The ocean economy is a vital component of our global economy and policymakers require data-driven and evidence-based insights to guide their decision-making.
The Ocean Economy to 2050 builds on a new quantitative and foresight analysis of potential pathways for the ocean economy's development, highlighting that a healthy ocean is crucial for climate and biodiversity processes, as well as for the economy. If the ocean economy were a country, it would be the fifth largest economy in the world. But the sustained growth and resilience of the ocean economy of the past 25 years is not set to continue. Growing pressures need to be tackled to keep the ocean economy on a path that contributes to sustainable economic development with employment that millions rely on.
To move forward, science-based decisions and improved ocean management are needed—only a quarter of the ocean floor is mapped, very few countries have developed full scale marine spatial planning, and much remains to be discovered and protected in the deep sea. Harmful subsidies must end, in fishing for instance. Transitions to cleaner energy and greater use of digital technologies should be encouraged, both are critical to mitigating climate change and boosting the productivity of ocean industries.
Developing unbiased evidence to guide decisions on ocean management and governance will be key. This report builds on more than a decade of OECD ocean economy work, with statistical measurement and ocean science and innovation at its core, supported steadily by several countries. The OECD Ocean Economy Monitor programme supports informed decision-making on a global scale. It provides insights into the economy-, science- and innovation-related aspects of the ocean economy as well as its policy environment. Leveraging harmonised country-level statistics from OECD’s unique Inter-Country Input-Output (ICIO) tables and other quantitative and qualitative data sources, the Monitor currently tracks 33 ocean economic activities across 142 coastal countries, spanning more than 25 years. It forms an unprecedented source of new analysis to support evidence-based policies.
The consistent measurement methods applied across countries are unlocking unparalleled opportunities to empower OECD member countries and partner economies with new evidence to support their strategic objectives and involvement in different multilateral processes. Through collaboration with OECD member countries and partner economies, the benefits of this work should be widely shared, enabling more countries to harness the potential of the ocean economy while safeguarding its long-term sustainability.