The “blue economy” is a vast component of the world’s economy, comprising production, consumption, and employment in every sector related to the sea, freshwater bodies, and coastlines. In addition to fisheries and aquaculture, it includes coastal tourism, shipping and other port activities, and marine renewable energy. The blue economy has gained attention in recent decades at the local level and at the United Nations, as part of the Green Economy and climate change issues. The European Commission (Eurostat) has published the latest annual report on the EU Blue Economy, with statistics and other information up to and including the most recent year with complete data, 2021. The report contained numerous metrics, including trends in output, employment, and other measures, as well as the potential economic costs of failure to meet environmental goals for sustainability and other components of a “bluer” economy.
The data for 2021 in the latest report suggest that the EU blue economy was in good shape: employment in that year totalled 3.6 million, an increase of 17% from the previous year; turnover reached nearly €624 billion, up by 21% over 2020; and Gross Value Added (GVA) of €171 billion was a third greater than a year earlier. Over time, the blue economy has largely recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic, the energy crisis, and disruptions from Russia’s war against Ukraine from 2014 to the present. Among major blue economy sectors, coastal tourism (the largest, with 28% of economy-wide GVA) was the only one that has yet to fully recover from the disruptions in recent years, especially in terms of employment. Other sectors, including offshore wind energy, shipbuilding/repair, maritime transport, and port activities all registered large gains in 2021.
The marine living resources sector (fisheries, aquaculture, processing and distribution of fish products) grew by a quarter, with gross profits valued at €9.7 billion in 2021. Parts of this sector continue to suffer from high fuel and energy prices in both fishing and fish farming. According to the report’s analysis, while fuel consumption and CO2 emissions fell during 2009-2021 rising fuel prices have worsened fuel efficiency in harvesting. This is unsustainable, the report says, and makes the sector vulnerable to energy price increases. To combat this problem, an EU initiative called the Energy Transition Partnership for EU Fisheries and Aquaculture supports the transition of the sector to cleaner energy sources, which will help reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
The Commission’s full report is available at EU Blue Economy report 2024.