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
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
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