Presented today at the 64th Genoa International Boat Show, as part of the Boating Economic Forecast conference, the new edition of Nautica in Cifre – LOG, the statistical yearbook produced by the Confindustria Nautica Research Department in partnership with the Edison Foundation, which boasts the patronage of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.
“The recreational boating sector remains very solid in 2023, continuing the reactive growth that has characterized the post-pandemic years: the turnover of the industrial sector has in fact reached an all-time high of 8.33 billion euros, which corresponds exactly to 1 billion more than in 2022. The increase of 13.6% follows the already significant growth of 20% achieved in 2022,” declared Saverio Cecchi, President of Confindustria Nautica, at the opening.
“The final data emerging from this 45th edition of Nautica in Cifre reflect our previous estimates for 2023 – says Eng. Stefano Pagani Isnardi, Director of the Research Office of Confindustria Nautica – with the turnover of the shipbuilding sector growing by 14.8%, settling close to the upper end of the confidence interval.”
Among the factors that fueled this further increase in turnover, we must especially consider the exploit of exports of nautical shipbuilding production. In this regard, Prof. Marco Fortis, Director and Vice President of the Edison Foundation, scientific coordinator of the research, recalled that in 2023 the export of pleasure boats produced in Italy exceeded the threshold of 4 billion, growing further in the first four months of 2024, reaching a peak of 4.23 billion euros.
“In 2023, Italy will maintain its position as the world’s leading exporter in the nautical shipbuilding sector, accounting for 19.3% of global exports; this is the largest share ever recorded by our country,” continued Fortis. The Italian nautical industry clearly has a strong propensity for foreign markets, with the USA continuing to be the most important market globally for our shipyards. Thanks to an export rate of 90%, Italian production of new pleasure craft confirms its world leadership in superyachts – with over half of global orders – as well as in the segments of large pneumatic units, components and accessories.”
Pleasure boats are also among the sectors that have recorded the greatest growth in exports since the beginning of the new millennium: considering only the most relevant manufacturing sectors for the Italian trade balance, i.e. those that have a trade surplus of more than 2 billion euros in 2023, the “Pleasure and sports boats” sector ranks fourth in terms of export growth, rising two positions compared to 2022.
The incidence of the sector within the reference class “Other means of transport” (i.e. means of transport other than motor vehicles) has also gradually grown over time. In terms of exports, compared to 2000, the incidence of shipbuilding has doubled, going from 8.7% in 2000 to 18.5% in 2023.
As regards the impact of the Italian nautical sector on the labor market, the actual employees in 2023 rose to 30,690, with a significant growth of approximately 7%.
The contribution of the nautical sector to the national GDP was more than 7 billion euros in 2023, with an increase of approximately 14.2% compared to last year. The weight of the contribution of the nautical sector to the GDP in relation to the national GDP also reached 3.38 per thousand, constantly increasing since 2013, showing a greater growth of the sector compared to the national economy, especially evident in the last three years.
According to the analysis of Eng. Stefano Pagani Isnardi, “the general picture of these last 12 months that separate us from the previous edition of LOG, has changed, with some transformations in the dynamics of the nautical market in the various reference segments. 2024 appears to be characterized so far by a normalization of the growth of the sector, following the long cycle of strong development, and by a more evident differentiation of the dynamics between high-end products and small boats. Specifically, the latter is experiencing uncertainties, caused by the presence in some markets of high stocks of pleasure boats, which interfere with the sale of new models of certain size segments. The performances of the main autumn shows of 2024, driven by our Boat Show, will be able to clarify the reference picture, but the prospects for the future, at the level of the Italian industry, should remain positive overall. And that is no small thing, considering the current difficult economic scenarios.