Maritime ships carry goods and passengers across the sea, ports load and unload them, dredgers keep shipping channels open, and shipyards and their suppliers build, equip and repair the maritime fleet. This chapter examines maritime industries using the OECD’s estimates of ocean economic activity.
The Ocean Economy at a Glance
Abstract
Maritime industries grew faster than any other area of the ocean economy between 1995 and 2025 and was its largest area in the year 2020. Its gross value added reached USD 860 billion in real terms in 2025, 3.4 times its 1995 level compared with a change of 2.3 times in the ocean economy overall. It produced around a quarter of ocean economy gross value added in both the first and last year of the period.
Maritime transport, ports and dredging increased from 70% to 80% of its GVA, and maritime ports became its main employer. Sea and coastal transport increased from 31% to 41% of the total. Maritime ports’ share of its full-time equivalents almost doubled, from 22% to 43%.
The OECD area generated over half its GVA in 2025 but non-OECD Asia became the largest regional economy during the time period. Non-OECD Asia’s share of world gross value added increased from 14% to 37% while OECD Asia’s decreased from 34% to 11%.
Its real growth swung more widely than the ocean economy’s and sea and coastal transport and maritime ports grew fastest among its activities. It fell by 11% in 2009, more than four times the ocean economy’s fall, and grew by 18% in 2021. Sea and coastal transport grew by 4.8% a year over the period and maritime ports by 4.4%, compared with 2.9% for shipbuilding.
The People’s Republic of China became the largest generator of its gross value added in 2012. It produced 21% of world gross value added in 2025, up from 3% in 1995.
Its labour productivity more than doubled in real terms while the OECD area’s lead over other economies halved. Real gross value added per full-time equivalent job rose by 132%, compared with 58% in the overall economy. The OECD level was 6.5 times the non-OECD level in 1995 and 3.0 times in 2025.
Maritime industries generated gross value added (GVA) of USD 860 billion in real terms in 2025, 3.4 times its 1995 level (Figure 5.1). It grew by 5.5% a year between 1995 and 2008, 2.4% a year between 2008 and 2019 and 4.6% a year between 2019 and 2025, compared with 3.5%, 2.2% and 2.6% for the ocean economy. Had maritime industries grown at the ocean economy’s rate, its GVA would have only reached USD 584 billion in real terms in 2025. At the overall economy’s rate, it would not have risen above USD 566 billion. Its GVA was therefore 47% higher in 2025 than it would have been had it grown at the ocean economy’s rate. In current prices, its share of ocean economy GVA was 24.8% in 1995 and 25.6% in 2025. It fell to a low of 21.0% in 2012 and reached a high of 26.6% in 2021.
Gross value added of maritime industries, USD billions in real terms, plus its share of ocean economy gross value added, %, current prices, 1995-2025
Note: Panel A shows the gross value added of maritime industries 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 its share of ocean economy gross value added in current prices. Gross value added is given at basic prices. Real terms are chain-linked volumes in previous years’ prices set to a 2022 reference year. The dotted vertical lines in panel B mark 2012 and 2021, the years of the lowest and the highest share. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
Maritime industries grew fastest in real terms of the five components of the ocean economy between 1995 and 2025 (Figure 5.2). Its growth of 3.4 times its 1995 level compares with 2.5 times for ocean education, research and goods distribution, 2.2 times for marine and coastal tourism, 2.1 times for marine fishing, aquaculture and processing and 1.7 times for offshore energy and marine non-living resources. The ocean economy as a whole reached 2.3 times its 1995 level. Maritime industries grew fastest of the five components in the 1995-2008 and 2019-2025 periods, at 5.5% and 4.6% a year, but only fourth fastest in the 2008-2019 period, at 2.4%. Its growth since 1995 has exceeded every other component in every year from 2000. Its lead over the ocean economy widened in each of the three periods.
Gross value added, real terms index 1995 = 100, 1995-2025
Note: Each component’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. The dotted line is the ocean economy. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
Maritime industries’ real GVA contracted by more than four times the ocean economy’s fall of 2.5% in 2009, but by less than the ocean economy’s contraction during the COVID-19 pandemic (Figure 5.3). In 2020 its GVA fell by 6.9% in real terms while the ocean economy’s fell by 11.4%. It then grew by 17.5% and 13.4% in 2021 and 2022, its two largest annual increases over the period. Its growth slowed from 5.5% per year between 1995 and 2008 to 2.4% per year between 2008 and 2019 and then recovered to 4.6% per year between 2019 and 2025.
Annual real growth of gross value added of maritime industries and of the ocean economy, %, 1996-2025
Note: The horizontal segments mark the average annual real growth of maritime industries 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.
Sea and coastal transport and maritime ports grew fastest in real terms of the activities of maritime industries between 1995 and 2025 (Figure 5.4). In the 1995-2008 and 2019-2025 periods, sea and coastal transport contributed most to the real growth of maritime industries (2.2 p.p. and 2.8 p.p. per year). Maritime ports contributed most in the 2008-2019 period at 1.4 p.p. a year. Shipbuilding’s contribution fell from 0.9 p.p. a year in the 1995-2008 period to almost zero. Sea and coastal transport grew fastest of the maritime industries by 4.8% a year over the period. Maritime ports grew second fastest at 4.4%. Then shipbuilding at 2.9% per year. Maritime transport, ports and dredging as a whole grew by 4.5% a year compared with 3.0% for maritime shipbuilding and equipment manufacturing, so the growth of maritime industries as a whole was derived mainly from the growth of shipping and ports.
Average annual real growth of gross value added, %, 1995-2025, plus average annual contributions to the real growth of maritime industries, percentage points
Note: MSEM is maritime shipbuilding and equipment manufacturing. Panel A shows the average annual real growth of gross value added between 1995 and 2025 of the ten ocean economic activities with the largest gross value added in 2025. Panel B shows the period annual average contributions to the annual real growth of maritime industries. 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.
Maritime ports generated the largest share of maritime industries’ GVA in all years until 2003 and sea and coastal transport accounted for the largest share in every year since 2021 (Figure 5.5). Between 2004 and 2020 the two alternated in the lead, maritime ports holding it in ten of those 17 years. Maritime ports’ share of the GVA of maritime industries moved little, from 38.2% in 1995 to 37.7% in 2025. Sea and coastal transport’s increased from 31.0% to 41.4%, gaining 6.2 p.p. in the 1995-2008 period and 4.8 p.p. in the 2019-2025 period. Its share peaked at 45.7% in 2022. Shipbuilding’s share fell from 15.6% to 10.5% and maritime equipment manufacturing’s from 14.4% to 9.8%. Dredging’s stayed between 0.6% and 1.1%.
Shares in world gross value added of maritime industries, %, current prices, 1995-2025
Note: Gross value added is given at basic prices in current prices. Shares are calculated of the sum of the 23 activities’ gross value added in current prices. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
The OECD area’s share of world GVA in maritime industries fell from 78% in 1995 to 53% in 2025, with non-OECD Asia taking share mainly from OECD Asia (Figure 5.6). The shift was more pronounced in maritime transport, ports and dredging, in which non-OECD economies produced more than the OECD area in 2023 and 2024, than in maritime shipbuilding and equipment manufacturing. Non-OECD Asia’s share of world GVA in maritime industries increased from 13.5% to 37.1% in current prices, 14.2 percentage points (p.p.) of it between 2008 and 2019, while OECD Asia’s fell from 33.8% to 11.5% mainly before 2008. OECD Europe’s share decreased from 26.7% to 20.8% and OECD Americas’ increased from 15.4% to 18.5% over the period. In maritime transport, ports and dredging the OECD area’s share fell from 76.3% to 50.9%, reaching a low of 49.2% in 2024. In maritime shipbuilding and equipment manufacturing it fell from 81.5% to 59.0%. The regional shift in maritime industries was therefore a shift within Asia from its OECD Members to the rest of the region.
Share of each regional group in world gross value added, %, current prices, plus the OECD area’s share of world gross value added, %, current prices, 1995-2025
Note: MSEM is maritime shipbuilding and equipment manufacturing. Regional groups are the UN M49 regions split by OECD membership. Panel A stacks the regional groups’ shares of world gross value added of maritime industries at the first and last years of each period. Panel B shows the OECD area’s share of world gross value added of each activity group with the dotted line marking 50%. 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.
The People’s Republic of China (hereafter “China”) generated 21.5% of world GVA in maritime industries in 2025 (Figure 5.7). China was the seventh-largest producer in 1995, with 2.7% of world GVA, and has been the largest since 2012. The United States, the second-largest maritime industries economy in both 1995 and 2025, produced 15.8% of world GVA in maritime industries in 2025 in current prices. Singapore gained most share after China, rising from ninth to third place with 7.1% of world GVA in 2025. Seven of the ten largest producers of 2025 are OECD Members.
Share of each economy in world gross value added, %, current prices, plus the ten largest economies in 2025 rank by gross value added, 1995-2025
Note: Panel A ranks economies by their gross value added in maritime industries in 2025 by their share of the world total. Unfilled circles show their 1995 share and their 1995 rank is in brackets. Panel B shows the same ten economies’ rank in each year with the first ranked position at the top. 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.
Maritime industries employed 16.6 million full-time equivalents (FTEs) in 2025, 47% more than in 1995, and maritime ports accounted for 88% of the increase (Figure 5.8). Maritime ports’ FTEs increased from 2.5 million to 7.2 million. Sea and coastal transport employed 5.4 million FTEs in 2009 and 3.7 million in 2025. Shipbuilding employed 3.0 million FTEs in 2025 and maritime equipment manufacturing 2.3 million which is about as many as both did in 1995. China employed 3.6 million FTEs in 2025, 21.6% of the world total, and was the largest employer in both years. India rose from sixth to second place, Indonesia from eighth to fourth and the Philippines from 31st to ninth. The jobs that maritime industries added were therefore port jobs. Two of the ten largest employers, Japan and Korea, employed fewer FTEs in 2025 than they did in 1995.
Full-time equivalents in each component, thousands, 1995-2025, plus full-time equivalents of the ten largest employers in 1995 and 2025, thousands
Note: Panel A shows the full-time equivalents of each sub-activity. Panel B ranks economies by their full-time equivalents in maritime industries in 2025 given by the darker bar and their 1995 full-time equivalents given by the lighter bar. The brackets give their position in 1995. Dark blue bars 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 maritime industries increased by 132% in real terms between 1995 and 2025 and it rose faster outside the OECD area than within it (Figure 5.9). Labour productivity as measured by real terms GVA per FTE rose by 231% in non-OECD economies and by 127% in the OECD area, narrowing the OECD area’s lead from 6.5 times the non-OECD level in 1995 to 3.0 times in 2025. GVA per FTE in maritime industries was USD 51 100 in current prices in 2025, 1.9 times the level in the overall economy. In the OECD area it was USD 99 600, compared with USD 33 200 outside it, where 73% of its FTEs are employed. The gap between the two was widest in 2005 and narrowest in 2023. The typical country’s GVA per FTE was 27% below the world level in 1995 and 9% above it in 2025, so the typical country now generates more GVA per FTE than the world total.
Gross value added per full-time equivalent, real terms index 1995 = 100, plus ratios of the OECD area’s level to the non-OECD level and 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 maritime industries 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 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 maritime industries. Data for 2025 are a projection.
Source: OECD (2026), OCEANSTAT: OECD estimates of ocean economic activity.
Further reading
OECD (2026), “Why data matters for shipbuilding industrial policy”, OECD Policy Briefs, No. 51, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9ab37ecb-en
OECD (2026), Peer Review of the Japanese Shipbuilding Industry 2026, Reviews of Shipbuilding Economies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/717ba40f-en
OECD (2026), Peer Review of the Korean Shipbuilding Industry 2026, Reviews of Shipbuilding Economies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/c19e0105-en
OECD (2026), Peer Review of the United Kingdom Shipbuilding Industry, Reviews of Shipbuilding Economies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/c5f4407d-en
OECD (2025), The Ocean Economy to 2050, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/a9096fb1-en
OECD (2025), “Industrial policy for the future: Insights from the shipbuilding industry”, OECD Policy Briefs, No. 44, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/273954e9-en
OECD (2025), The Role of Shipbuilding in Maritime Decarbonisation: Impacts of Technology Developments and Policy Measures, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/0c8362c0-en