Find out more about the vast economy that lies within the watery blue – and what nations are turbocharging it
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The world’s oceans support an economy rivalling the one on land. From wind energy that powers nations to aquaculture feeding millions, there are a plethora of ways humans are using the seas to our advantage.
Defined as all the economic activities related to the ocean – from offshore oil and gas to container shipping, marine renewable energy and cruise tourism – the ocean economy is a vast sector. Estimates place its worth at approximately $1.5 trillion, rising to $3 trillion in 2030, with significant growth expected in offshore wind, marine aquaculture and fish processing during this time.
At its peak in 2006, the ocean economy supported 151 million full-time jobs, and even in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, managed to sustain employment for more than 100 million individuals.
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In particular, the Asia-Pacific region drives growth, accounting more approximately 75 per cent of the global uptick.
Major sectors contributing to growth are marine and coastal tourism, alongside offshore oil and gas. Together, these account for around two-thirds of the global ocean economy’s gross value added between 1995 and 2020.
So, which nations are leading the way in the watery economy? And what exciting projects are underway to bolster their stake in it? Read on to find out more…
Deep-sea mining
Deep-sea mining has gained traction in recent years due to an increased demand for minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel – all essential for technologies from phone batteries to powering electric vehicles.
While it may seem intuitive to carry out vast deep-sea mining projects to expedite greener technologies, the process of mining is incredibly invasive in the environments in which it is carried out. Mining just one square kilometre of ocean floor could produce enough cobalt to power 200,000 EV batteries – but at a significant environmental cost to habitats and vital carbon stores.
Mining the nodules containing metal deposits would completely destroy biodiversity in habitats not even fully understood by scientists. New creatures are constantly being discovered in the deep sea – from glowing sharks to armoured snails, and carrying out such activities could threaten their existence.
In addition, deep-sea mining can lead to increased underwater noise, disrupting marine mammals that use sound as their primary means of underwater communication.
The nation with the largest investment in deep-sea mining is China, with five International Seabed Authority (ISA) exploration contracts. These cover cobalt-rich crusts, massive sulphides and polymetallic nodules, all of which can be mined for valuable minerals.
Other countries with major investment include India, which operates its Deep Ocean Mission (Samudrayaan), aiming to explore nodules in waters off the country’s shores, as well as smaller nations such as Tonga, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
However, despite some nations pushing to begin projects, a growing list of countries – including Germany, France, Spain, Chile, New Zealand and several Pacific Island nations – have expressed concerns that deep-sea mining is risky for marine life, and instead propose a pause or ban on issuing licenses.
In terms of particular areas, the Clarion Clipperton Zone – a vast deep-sea plain in the Pacific Ocean – is a hotspot for deep-sea mining exploration. The same size as the entirety of Europe, this area holds metals such as nickel, cobalt and copper, stretching across 4.5 million km2.
However, despite what popular media may suggest, it isn’t necessary to acquire these minerals from the sea floor. The quantity of copper available on the seafloor is just a small fraction of the total available from land-based resources. Many analysts agree that land-based resources are more than sufficient to meet the demand for critical minerals in the future.
In addition, new designs for electric vehicle batteries are reducing the need for cobalt and nickel.
Offshore wind
Out of anywhere in the world, the UK is the leading nation in wind energy – generating more than 30 per cent of its electricity from offshore turbines. The sector currently supports 32,000 jobs in the country, projected to rise to more than 100,000 by 2030. However, in terms of offshore wind capacity, China leads, having installed more offshore wind capacity in 2021 than the rest of the world combined.
In general, G7 countries are lagging behind in wind energy production. Despite holding 45 per cent of global GDP, they collectively accounted for just 10 per cent of new solar and wind projects, whereas China dominated with more than 70 per cent.
Countries with major wind energy production include the United States (added 4.1 GW in 2024), Germany (4 GW in the same period), India (3.4 GW) and Brazil (3.3 GW).
One major incentive for building wind energy infrastructure is its cost: it is among the cheapest electricity sources, outperforming fossil fuels.
Aquaculture
In 2022, global aquaculture – the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans and aquatic plants – reached an output of 130.9 million tonnes. Just a handful of nations account for almost 90 per cent of aquaculture output, with China taking leading spot. The nation produces 36 per cent of aquatic farmed animals – around 63.7 million tonnes total – supporting five million small-scale farmers.
Other top producers include India (8 per cent), Indonesia (7 per cent), Vietnam (5 per cent) and Peru (3 per cent). Top export countries range from Chile and Norway to Canada and Ecuador.
Per capita consumption of aquatic animals varies widely across regions. In Africa and Latin America, average consumption is around 10 kg/person/year, while in Asia the figure sits at 25 kg/person/year. In total, just ten countries account for 70 per cent of the word’s aquatic animal food consumption.
However, this huge uptick does not come from wild fishing – the catch from capture fisheries has barely changed since the 1990s, hovering at around 90 million tonnes.
Across the aquaculture sector, around 61.8 million people are employed: 85 per cent of these jobs are in Asia, while 10 per cent are based in Africa.
Advancements in technology are helping to streamline aquaculture and solve issues within the sector. For example, precision feeding from computer vision is helping to boost tilapia yields by more than 58 times in trials. As well as this, digital monitoring of nets and cages in real-time enhances safety and prevents fish escapes. Other technology includes autonomous underwater robots capable of inspecting net pens, reducing labour costs and improving sustainability.
Another major issue impacting the fishing sector is overfishing. While 93 per cent of stocks in the Northeast Pacific are sustainably fished, elsewhere the picture is bleaker. The Mediterranean remains the most overfished sea on the planet, and large amounts of African waters are under intense pressure from foreign fleets.
One key way of solving this is to ratify a High Seas Treaty, establishing a legal requirement to put 30 per cent of the ocean into protected areas, and push nations to contribute at least $72 billion to fund the project. By the end of a recent conference in Nice this year, 51 nations had ratified the treaty, just shy of the 60 needed to fulfil the ratification.
Floating cities
As the impacts of climate change continue to be felt around the world, an innovative solution has been created to help: floating cities. These urban habitats built on water can tackle sea-level rise, coastal congestion and sustainability.
Essentially, they work through several technologies. Platforms are first created using hexagonal or grid-based pontoons. Then, dynamic mooring systems are fitted, which can adjust depending on tidal changes and storms. Finally, closed-loop resource systems are installed, with many designs aiming for 60 per cent water self-sufficiency and 90 per cent energy autonomy. To do this, they use a mixture of solar, wind, aquaponics and circular waste treatment.
According to some studies, floating communities like these could shelter up to 20 per cent of at-risk coastal populations by 2050, offering adaptable infrastructure for low-lying urban zones. In addition, floating platforms provide expandable urban space without the consumption of land – perfect for densely populated coastlines.
Major projects underway include a floating city in South Korea, set to house 12,000 people across interconnected platforms on a sheltered lagoon. Across a year, the city achieves net-zero using solar rooftops, aquaponic farms and coastal ecosystem regeneration.
Across the world, in the Maldives, another floating city is being constructed. Set to open around 2027, it will house around 20,000 individuals in coral-inspired hexagonal platforms. The city is set to withstand tsunamis and rising tides, both weather phenomena set to increase in the wake of climate change.
Already, a mini-city is built in Amsterdam – known as Schoonschip – where 46 households are each equipped with solar panels, smart grids and heat pumps.
Tourism
In the EU, the coastal and maritime tourism industry is the largest blue-economy sector, accounting for approximately 33 per cent of the EU’s total gross value added, and generating more than 50 per cent of all employees across maritime sectors as of 2022. In the region, EU coastal areas saw 1.4 bilion overnight stays in 2023 – a 6.4 per cent increase from the previous year.
Outside of the EU, tourism is the largest ocean-based sector globally, representing around 33 per cent of the ocean economy. In particular, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are heavily involved within the tourism sector – it can account for anywhere between 30 per cent to 85 per cent of their total GDP.
Notable examples of locations benefitting from the tourism industry on the coast include the Great Barrier Reef – seeing around 2.2 million visitors annually, and supporting nearly 69,000 jobs – as well as the Bahamas, where tourism contributed approximately 45 per cent of the country’s total GDP.
Deep blue tech
With the introduction of AI, technology has become even more advanced – and its applications are endless in the ocean economy. For example, an AI-enhanced submersible has been created by Stanford researchers, providing tactile feedback to operators on land. As well as this, another submersible – invented by Houston Mechatronics – can operate in NASA facilities, designed for deep-sea tasks such as repairing and sampling.
In addition, entire projects are being aided by drones underwater. For example, the Deep Blue Project uses solar, wind and wave-powered drones – equipped with AI – to autonomously collect marine data such as vessel traffic, water quality and wildlife presence. In Australia, trials using the drones are already underway, helping to map seabeds as well as carrying out ecological monitoring.
Other projects are also underway to help clean up ocean floors, with autonomous vehicles removing plastic, ghost nets and debris from habitats and ecosystems.
Shipping
The shipping industry plays a major role in the ocean economy, transporting around 80 per cent of all global goods, weighing a hefty 11 billion tonnes each year. Approximately 2 million individuals are employed in the sector.
The busiest shipping routes in the world include the English Channel – with more than 500 vessels daily – along with the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal.
Container shipping represents about 60 per cent of global trade by value, while maritime transport accounts for nearly 80 to 85 per cent of world trade volume.
Despite its benefits, the sector has come under fire for its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, contributing around 3 per cent of the world’s annual total. By 2050, global emissions from shipping could rise to anywhere between five to eight per cent if decarbonisation efforts are not carried out.
Such methods include using green ammonia and e-methanol; fitting wind-assisted propulsion, including rotor sails, to ships; adding carbon scrubbers to ship infrastructure that cut 78 per cent of CO2 and 90 per cent of sulphur emissions, and air lubrication techniques, which lower fuel use.
