Marine Economy Satellite Account statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show the marine economy accounted for 1.7 percent, or $361.4 billion, of current-dollar U.S. gross domestic product, or GDP, in 2020. The marine economy accounted for 1.7 percent, or $610.3 billion, of current-dollar gross output.
Real (inflation-adjusted) GDP for the marine economy decreased 5.8 percent from 2019 to 2020, compared with a 3.4 percent decrease for the overall U.S. economy. Real gross output for the marine economy decreased 8.5 percent, while marine economy compensation decreased 1.2 percent, and employment decreased 10.8 percent.
Real gross output–principally a measure of the marine economy’s inflation-adjusted sales or receipts, which includes sales to final users in the economy (GDP) and sales to other industries (intermediate inputs)–decreased $57.3 billion in 2020.
Marine economy estimates, including tourism and recreation estimates, were impacted by the response to the spread of COVID–19 in 2020. The full economic effects of the COVID–19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the marine economy estimates because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.
Marine economy activity highlights for 2020 include:
- Tourism and recreation, coastal and offshore declined 19.7 percent ($46.7 billion) to a level of $190.9 billion, making it the largest contributor to the decline in the marine economy’s gross output.
- Minerals, offshore declined 12.0 percent ($13.2 billion) to a level of $96.6 billion, making it the second-largest contributor to the overall decline.
- Transportation and warehousing, marine decreased 16.1 percent ($10.3 billion) to a level of $53.5 billion.
- National defense and public administration, marine was the largest offset to the decline in the marine economy’s real gross output, increasing 5.5 percent ($9.7 billion) to a level of $187.3 billion.
Marine Economy by Industry
The marine economy by industry data, including value added (or GDP by industry), gross output, employment, and compensation, show the contribution of different industries to the marine economy.
Marine economy industry highlights for 2020 include:
- Government – as a share of marine economy current-dollar value added — was the largest sector, accounting for 38.4 percent ($138.7 billion).
- Real estate and rental and leasing had the second-largest share of the marine economy, accounting for 14.3 percent ($51.6 billion) of current-dollar value added.
- Transportation and warehousing accounted for 8.4 percent of marine economy value added.
For more information, read the full release.