Statistics Explained

Archive:Maritime economy statistics - coastal regions and sectoral perspective

This Statistics Explained article is outdated and has been archived - for recent articles on maritime statistics see here.

Data extracted in July 2015. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database. Planned update: December 2017.

This article presents recent data on both the geographical and sectoral aspects of the maritime economy of the European Union (EU). The maritime economy is now often referred to as the ‘blue economy’. It covers all marketable activities linked to the sea. The link between activities and the sea may be explained by the use of marine resources, maritime areas or regions or by the vicinity of these spatial units. The relationship between the activities and the sea can be more or less direct and maritime sectors cannot be seen as a single sector activity within the NACE classification but rather as a set of activities.

Figure 1: Size of coastal regions, by country, 2012 (1)
(km2)
Source: Eurostat (mare_d3area)
Figure 2: Share of coastal and non-coastal regions in relation to total area, by country, 2012 (1)(2)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (mare_d3area)
Figure 3: Shares of the population living in coastal regions, by country, 2014 (1)(2)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (mare_gind3) and (demo_gind)
Table 1: Population living in coastal regions, by country, 2014 (1)
(2005 = 100)
Source: Eurostat (mare_gind3) and (demo_gind)
Table 2: GDP per inhabitant, by country, 2000, 2005, 2010–11 (1)
(EUR/inhabitant)
Source: Eurostat (mare_e3gdp)
Map 1: Gross domestic product per inhabitant at current market prices by NUTS 3 regions, 2012
Source: Eurostat (bd_hgnace2_r3)
Figure 4: Variation in the number of high-growth enterprises (10 % employment growth or more) at NUTS level 3, by country, 2008–10 (1)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (bd_hgnace2_r3)
Table 3: Employment rates of the population (aged 15 to 64), by country, 2005, 2010 and 2014 (1)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (mare_lfe3emprt) and (lfsi_emp_a)
Map 2: People employed in enterprises born in 2008 having survived to 2010, all activities (NACE Rev. 2), 2010
(2008 = 100)
Source: Eurostat (bd_hgnace2_r3)
Map 3: Relative share of people employed by newly born enterprises in the accommodation and food services sector (NACE Rev. 2 ), 2010
(%)
Source: Eurostat (bd_hgnace2_r3)
Map 4: People employed in enterprises born in 2008 having survived to 2010 in the accommodation and food services sector (NACE Rev. 2 ), 2008–10
(2008 = 100)
Source: Eurostat (bd_hgnace2_r3)
Figure 5: Gross value added at basic prices in the coastal regions, by country, 2011 (1)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (mare_e3vab95r2)
Table 4: Number of bed-places in coastal areas, by country, 2012–14 (1)
Source: Eurostat (tour_cap_natc)
Figure 6: Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments in coastal areas, by country, 2013 (1)
(thousands)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninatc)
Figure 7: Share of nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments in coastal areas, by country, 2013 (1)
(%)
Source: Eurostat (tour_occ_ninatc)
Figure 8: Number of employed persons in the accommodation and food services sectors (NACE Rev. 2), by coastal and landlocked countries, 2008–14
(thousands)
Source: Eurostat (tour_lfs1r2)
Figure 9: Gross weight handled in EU ports, EU-28, 2004–13
(1 000 tonnes)
Source: Eurostat (mar_go_aa)
Figure 10: Maritime transport of goods, by direction, by country, 2013 (1)
(1 000 tonnes)
Source: Eurostat (mar_mg_aa_cwhd)
Figure 11: Maritime transport of passengers, by direction, by country, 2013 (1)
(1 000 persons)
Source: Eurostat (mar_mp_aa_cphd)
Figure 12: Maritime transport of passengers in EU ports, EU-28, 2007–13
(1 000 persons)
Source: Eurostat (mar_pa_aa)
Figure 13: Annual growth rates in main maritime industry NACE Rev. 2 activities, EU-28, 2005–14
(%)
Source: Eurostat (sts_inprgr_a)
Figure 14: Annual growth rates of ship building and repairing (NACE Rev. 2 activities), EU-28, 2005–14
(%)
Source: Eurostat (sts_inprgr_a)
Figure 15: Production in main maritime industry NACE Rev. 2 activities, EU-28, 2005–14
(2010 = 100)
Source: Eurostat (sts_inpr_a)
Figure 16: Production in ship building and repairing (NACE Rev. 2 activities), EU-28, 2005–14
(2010 = 100)
Source: Eurostat (sts_inpr_a)
Figure 17: Production value of the maritime manufacturing sector by main NACE Rev. 2 activities, EU-28, 2008–13
(EUR million)
Source: Eurostat (Prodcom: DS-066341)
Figure 18: Value added of the maritime manufacturing sector by main NACE Rev. 2 activities, by country, 2012 (1)(2)
(EUR million)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Figure 19: Number of enterprises in the maritime manufacturing sector by main NACE Rev. 2 activities, by country, 2012 (1)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Figure 20: Processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans and molluscs, EU-28, 2005–14
(2010 = 100)
Source: Eurostat (sts_inpr_a)
Figure 21: Value added of processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans and molluscs, by country, 2012 (1)
(EUR million)
Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Figure 22: Catches in volume, EU-28, 2004–13
(1 000 tonnes)
Source: Eurostat (fish_ca_main)
Figure 23: Aquaculture production, EU-28, 2003–12
(1 000 tonnes live weight)
Source: Eurostat (fish_aq_q) and (fish_aq2a)
Figure 24: Aquaculture production in marine areas, by country, 2012 (1)
(1 000 tonnes live weight)
Source: Eurostat (fish_aq_q) and (fish_aq2a)

The regions most impacted by the maritime economy are of course the EU’s coastal regions which include 446 regions (out of a total of 1 342 NUTS 3 regions — 2010 classification). In 2011, 40.8 % of the EU population lived in coastal regions which covered 40.0 % of the EU-27 territory. [1] From 2012 onwards tourism statistics are based on coastal areas (Local Administrative Units level 2, municipality is used as synonym) aggregates. Around 12% of the municipalities are considered to be coastal according to the corresponding definition. (see Context).

The analysis shows that the coastal regions in Europe have some comparative advantages in terms of GDP, employment, performance in tourism and such unique economic activities as fishery, extraction of salt and maritime manufacturing. The article looks primarily at a comparison of the reference years 2005 and 2014 (according to data availability in different domains). During the period observed, the economic and financial crisis occurred and some of the findings may reflect the impact of the crisis, however this is not explicitly analysed.

The analysis brings together findings based on coastal regions, coastal areas and maritime sectors. The article does not aim at filtering out the effect of capital cities, which could be an subject of future analyses.

Main statistical findings

The EU’s coastal regions — geography and demography

Several EU Member States are landlocked countries and as such do not have any NUTS 3 coastal regions: the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria and Slovakia. They are consequently not considered in this article.

The remaining EU Member States all have coastal regions, whose area can vary in size (Figure 1). Seven EU Member States have coastal regions that exceed 100 000 km2: Sweden (300 000 km2), France (252 000 km2), the United Kingdom (214 000 km2), Finland (193 000 km2), Italy (181 000 km2), Spain (156 000 km2) and Greece (111 000 km2). Amongst those EU Member States, several are located on the Mediterranean Sea, making them popular with tourists, especially during the summer months. The EU’s smallest coastal region is situated in Malta (316 km2), which is also the EU’s smallest Member State.

Looking at demography, the EU Member States with the largest coastal regions in relation to their total size also have the largest coastal populations, although there are variations between EU Member States.

The four EU Member States with the highest proportion of coastal regions in relation to their total surface are Denmark, Cyprus, Malta and Ireland (Figure 2). The first three of these are entirely made up of coastal regions (Figure 3). Ireland, whose coastal regions make up 90.5 % of the total country area, also reports 93.7 % of its population as living in coastal regions.

Portugal is an exception among EU Member States with the highest concentrations of coastal population. The country ranks sixth in the list of EU Member States with the highest shares of the population living in coastal regions, despite ranking only 12th by share of coastal regions. This highlights that Portugal’s non-coastal regions, despite constituting the larger share of the country’s surface (59.3 %), are far less populated than its coastal regions (40.7 %).

In the remaining EU Member States, the relation between the share of coastal regions and the share of the population living in them was more aligned (i.e. the larger the share of coastal regions, the more people lived in them).

Certain EU Member States saw their coastal populations decline from 2005 to 2014. Table 1 shows the evolution of the population from 2005 to 2014, with 2005 being indexed as 100. By 2014, the coastal population of Greece had dropped by 1.4 %, while Bulgaria’s and Estonia’s had both dropped by 1.7 %, Germany’s by 2.0 %, Romania’s by 7.8 %, Latvia’s by 8.0 % and Lithuania’s by 11.7 %. The reasons for this decline are specific to each affected EU Member State. It should however be noted that the non-coastal population in these EU Member States also declined over the same period, highlighting a general demographic trend.

A few EU Member States (Croatia, Poland and Portugal specifically) saw their coastal population increase, while their non-coastal population decreased. In the case of Croatia and Portugal, this could be explained by an increase in economic activity in coastal regions (especially tourism), while Poland’s Baltic coast is both an important industrial and transport hub and an increasingly popular tourist destination. By linking Table 1 and Table 2 a correlation between demographic and economic development can be found.

GDP disparities between coastal and non-coastal regions

Coastal regions often generate higher GDP per inhabitant than non-coastal regions (in 13 out of the 20 EU Member States concerned) (Table 2).

These GDP differences can be substantial in certain EU Member States — in Ireland (coastal: EUR 36 435 per inhabitant vs non-coastal: EUR 21 642), Finland (coastal: EUR 38 271 vs non-coastal: EUR 29 420) and Belgium (coastal: EUR 34 477 vs non-coastal: EUR 28 058) for example — and can be traced back to more vibrant economic activity in the coastal regions of those EU Member States.

However, in seven EU Member States GDP is higher in the non-coastal regions than in their coastal peers. This is the case for France (coastal: EUR 25 863 vs non-coastal: EUR 33 742) and Italy (coastal: EUR 22 388 vs non-coastal: EUR 31 405), where most of the economic activity takes place inland (mainly around the urban centres of Paris, Lyon, Turin and Milan). Although one could expect tourism to play a major role in creating a higher GDP in coastal regions than their non-coastal counterparts in Spain, France, Croatia and Italy, this is not the case.

Compared with an analysis based on the coastal/non-coastal typology, an analysis with a higher geographical resolution gives additional insight into regional GDP diversity issues. Map 1 shows the distribution of the Gross Domestic Product per inhabitant at current market prices by NUTS 3 regions in 2012 as a relative share of the EU-28 average. It varies across a very wide range: from 10 % of the EU 28 average in two NUTS 3 regions of Bulgaria (Vidin and Silistra) to over 700 % of the EU28 average in the best performing region of Inner London. Almost all Eastern European regions fall into the same group of NUTS 3 regions, with GDP per inhabitant less than 50 % of the EU 28 average. A geographical pattern linked to coastal regions can be seen just for certain southern Greek islands and semi-island coastal regions. The conclusion is that when comparing regional GDP with the EU-28 average, the results show variations between Member States as well as east-west and south-north splits, and a link to the sea is rarely to be found.

Regional business demography

In 2014, the European Commission introduced the implementing Regulation (EU) No 439/2014 which defines high-growth enterprises: they are enterprises with at least 10 employees at the beginning of their growth and with an average annual growth in the number of employees greater than 10 % per annum, over a three-year period. Eurostat has started collecting data on these high-growth enterprises from 17 EU Member States; with data currently available for the years 2008 through 2010 (Figure 4). In the framework of this article, only data for 10 EU Member States were taken into consideration because of missing values or landlocked countries. Except for the Netherlands, which registered an increase in the number of high-growth enterprises — both in coastal (+ 10.7 %) and non-coastal (+ 9.1 %) regions — none of the EU Member States for which data were available experienced any growth, whether in coastal or non-coastal regions. In fact, declines were recorded instead, ranging from about – 26 % in the coastal regions of Finland to about – 65 % in the coastal regions of Estonia.

Looking at the employment rate of the populations in the coastal regions over a 9-year period (2005–14), it appears that the trend was positive in most EU Member States with a coastal region (Table 3). With the exception of Denmark, the EU Member States which registered declines in employment rates in their coastal regions were Greece (– 17.2 %), Spain (– 12.8 %), Cyprus (– 9.3 %), Slovenia (– 7.9 %) and Ireland (– 7.7 %). Compared with national employment rates, the rates in coastal regions in 2014 were often in line with the national figures. However, in Belgium (coastal 66.7 % vs country 61.9 %) and Germany (coastal 86.9 % vs country 73.8 %) the employment rates in coastal regions were higher than the national figures. The opposite was true for Italy (coastal 50.0 % vs country 55.7 %) and Romania (coastal 50.0 % vs country 61.0 %).

Enterprises that are born and the number of persons employed in them indicate trends in economic development in coastal and non-coastal regions [2]. Map 2 shows the number of people employed by enterprises born in 2008 which had survived to 2010. The map displays a diverse picture that does not allow a general conclusion on the performance of coastal regions versus non-coastal regions to be drawn. It appears that only in two EU Member States (Finland and Italy) have coastal regions performed better than their non-coastal counterparts.

Map 3 displays the relative share of people employed by newly born enterprises in the accommodation and food services sector in 2010. It indicates that most of the regions with high figures were located on the coasts of Spain, France, Italy, Bulgaria, and even Poland and Finland. As highlighted in the ‘Tourism’ section below, these figures are in line with increased activity in the tourism sector in the EU’s maritime regions over the last few years. The only landlocked country that stands out is Austria. Figures show that this sector continue to generate jobs determined by the specific geography and traditions in mountain, cultural and congress tourism.

Looking at Map 4, which shows the number of people employed in the accommodation and food services sector by enterprises born in 2008 which had survived to 2010, coastal regions tended to perform well, but not markedly better than non-coastal areas. Clearly the better performing regions were those that already had a strong tourism attraction, such as those around European capitals or close to the sea (especially but not exclusively the Mediterranean). The coastal regions of Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Finland were amongst the better performing in this respect, from employment figures over the 2008–10 period.

When comparing the number of people employed by enterprises born in 2008 which had survived to 2010 in all economic activities with those in the accommodation and food services sector, the findings are remarkable. Between 2008 and 2010 regional employment in this sector fluctuated more than the total employment in surviving enterprises. For total employment, EU Member States varied from 26.1 index points in the French region of Nord (FR301) to 374.3 in the Dutch region of Zuidoost-Noord-Brabant (NL414). This means that in 2010 total employment in surviving enterprises in FR301 fell to 26.1 % of its level in 2008. Looking at employment in surviving enterprises in the accommodation and food services, the variation was even higher, ranging from 9.7 in the Slovak region of Trenciansky kraj (SK022) to 546.7 in the Dutch region of Zaanstreek (NL325).

Main maritime economic activities

Based on gross value added (see Data source and availability) in coastal regions (Figure 5), three main activities (sections in the NACE Rev. 2 classification) stand out in particular:

  • Wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and food service activities;
  • Public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities; and
  • Industry (except construction).

In this article, we will take a closer look at several specific activities that are particularly identifiable with the maritime sectors.

Tourism

Coastal tourism makes up a large share of total tourism in the EU, with approximately 45 % of all nights spent by tourists on EU territory in 2012. From 2012 onwards, regional tourism statistics are based on coastal/non-coastal areas aggregates (LAU2) which ensure greater geographical detail and better precision of the data disseminated compared with the previously disseminated NUTS 3 based aggregates. The number of available bed-places in coastal areas has been growing over the last few years (Table 4), especially in EU Member States on the southern flank of the EU (Bulgaria, Spain, France, Croatia and Italy). In several northern EU Member States an increase in the number of bed-places has been observed as well (Lithuania +10 % and Estonia +7 %). Denmark (-5 %) and Belgium (-4 %) experienced a decrease.

Whether bed-places are located in coastal or non-coastal areas varies substantially from one EU Member State to another. In 2013, a majority of bed-places in Croatia (94 %), Portugal (79 %), Spain (70 %) and Bulgaria (67 %) were found in coastal areas. This share was much lower in most central and northern EU Member States, such as Poland (26 %), Belgium and Slovenia (both 19 %) and Germany (17 %). However, Denmark (92%), Ireland (62 %) and three EU Member States bordering the Baltic sea — Latvia (67 %), Estonia (65 %) and Sweden (54 %) — also offered most of their bed-places in coastal areas, proving that maritime tourism does not have to take place around the Mediterranean exclusively. However the effect of the inclusion of the capital cities Copenhagen, Riga and Tallinn within the coastal areas must be taken into account.

Turning to the number of nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments in coastal areas, the traditional tourist destinations and the larger EU Member States recorded the largest absolute figures (Figure 6). The leading EU Member States with coastal areas were Spain (310 million nights), Italy (202 million nights), the United Kingdom (140 million nights in 2012), France (139 million nights), Germany (62 million nights) and Croatia (61 million nights).

However, looking at the nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments in coastal areas in terms of share, the figures are more telling and underline the importance of coastal tourism in certain EU Member States (Figure 7). Besides the two EU Member States that are entirely made up of coastal areas (Cyprus and Malta), the shares of nights spent in coastal areas were particularly high in Croatia (94.6 %), Denmark (90.9 %), Portugal (86.7 %), Latvia (83.7 %), Spain (79.7 %), Estonia (78.7 %) and Bulgaria (68.0 %). The lowest shares were found in Belgium (21.0 %), Slovenia (20.9 %), Romania (17.9 %) and Germany (17.5 %).

Returning to the regional level, comparing the number of employed persons in the accommodation and food services in the EU Member States that are exclusively composed of coastal regions with those that are landlocked, it appears that in most of them, the figures have increased from 2008 to 2014 (Figure 8). The only landlocked country that experienced a decrease in the number of employed persons from 2012 to 2014 was Austria. However, the growth in the number of employed persons appears to have been steadier in coastal than in landlocked EU Member States.

Transport

In 2013, 3.7 billion tonnes of goods were handled in EU maritime ports, of which 60 % were unloaded (Figure 9). Between 2004 and 2007 the total gross weight of goods handled at EU ports increased from 3.59 to 3.97 billion tonnes. This steady upward trend, which had been followed since 2002, started to reverse between 2007 and 2008. The total gross weight of goods transported by sea fell by – 12.1 %. From 2009 onwards, the situation recovered and the total gross weight increased from 3.47 to around 3.70 billion tonnes in 2013, where it seems to have stabilised.

Between 2004 and 2008 inward and outward gross weight followed largely the same trend. However, different factors, including the global financial and economic crisis, appear to have impacted inward gross weight more significantly than outward gross weight.

With 548.4 million tonnes, the Netherlands held the highest share (14.8 %) of goods handled in EU ports, followed by the United Kingdom (13.5 %), Italy (12.3 %) and Spain (10.9 %) (Figure 10).

In 2013, around 400 million passengers passed through EU ports, split almost evenly between embarking and disembarking persons (Figure 11). Italy was the leading country with 73.2 million passengers or 18.3 % of all passengers at EU ports, followed closely by Greece at 73.0 million (18.2 %). Danish ports came in third in terms of passenger transport, with 10.2 % of all passengers at EU ports (41.0 million).

Between 2007 and 2012 the number of maritime transport passengers at EU ports decreased steadily (from 439 million to 398 million), although it recovered slightly in 2013 (Figure 12). The opening and progressive use of new and faster alternative routes such as the ‘Charilaos Trikoupis’ bridge in Greece (linking the Greek mainland with the Peloponnese) or the ‘Great Belt’ bridges in Denmark and the rapid expansion of low-cost airlines should be taken into account in the analysis of these figures.

Unlike goods movements, where the majority of the cargo is transported to or from ports outside the EU, seaborne passenger transport in Europe is mainly carried by national or intra-EU ferry services. This pattern is reflected in the port infrastructure. While large cargo ports are often highly specialised and located in areas with good connections to the EU hinterland, the large passenger ports are located at each end of busy ferry lines. Italy was the only EU Member State to record high values for both the transport of maritime passengers and goods. The Netherlands on the other hand, home to the EU’s largest port (Rotterdam), was the uncontested leader in the maritime transport of goods, while Greek ports were predominately involved in the maritime transport of passengers.

There did not appear to be any obvious correlation between the weight of goods handled and the number of passengers who embarked or disembarked by country or by ports. In fact, maritime ports have developed one or more independent types of traffic and often specialise in either goods or passenger transport.

Other maritime activities

The classification by NACE Rev. 2 activities lists a number of economic activities (classes - 4th digit NACE code) which are directly related to the coast and the sea. They include:

  • Extraction of crude petroleum;
  • Extraction of natural gas;
  • Extraction of salt;
  • Processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans and molluscs;
  • Manufacture of refined petroleum products;
  • Building of ships and floating structures;
  • Building of pleasure and sporting boats; and
  • Repair and maintenance of ships and boats.

The growth rates of these different activities have been generally negative and very volatile over the ten years 2005–14 (Figure 13). In the middle part of the period, not one of these sectors experienced any growth. In fact the activity ‘repair and maintenance of ships and boats’ declined by over 25 % in 2009 (its worst year of the decade) (Figure 14).

Only a few maritime industry sectors managed to register any growth from 2005 to 2014, and even then only in a few years. The only activity to have grown in the 2005–14 period was ‘Extraction of salt’, which registered 2.8 % growth. ‘Processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans and molluscs’ remained flat over the same period, while all other activities declined.

Production in the maritime sectors has tended to decline over the 2005–14 period (Figures 15 and 16). In the second half of the period, production was on the decline for most activities except ‘extraction of salt’, ‘repair and maintenance of ships and boats’ and ‘manufacture of refined petroleum products’. Some recovery had been observed in 2010 for ‘extraction of natural gas’, ‘extraction of salt’, ‘processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans and molluscs’ and ‘repair and maintenance of ships and boats’. However, the general trend has been towards a slow decline.

One activity stands out as having experienced a consistent decline from 2005 to 2014: ‘extraction of crude petroleum’ dropped by 52.8 % in ten years. This is the only maritime industry not to have registered any increase in production in this period. However, the nature of petroleum is that of a non-renewable source of energy.

Maritime manufacturing

Between 2008 and 2013, the production value in the EU’s maritime manufacturing sector as a whole decreased by over 36 %, Figure 17). The drop in the production value for building ships and floating structures was the most pronounced. The decline in the production and building of pleasure and sporting boats was less severe. Although the production value of repair and maintenance of boats and ships also decreased from 2008 to 2010 (– 26 %) it recovered and stabilised after that.

In most EU Member States, building ships and floating structures was the largest activity among the maritime manufacturing sectors in terms of value added (Figure 18). In 2012, more than two thirds of the value added generated by the EU maritime manufacturing sectors came from five EU Member States: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Although most value added in the maritime manufacturing sector stemmed from the production of ships and floating structures, most enterprises in the EU maritime manufacturing sector in 2012 were actually specialised in repairing ships and boats (Figure 19). This means that the specialisation is not sufficiently economically effective and could be improved. In fact out of a total of 22 756 companies in the maritime manufacturing sector in the EU, 14 503 were repair companies. The EU Member States accounting for the largest number of these companies were Poland (2 412), France (2 411) and Italy (2 094).

Enterprises specialised in shipbuilding numbered 8 253 in the EU, out of which 3 778 built large vessels and floating structures while 4 475 were specialised in manufacturing pleasure and sporting boats. Among EU Member States, Italy was home to most ship manufacturers (828), followed by Poland (525) and the United Kingdom (392), while the Netherlands hosted most pleasure boat-building enterprises (895) followed by Italy (598) and Sweden (564).

Fisheries, aquaculture and fish processing

Production in processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans and molluscs in the EU has varied considerably over the last few years (Figure 20). Between 2006 and 2009 it fell by  10.6 %. This trend was reversed from 2009 to 2011 when production increased by 9.3 %. However, from 2011 to 2013 production dropped again by  7.5 %. Recently, production has recovered slightly, with a 1 % increase from 2013 to 2014.


In 2012, around half of EU value added for processing and preserving of fish, crustaceans and molluscs was provided by enterprises based in the United Kingdom (EUR 681.7 million), Spain (EUR 677.4 million), and France (EUR 568.6.7 million) (Figure 21). It should be noted that Norway recorded a value higher than any of the EU Member States (EUR 787.5 million).

In order to be able to operate, fish processing enterprises rely on two main sources of raw material. These are provided by catches and aquaculture.

Of these two sectors, the fisheries industry is certainly the largest. Catches in the EU-28 have generally decreased, especially up to 2007 (Figure 22). From 2004 to 2007, total fishery catches went down by approximately 14 % (from 5.7 million tonnes to 4.9 million tonnes). The situation then stabilised, with catches in the 5.0 to 4.4 million tonnes range from 2008 to 2013. In the ten years 2004–13, 2012 stood out however, as the year with the lowest tonnage caught: 4.4 million tonnes.

In 2012, output from EU aquaculture was 1.2 million tonnes, of which 69 % was produced in a marine water environment (Figure 23). EU aquaculture production generally decreased from 2003 to 2012. The decline was more noticeable in 2008, due to the impact of the global financial and economic crisis. In the same period, output from Norwegian aquaculture — which in 2012 stood at 1.3 million tonnes, exceeding total EU production — has constantly increased. Output from Norwegian aquaculture in 2012 was equal to 108 % of total EU aquaculture output.

In 2012, EU aquaculture produced in a marine water environment accounted for 845.5 thousand tonnes (Figure 24). The largest part of this production came from Spain (29.5 %) followed by the United Kingdom (22.7 %), France (19.1 %) and Greece (12.6 %). It should be noted however, that the aquaculture of Norway (1 321 thousand tonnes) — an EFTA country — was far larger than the combined aquaculture of the EU.

Data sources and availability

Due to the horizontal aspects of the topic, this article combines the latest data from different sources: structure of business, product, maritime transport and fishery statistics.

NACE

NACE is the acronym used to designate the ‘statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community’ and is the subject of legislation at EU level, which imposes the use of the classification uniformly within all EU Member States. It is a basic element of the international integrated system of economic classifications, which is based on classifications of the UN Statistical Commission (UNSTAT), and Eurostat as well as national classifications; all of them are strongly related to one another, allowing the comparability of economic statistics produced worldwide by different institutions.

The current NACE Rev. 2 is the outcome of a major revision of the international integrated system of economic classifications which took place between 2000 and 2007. NACE Rev. 2 reflects the technological developments and structural changes of the economy, enabling the modernisation of EU statistics and contributing, through more comparable and relevant data, to better economic governance at both EU and national level.

Maritime transport

The content of this publication is based on data collected within the framework of the EU Maritime Transport Statistics Directive, i.e. ‘Directive 2009/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on statistical returns in respect of carriage of goods and passengers by sea’ (OJ L141 of 6.6.2009, page 29), which is a recast of the original Council Directive 95/64(EC) of 8 December 1995. Value added at factor cost

Value added at factor cost is the gross income from operating activities after adjusting for operating subsidies and indirect taxes. It is an indicator in the domain of structural business statistics. It can be calculated as the total sum of items to be added (+) or subtracted (–):

  • turnover (+);
  • capitalised production (+);
  • other operating income (+);
  • increases (+) or decreases (–) of stocks;
  • purchases of goods and services (–);
  • other taxes on products which are linked to turnover but not deductible (–);
  • duties and taxes linked to production (–).

Fishery and aquaculture

Fishery statistics are derived from official national sources either directly by Eurostat or by the European Economic Area (EEA) countries. The data are collected using internationally agreed concepts and definitions developed by the Coordinating Working Party on Fishery Statistics, comprising Eurostat and several other international organisations with responsibility for fishery statistics. The domain ‘Fisheries’ contains data on catch by fishing region, on aquaculture production, on total production, on landings in EEA ports, on trade in fishery products and on the EEA fishing fleet.

Catch

The flag of the fishing vessels is used as the primary indication of the nationality of the catch, though this concept may differ in certain circumstances (for example, in the case of joint ventures and chartering of vessels). The national authorities are requested to submit catch statistics for all commercial, subsistence and recreational fisheries. However, the reporting of data for recreational fisheries is known to be incomplete. The data are reported as the live weight equivalent of the landings (i.e. the landed weight of a product to which an appropriate conversion factor has been applied). The data therefore exclude quantities of fishery products which are caught but not landed. For example, fish caught but rejected at sea (non-commercial species, under-sized fish, etc.) or fish consumed on board the vessel.

Aquaculture production

Aquaculture means the farming of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans, aquatic plants and other aquatic organisms. It includes capture-based aquaculture and the production of aquatic organisms which are harvested by an individual or corporate body which has owned them throughout their rearing period. The data are recorded as the live weight equivalent of the product.

Context

Maritime policy

The EU’s integrated maritime policy seeks to maximise the sustainable use of the oceans and seas; enhance Europe’s knowledge and innovation potential in maritime affairs; ensure development and sustainable growth in coastal regions; strengthen Europe’s maritime leadership and raise the profile of maritime issues across Europe.

The blue economy includes well-established activities such as shipbuilding and fishing as well as emerging ones such as offshore renewable energy and marine biotechnology. The EU’s Blue Growth initiative aims at strengthening both.

Coastal/non-coastal territorial typologies

Europe is surrounded by oceans and seas.

Statistics on maritime regions aim to measure economic, social and environmental issues related to coastal regions, sea basins and the maritime economic sectors.

An EU coastal region is a statistical region of the European Union, at NUTS level 3, defined according to one of the following three criteria:

  • The region has a sea border;
  • The region has more than half of its population within 50 km from the sea (63 further regions correspond to this criterion based on the GEOSTAT 2006 population grid. Before the availability of this grid, all coastal regions were defined as a NUTS level 3 region with a sea border);
  • The region of Hamburg. (The German NUTS3-region of Hamburg does not correspond to the above 2 criteria but has been added to the list of EU coastal regions due to its strong maritime influence).

Coastal areas are defined on the basis of the local administrative units or municipalities (LAU-2) and consist of those municipalities (or equivalent local administrative units) within a given NUTS 3 region that are bordering the sea or close to the sea:

  • if a municipality borders the sea, it is by default coastal;
  • if a municipality does not border the sea but has 50 % of its surface within a distance of 10 km from the sea, it is also considered coastal;
  • all other municipalities are non-coastal.

In some particular cases where their is a strong maritime influence, certain municipalities have been officially recognised as coastal although they do not meet the above criteria. This is for example the case of the Croatian municipality of Skradin. The reverse case also exists. Some municipalities have been ad hoc recognised as non coastal even if they border the sea. This is the case for the Dutch municipalities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam and Miren – Kostanjevica in Slovenia.

The concepts of coastal regions and that of coastal areas should be strongly distinguished, as they are not synonyms. For instance, based on the application of the above definitions, all NUTS level 3 regions of Denmark are coastal regions, while only 71.5% of the LAU 2s in the country are coastal areas.

See also

Further Eurostat information

Data visualisation

Publications

Database

Demography statistics by coastal regions (mare_demo)
Area of the regions (mare_d3area)
Demographic balance and crude rates (mare_gind3)
Tourism statistics by coastal areas (mare_tour)
Nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments by coastal and non-coastal area (from 2012 onwards) (tour_occ_ninatc)
Number of establishments, bedrooms and bed-places by coastal and non-coastal area (from 2012 onwards) (tour_cap_natc)
Labour market statistics by maritime regions (mare_lmk)
Employment rates by sex and age (mare_lfe3emprt)
Economic accounts by maritime regions (mare_eco)
Gross domestic product (GDP), market prices (mare_e3gdp)
Gross value added at basic prices (mare_e3vab95r2)
Maritime transport (mar)
Maritime transport - goods (mar_go)
Maritime transport - Goods (gross weight) - Annual data - All ports - by direction (mar_go_aa)
Maritime transport - main annual results (mar_m)
Country level - Gross weight of goods handled in all ports, by direction (mar_mg_aa_cwhd)
Country level - Passengers embarked and disembarked in all ports, by direction (mar_mp_aa_cphd)
Maritime transport - passengers (mar_pa)
Maritime transport - Passengers - Annual data - All ports - by direction (mar_pa_aa)
Annual data on tourism industries (tour_inda)
Annual and quarterly data on employment in the accommodation sector (Source: Labour Force Survey) (tour_lfs)
Annual data on employment in the accommodation sector (Source: Labour Force Survey) (tour_lfsa)
Employed persons by full-time/part-time activity (NACE Rev. 2) (tour_lfs1r2)
SBS - industry and construction (sbs_ind_co)
Annual detailed enterprise statistics for industry (NACE Rev. 2, B-E) (sbs_na_ind_r2)
Regional business demography (bd_r)
Business demography and high growth enterprise by NACE Rev. 2 and NUTS 3 regions (bd_hgnace2_r3)
Industry (sts_ind)
Production in industry (sts_ind_prod)
Production in industry - annual data (2010 = 100) (sts_inpr_a)
Production in industry - annual data, percentage change (sts_inprgr_a)
Catches by fishing area (fish_ca)
Catches - Total all fishing areas (fish_ca_main)
Aquaculture production by species (fish_aq)
Production from aquaculture excluding hatcheries and nurseries (from 2008 onwards) (fish_aq2a)
Aquaculture production (until 2007) (fish_aq08)
Aquaculture production in quantities (1984-2007) - tonnes live weight (fish_aq_q)

Dedicated section

Methodology / Metadata

Source data for tables, figures and maps (MS Excel)

Notes

  1. ↑ Latest available data covering the EU as a whole.
  2. ↑ Additional information on population of enterprise births can be found in the SE article ‘Business demography — regional analysis’.


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