range of economies contributed significantly to global ocean economy GVA in 2025 than in 1995 (Figure 1.6). In current prices, China and the United States generated USD 500 billion and USD 443 billion respectively in 2025 together representing 28.4% of the world total. Over the same period, the composition of the ten largest ocean economies evolved, with Norway, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Australia and Brazil increasing their relative contribution. Six of the ten largest ocean economies are OECD Members. Overall, the results point to a broader geographical range in the top ten ocean economies of 2025 than at the beginning of the period when the OECD area dominated.
Ocean economy gross value added in the ten largest ocean economies in 2025, USD billions, current prices, plus the ocean economy gross value added of three large ocean economies, USD billions, current prices, 1995-2025
Note: Panel A ranks economies by their ocean economy gross value added in 2025 with their 1995 rank shown beside each bar. Panel B shows the ocean economy gross value added of the three economies that have been the largest ocean economies, with the dotted lines marking the years in which they passed each other. 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 indicate OECD Members. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
Ocean economy employment increased by 33% between 1995 and 2025 to 103 million full-time equivalents (FTEs), more slowly than the overall economy’s 42%, and marine and coastal tourism replaced marine fishing, aquaculture and processing as the largest employer in 2005 (Figure 1.7). Marine fishing, aquaculture and processing’s FTEs fell from 31.5 million to 20.5 million (from 40% to 20% of ocean economy FTEs) while marine and coastal tourism’s increased from 22.8 million to 43.4 million (from 29% to 42%). Ocean education, research and goods distribution’s FTEs rose from 11.1 million to 21.3 million and passed those of marine fishing, aquaculture and processing in 2023. Maritime industries’ rose from 11.3 million to 16.6 million and offshore energy and marine non-living resources’ from 1.1 million to 1.7 million. Ocean economy FTEs fell by 14% during the pandemic in 2020. China remained the largest employer with 21.5 million FTEs in 2025, slightly fewer than its 22.4 million in 1995. India’s FTEs doubled from 5.4 million to 11.0 million. Nigeria rose from the ninth placed employer to the fourth. Bangladesh from 14th to eighth. Japan, like China, employed fewer FTEs at the end of the period than in 1995. Of the ten largest employers, eight are non-OECD economies. Ocean economy jobs are therefore concentrated outside the OECD area.
Full-time equivalents, millions, 1995-2025, plus full-time equivalents of the ten largest employers in 2025, millions
Note: Panel A shows the full-time equivalents of each component of the ocean economy. Panel B ranks economies by their ocean economy full-time equivalents in 2025 with each arrow running from 1995 values to 2025 values. Each economy’s 1995 rank is given beside it. Dark arrows 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.
Ocean economy labour productivity rose by 75% in real terms between 1995 and 2025, faster than the overall economy’s 58%, with a rise of 153% outside the OECD area and 54% within it (Figure 1.8). Labour productivity as measured by real terms GVA per FTE rose faster in the ocean economy than in the overall economy because ocean economy FTEs grew more slowly than in the overall economy. In current prices, ocean economy GVA per FTE was 1.22 times the overall economy’s globally in 2025. This compares with 1.10 times in 1995 and a peak of 1.51 times in 2012. Within the OECD area it was 0.84 times the overall economy’s level in 2025 and never more than 1.01 times throughout the period. Outside the OECD area it was 1.65 times the overall economy’s level in 2025 and never less than 1.61 times throughout the period. Relative to the overall economies in which they operate, ocean economic activities are therefore high GVA activities in non-OECD economies and roughly average ones in OECD economies. The world labour productivity premium therefore reflects the weight of non-OECD economies in ocean economy employment.
Gross value added per full-time equivalent, real terms index 1995 = 100, plus ratios of ocean economy gross value added per full-time equivalent to the overall economy’s, current prices, 1995-2025
Note: Panel A shows gross value added per full-time equivalent in the ocean economy in real terms as an index with 1995 equal to 100 and the same index for the overall economy. Panel B shows the ratio of the ocean economy’s gross value added per full-time equivalent to the overall economy’s in the same aggregate, 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. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
Dependence on the ocean economy in terms of its contribution to national GVA converged across economies between 1995 and 2025 (Figure 1.9). The two largest increases in dependence occurred in Norway where the ocean economy’s share increased from 21.0% to 27.8% and Greece where its share increased from 6.2% to 11.7%. The largest decreased in dependence was in Viet Nam’s where the ocean economy’s share of national GVA decreased from 18.0% to 4.6%. Angola’s also fell from a high of 41.8% but only to 31.6%, ensuring it remained the most dependent on the ocean economy in both 1995 and 2025. Overall, an economy in which the ocean economy’s share was 10 p.p. higher in 1995 saw, on average, a fall 2.1 p.p. larger by 2025. The ninetieth percentile of the share across economies fell from 12.1% to 9.6% while the median moved from 3.3% to 3.2%. On average, the most dependent economies therefore reduced their dependency on the ocean economy as its share of national GVA drew closer to that in the typical country.
Ocean economy share of national gross value added, %, current prices, 1995 and 2025, plus shares across the distribution, %, current prices, 1995-2025
Note: Panel A plots ocean economy shares of national gross value added in 2025 against its shares in 1995. The dashed line marks no change. Points below the dashed line therefore had a lower share in 2025 than in 1995. Panel B shows the tenth percentile, the median and the ninetieth percentile of the share across economies. World combines both OECD and non-OECD economies. 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. A least-squares regression of the change in the share on its 1995 level has a slope of -0.21 and an R-squared of 0.26. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
How could the OECD expand its ocean economy measurement agenda?
The indicators of ocean economic performance outlined above provide a comprehensive and internationally comparable evidence base for national and international policy processes based on economic statistics. However, the OECD aims to expand its ocean economy measurement agenda to include other equally important dimensions of the ocean economy with new indicators to be included in future reports. Particular attention to measuring the two-way interdependencies between ocean economic activities and the marine ecosystem assets and services on which they depend is needed for good ocean stewardship as recommended in the OECD publication The Ocean Economy to 2050 (OECD, 2025). An expanded measurement agenda could cover five important items in close coordination with ocean stakeholders: marine ecosystem assets and services, public administration and defence activities; ocean innovation; monitoring ocean infrastructure; and illegal activities at sea.
Marine ecosystem assets and services: Marine ecosystems provide essential services to society including coastal protection, carbon sequestration and storage, fish nursery and habitat provision, water purification, nutrient regulation, and cultural and amenity services. Although the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting – Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) has led to improved measurement of some of these services in certain parts of some countries, estimates are not yet available on a consistent and internationally comparable basis at the global level. The OECD could lend support to national and international efforts to advance the measurement of environmental-economic linkages by developing indicators that combine economic statistics with environmental information and using economic modelling to understand the long-term effects of marine management measures such as marine spatial plans and protected areas on both ocean economic activities and the ecosystems upon which they rely.
Relevant marine ecosystems include mangroves, salt marshes, seagrass meadows, coral and oyster reefs, kelp forests, estuaries, tidal flats and coastal wetlands, while related species and population groups include commercial fish, sharks and rays, marine mammals, seabirds, turtles, reef-building species and habitat-forming vegetation. As an illustration, the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) currently documents approximately 250 000 accepted marine species, with potentially up to 2 million more to describe and/or still to discover (WoRMS, 2026). More than 2 500 formally described species are added to the database each year, while research vessels from national fleets, commercial surveyors or philanthropic organisations discover around 2 000 additional species annually that await formal description. At depths greater than 500 metres, the World Register of Deep-Sea Species lists for now more than 30 800 described species. However, these important registers primarily document the identification and classification of marine species and do not provide information on species abundance or allow survey effort to be compared across countries. Further scientific research, surveys and sustained ocean observation will therefore be needed to develop internationally comparable indicators of ecological representativeness, connectivity, management effectiveness and observed biodiversity outcomes, as called for under the Global Biodiversity Framework. Working with relevant scientific and international organisations, the OECD could help identify biodiversity and ecosystem-condition indicators suitable for international comparison and link them with original data on economic activities, pressures, and policy responses.
Public administration and defence: Public administration and defence provide many of the legal, regulatory, and operational safety foundations of the ocean economy, yet they remain only partially captured in current international estimates. Relevant activities include maritime policy and regulation, safety and security, hydrographic and navigation services, coastguard operations, customs and border control, marine environmental monitoring and enforcement, and ocean-related defence activities. Measuring the goods and services these activities provide is challenging because they’re typically accounted for within broader government institutions, expenditure programmes and employment categories. Several countries already include parts of public administration and defence in their ocean economy thematic accounts. However, differences in definitions and institutional arrangements limit international comparability. The OECD is working to address these gaps by clarifying the types of goods and services that should fall within the measurement boundary and exploring methods for allocating government expenditure and employment to their ocean-related components. It organised a technical workshop with practitioners in 2026 as an initial step towards developing common approaches and improving the consistency of cross-country estimates.
Ocean innovation: The new indicators of trends in scientific publications and science, technology and innovation policies presented in this report focus primarily on basic research and related policies. However, basic research represents one stage of a broader ocean innovation process through which knowledge is translated into new technologies, products, services and business models. Building on unique datasets, the next stage of OECD work could develop internationally comparable indicators covering ocean-related patenting, commercialisation, investment and the scaling of innovative firms. Building on its initial analysis of marine innovation networks, the uses of public marine data in ocean economic activity, and its expertise in patent and firm-level data, the OECD could also examine the ecosystems, skills, financing and policy conditions that enable ocean innovation to support ocean economy transitions.
Monitoring ocean infrastructure. Growth in ocean infrastructure, particularly on the seabed, calls for better measurement. The OECD could support the development of comparable measures of uses, capacity development, and economic resilience across key ocean-related infrastructure. For example, nearly 1.6 million kilometres of deep-sea fibre-optic telecommunications cables have been added since 1995, alongside substantial developments in offshore energy infrastructure, particularly wind turbines, and offshore oil and gas platforms. Sustained ocean observing systems are as well becoming key infrastructure supporting public and private objectives. New comparable OECD indicators, developed with key stakeholders, could help economies monitor capacity and coverage, and identify strategic dependencies for a number of key ocean infrastructures.
Illegal activities at sea: A final measurement challenge concerns the “dark ocean economy”. Illegal activities have long occurred at sea, but their scale, complexity and economic implications may be increasing as the ocean economy expands and maritime activities become more interconnected (e.g. illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; piracy and armed robbery at sea; drug, weapons and fuel smuggling). A range of international organisations, national authorities and specialised initiatives already collect information on particular illegal activities at sea for operational, regulatory, monitoring or enforcement purposes. However, these data are not intended to provide an integrated or internationally comparable measure of the economic scale and consequences of the dark ocean economy. The OECD could complement existing initiatives by analysing the economic and policy dimensions of illegal activities at sea and explore methods for assessing their direct economic value as well as their wider impacts on legitimate businesses, public revenues, labour conditions, and marine ecosystems.
Further reading
OECD (2025), The Ocean Economy to 2050, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/a9096fb1-en
OECD (2025), Environmental Outlook on the Triple Planetary Crisis: Stakes, Evolution and Policy Linkages, OECD Environmental Outlook, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/257ffbb6-en
OECD (2025), Promoting Sustainable Ocean Economies: Guidance for Development Co-operation, Best Practices in Development Co-operation, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/72055d7f-en
OECD (2025), “The ocean economy and climate change nexus: The case of Portugal”, OECD Net Zero+ Policy Papers, No. 16, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/3d4949c2-en
Jolliffe, J., C. Jolly and B. Stevens (2021), “Blueprint for improved measurement of the international ocean economy: An exploration of satellite accounting for ocean economic activity”, OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers, No. 2021/04, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/aff5375b-en.
OECD (2019), Rethinking Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264311053-en.
WoRMS (2026), World Register of Marine Species, Website: https://www.marinespecies.org/.