Scotland's Marine Economic Statistics 2021

Statistics on the economic contributions of Scotland’s marine sectors in 2021. Includes a time series of Gross Value Added (GVA), turnover and employment for marine sectors. The supporting documents include: additional tables in an excel file and a pdf version of the publication


Marine economy overview

Marine economy key points

In 2021, the Scottish marine economy generated £4.5 billion in GVA. This accounted for 3% of the total Scottish economy. The Scottish marine economy provided employment for 69,800 people. This was 2.7% of the total Scottish employment.

Support for oil and gas has the biggest marine economy turnover and GVA. But, marine tourism employs the most people of all the sectors covered in this report. Support for oil and gas provide 42% of the marine economy GVA. But, only 20% of the employment. Marine tourism provides 11% of the GVA and 41% of the employment.

Labour productivity (GVA per worker) varies across the marine economy. Freight water transport has the highest GVA per worker in 2021 (around £392,000). Marine tourism has the lowest at around £17,000.

Economic information on oil and gas extraction is not included in this report. See Data and Methodology for more information.

Table 1. The support for oil and gas sector has the highest GVA at £1.9 billion but marine tourism has the highest employment at 28,600 in 2021.

GVA, turnover, employment and GVA per head by marine sector, 2021

Marine sector GVA (millions of pounds) Turnover (millions of pounds) Employment headcount (thousands) GVA per head (pounds)
Fishing 321 562 4.2 75,769
Aquaculture 472 1,107 2.3 207,206
Support for oil and gas 1,876 3,804 13.8 135,906
Seafood processing 406 1,714 7.6 53,368
Shipbuilding 403 1,026 6.8 59,191
Construction and water transport services 278 539 4.8 57,833
Passenger water transport 89 231 1.2 74,167
Freight water transport 157 269 0.4 391,750
Renting and leasing of water transport equipment 18 41 0.1 177,000
Marine tourism 494 980 28.6 17,273
Total 4,512 10,274 69.8 64,619

Marine economy trends

Between 2020 and 2021, the marine economy's GVA increased by 19% from £3.8 billion to £4.5 billion (2021 prices). Employment increased by 2%. This increase shows a partial recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Employment increased by 1% between 2012 and 2021, but the estimated full time equivalent (FTE) decreased by 2%. This is due to the increase in marine tourism employment, which has more part-time or seasonal work.

Table 2: Between 2012 and 2021 the marine economy GVA fell by 18%. Employment increased by 1% between 2012 and 2021.

Marine GVA, turnover and employment, 2012 to 2021 (2021 prices)

Year GVA (millions of pounds) Turnover (millions of pounds) Employment headcount (thousands) Estimated FTE (thousands)
2012 5,513 14,260 69.3 61.3
2013 5,526 14,795 73.5 64.2
2014 5,598 15,640 74.6 65.8
2015 5,369 15,138 78.7 68.8
2016 4,866 11,871 75.7 65.8
2017 5,707 12,814 74.1 64.2
2018 4,765 11,952 74.7 64.8
2019 5,378 12,404 75.3 64.1
2020 3,801 10,409 68.7 59.8
2021 4,512 10,274 69.8 59.9

GVA increased in all marine sectors apart from construction and water transport services between 2020 and 2021 (Figure 1). However, the GVA for all marine sectors in 2021 was still lower than in 2019. This indicates a partial recovery from the impacts of Covid-19.

Figure 1. The GVA for construction and water transport services fell between 2020 and 2021. Support for oil and gas and marine tourism had the largest increases.

Change in GVA by marine sector in millions of pounds, 2020 to 2021

Bar chart showing that the GVA for construction and water transport services fell between 2020 and 2021. Support for oil and gas and marine tourism had the largest increases.

Marine economy by geography

Marine economic information is available for most local authorities, subject to confidentiality considerations. Aberdeen City accounted for £1.7 billion (38%) of Scotland's marine economy's GVA for 2021 (Table 3).

Marine GVA and employment is particularly important to rural economies. Marine GVA contributes most to Aberdeen City, accounting for 18% of their total GVA in 2021 (Figure 2). Shetland Islands are a close second, with marine sectors also contributing 17.6% of their GVA.

Figure 2. Marine GVA contributed most to the total GVA in Aberdeen City in 2021. It accounted for 18% of the total GVA.

Percentage of GVA accounted for by the marine sector for the top 10 local authorities, 2021

Bar chart showing the percentage of GVA accounted for by the marine sector for the top 10 local authorities. Marine GVA contributed most to the total GVA in Aberdeen City in 2021.

Contact

Email: MarineAnalyticalUnit@gov.scot

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