The established Blue Economy sectors in Italy directly employ more than 553 thousand people and generate approx. €27.8 billion in GVA (2022). While representing a moderate share of the national economy, the Italian Blue Economy sectors contribute by approx. 1.6% to national GVA and 2.4% to national employment.
The relative size and share of the Blue Economy in Italy has been fluctuating since 2009 in terms of employment. Between 2009 and 2014, its workforce decreased from nearly 679 thousand jobs in 2009 (representing about 3% of national employment) to 465 thousand jobs in 2014 (2.1% of national employment), i.e. a 31% reduction mainly due to a strong contraction of Coastal tourism. Since then, it has steadily increased, despite a continued decrease of employment in the marine extractive industry (oil & gas subsector). The COVID-19 pandemic hit the country’s Blue Economy particularly hard, with a 27% contraction (nearly 160 thousand jobs) in its workforce between 2019 and 2020, 80% of which was regained by 2022.
In terms of GVA, Italy’s pre-pandemic Blue Economy fluctuated in nominal terms between €18.7 billion (the lowest level registered in 2013) and €26 billion, the peak reached in 2019 (representing 1.6% of the national GVA). The impact of the health crisis was amongst the largest in the EU, with a 42% contraction down to €15.1 billion in 2020. This loss was fully recovered in 2022 when the nominal Blue Economy GVA of the country reached its highest level on our records since 2009.
The largest Blue Economy sector in Italy is Coastal tourism, a sector that is particularly vulnerable to shocks such as those generated by COVID-19 as well as longer-term effects caused by climate change. The sector contributes to nearly 36% of the country’s Blue Economy GVA and nearly 45% of its workforce (248 thousand jobs). Next are the Living resources and Maritime transport sectors, each accounting for more than 19% of the total Blue Economy GVA. The fourth largest sector is Shipbuilding and repair, representing 14% of the national Blue Economy GVA.
In terms of employment, the Living Resources sector is the second-largest Blue Economy sector in Italy, after Coastal Tourism, accounting for nearly 28% of the national Blue Economy workforce (154,000 jobs). Maritime transport employs a further 12% of the country’s Blue Economy workforce. Shipbuilding and repair provide another 9% of Blue Economy jobs, followed by Port activities (6%).
In the EU, Italy’s Blue Economy ranks 4th in terms of contribution to both GVA and employment. It ranks 2nd in the EU for employment in Coastal tourism (after Spain), Maritime transport (after Germany), and Shipbuilding and repair (after France).
Italy's coastline spans 9 136 km, making up 8.75 % of the total EU coastline. Five Italian seaports feature in the top 30 ports in Europe in terms of gross weight of goods handled (2023 data): Genoa (11th in the EU, handling 53.2 million tonnes in 2023), Trieste (13th, with 51 million tonnes), Gioia Tauro (18th, 36.6 million tonnes), Livorno (21st, 35 million tonnes ), and Augusta (30th, 27.5 million tonnes). Other large container ports include those of Ravenna, Cagliari (also known as Sarroch - Porto Foxi), Venice, Taranto, Naples, and Savona. In total, Italian container ports handle more than 528 million tonnes of cargo per year. In terms of fisheries activity, the main ports are Mazara del Vallo, Trapani, Palermo, Chioggia, Ancona, Molfetta and Manfredonia.
In terms of passengers, Italy has the two largest ports in the EU (Messina and Reggio di Calabria), which serve as gateways between Sicily and continental Italy (serving more than 10 million passengers/year each). The port of Naples is the fourth largest in the EU, with 9.5 million passengers embarking and disembarking every year. Other major ports in Italy are the ports of Olbia (6.4 million passengers), Livorno (4.9 million passengers), Capri (4.8 million passengers), Civitavecchia (3.9 million passengers), Ischia (3.5 million passengers), and Piombino (3.3 million passengers).
Several organisations are monitoring the Italian Blue Economy at the national level, as illustrated below:
The Ministry for Civil Protection and Sea Policies is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the National Maritime Plan in consultation with the Interministerial Committee for Marine Policies (CIPOM). The plan provides strategic guidelines for the development of the national Blue Economy across all related supply chains.
Unioncamere - the Italian Union of Chambers of Commerce - OsserMare and Centro Studi Guglielmo Tagliacarne publish annual reports and studies on the Italian “economy of the sea”. These reports aim to analyse the potential of the Italian maritime economy and provide valuable information for policymakers, businesses, and researchers. The 2025 edition of the report (available in Italian only) can be found here.
SRM Research Center is an Italian research institute that focuses on maritime economics and the blue economy. It publishes reports, studies, and analyses on various aspects of the Italian economy of the sea, including maritime transport, port activities, coastal development, fisheries, aquaculture, and marine renewable energy.
The Blue Forum Italia Network promotes collaboration, knowledge sharing, policy coherence, conflict prevention and resolution and empowerment and contributes to promoting the use and sustainable management of the sea for the benefit of the various maritime stakeholders and coastal communities.
Alongside these institutions, a key role is played by national and regional clusters dedicated to the Blue Economy. In particular, the National Technology Cluster Blue Italian Growth (BIG) and the Federazione del Mare represent the main national platforms fostering innovation, technology transfer, and public–private cooperation. At territorial level, several regional clusters (e.g. in Liguria, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Sicily among the others) further strengthen the links between businesses, research centres, and local authorities, supporting smart specialisation strategies and the development of integrated maritime value chains.
Other national sources of information on the Italian Blue Economy are:
- Department for Sea Policies
- Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies.
- Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT)
- National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA).
- Unioncamere’s marine economy observatory.
- OsserMare Blue Forum Italian Network.
- Italian Institutes for Marine Research (CNR-ISMAR, CNR-IAC, CNR-IRBIM,National Research Council of Italy, National Institute of Oceanography and experimental Geophysics, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology).
- Institute of Marine Engineering (CNR-INM)
Beyond the national context, Italy also hosts initiatives of major European relevance. The Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR) coordinates the EU’s co-funded Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP) hosting the Secretariat. Furthermore, Italy leads the Mediterranean Lighthouse Coordination and Support Action of the Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters”, which promotes demonstrative actions and pilot projects to accelerate the ecological and digital transition in the Mediterranean basin.
Currently, there are numerous opportunities to acquire Blue Economy education and skills within the country, for example, through the Master in Blue Economy offered by the University of Naples Parthenope or the MSc and PhD programmes in Marine Sciences, Marine Biological Resources, Maritime and Port Economics and Management, or Sustainable Blue Growth offered by the Universities of Genoa, Trieste, Milan-Bicocca and the Polytechnic University of Marche.
Another flagship programme in this field is the international Master in Sustainable Blue Economy, jointly organised by the University of Trieste and the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), which provides interdisciplinary training on governance, economics, and marine sciences, and attracts students from across Europe and beyond.
This interactive dashboard presents the evolution of the blue economy for Italy. It is designed to provide insights into key economic indicators over time.
At the top of the dashboard, there is a drop-down menu that allows users to select one of the following data categories:
- Employment: Number of jobs and workforce trends in the blue economy sectors.
- Gross Value Added (GVA): The contribution of the blue economy to the national economy.
- Turnover and Gross Profit: Revenue and profitability metrics of blue economy industries.
- Investment: Capital investment levels in blue economy sectors.
Once a category is selected, the main panel updates to display relevant visualisations, such as line charts or bar graphs, showing trends over time. These visualisations are accompanied by labels, legends, and tooltips to ensure clarity and accessibility.
The dashboard is navigable via keyboard and compatible with screen readers. All interactive elements are clearly labeled, and data visualisations include alternative text descriptions summarising key insights.