Story map: Our dynamic marine economy

An updated look at its value

UPDATED: June 9, 2022. Graphics updated with 2020 data, the most recent data year.
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America's marine economy is an entrepreneurial engine at the forefront of an expanding ocean frontier.
Cover for NOAA story map entitled Our dynamic marine economy.

Cover for NOAA story map entitled Our dynamic marine economy. (Image credit: NOAA)

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This story map, originally published in June 2020, updates the first comprehensive assessment of the U.S. marine economy. Developed by NOAA and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, new marine economy statistics provide the most accurate picture yet of America's marine economy.

In 2020, the U.S. marine economy contributed $361 billion to GDP, generated $610 billion in sales, and supported 2.2 million jobs. By 2030, global marine economy growth is projected to reach $3 trillion.

With an enormous scope of ocean, coastal and Great Lakes' activities, NOAA is uniquely positioned to support sustainable growth. This story map updates statistics and provides a glimpse of NOAA's agency-wide contributions to our nation's dynamic marine economy.

Projected global growth of the marine economy by 2030.
Chart showing the projected global growth of the marine economy by 2030. (OECD 2016)
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The marine economy includes activity that:

  • Takes place in marine areas such as cargo shipping;
  • Uses essential inputs from marine areas such as seafood processing;
  • Produces goods and services primarily for marine areas such as navigational equipment; and
  • Occurs because of proximity to coasts such as vacations and rental property.
Watch video with text explaining that just marine economic activities are now counted, not all of the activivities withing the sector they are in. In manufacturing, for instance, just manufacturing related to the ocean economy is counted. This is a major change, leading to the first comprehensive assessment of the U.S. marine economy.  (NOAA)
The marine economy is highly diverse.
The U.S. marine economy is highly diverse, including fisheries, tourism, and marine transportation just to name a few of the 10 sectors. (NOAA)
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Chart showing millions of U.S. marine economy jobs (2020), with the largest being coastal hotels and restaurants at 352,000 in 2020.
Chart showing millions of U.S. marine economy jobs (2020), with the largest being coastal hotels and restaurants at 352,000 in 2020. (NOAA)
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Infographic showing production in 2020 of major sectors such as agriculture and utilities, with the marine economy being the largest at $610 billion.
Infographic showing production in 2020 of major sectors such as agriculture and utilities, with the marine economy being the largest at $610 billion. (NOAA)
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Pie chart showing marine economic production by sector, with the largest being national defense and public administration at 33 percent in 2020.
Pie chart showing marine economic production by sector, with the largest being national defense and public administration at 33 percent in 2020. (NOAA)
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Chart showing U.S. production growth of selected ocean sectors, with the largest being coastal tourism and recreation at -20 percent between 2019 and 2020.
Chart showing U.S. production growth of selected ocean sectors, with the largest being coastal tourism and recreation at -20 percent between 2019 and 2020. (NOAA)
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Six industries to watch in the marine economy — marine pharmaceuticals, aquaculture, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), geographic information technology (GIS), renewable energy and smart technology.
Animated GIF showing six growing industries in the U.S. marine economy — marine pharmaceuticals, aquaculture, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), geographic information technology (GIS), renewable energy and smart technology. (NOAA)
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NOAA is uniquely positioned to grow the marine economy.

NOAA spurs new growth, new job sources and important leverage of major economic drivers. Following is a sampling of how NOAA support is key to the viability of the marine economy:

  • NOAA's role in protecting the health of ecosystems is vital to the economic well-being of fisheries, tourism and other critical sectors. Protecting coral reefs, for example, is crucial to coastal resilience and preserving the enormous potential of life-saving drugs.
  • NOAA tools are essential to enabling safe navigation, protecting the environment and ensuring America's economic competitiveness. U.S. seaports employ 41,000 workers, move $1.8 trillion of cargo annually, and directly and indirectly support more than 30 million jobs across sectors.
  • NOAA's investment in transformative technologies — including unmanned systems, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and 'omics, a revolutionary approach to unlocking the genetic secrets of marine life — optimize economic contributions.
  • NOAA's prioritization of enhanced environmental intelligence is establishing important new observing methods and accelerating developments in weather modeling through NOAA's flagship Earth Prediction Innovation Center, leading to more accurate and reliable weather forecast models that will support activities across the entire marine economy.
  • NOAA's multi-sector partnerships with the weather enterprise and ocean observing communities help shape NOAA initiatives and speed the transition of research to operations, significantly bolstering safety, efficiency and industry response to consumer needs.
Watch video showing major NOAA contributions to the marine economy in four key areas: marine transportation; seafood production; tourism and recreation; and coastal resilience. (NOAA)
Quote from Benjamin Friedman, NOAA Deputy Under Secretary for Operations, highlighting how NOAA has a 50-year track record of success in supporting the marine economy and that the use of new data, technology and science now provides the most accurate picture yet of America's marine economy. (NOAA).

 

To view the original NOAA story map, please see this version on the ESRI website.

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