Italian marine industry report confirms record turnover and sector shifting trends

As part of the Boating Economic Forecast conference at the 64^th Genoa International Boat Show, the latest edition of Nautica in Cifre – LOG stats book confirmed the Italian yachting industry continued double-digit growth in 2023, reaching a record €8.33bn turnover.

“Yachting continues to be a solid sector throughout 2023, continuing its rate of responsive growth that has characterised these post-pandemic years: the industry’s turnover has in fact reached an all-time high of €8.33 billion, which corresponds exactly to a one billion increase compared to that in 2022. This 13.6 per cent gain follows the already substantial 20 per cent growth achieved in 2022,” comments Saverio Cecchi, president of the Italian Marine Industry Association.

Italian boatbuilders were greatly supportive of the Genoa International Boat Show this year. A spokesperson for Azimut comments: ‘The Genoa Boat Show is a key event for the area, and it is crucial for us to be there due to the ongoing importance of this market. The Genoa Boat Show 2024 ended in line with the expectations we had; boat sales replicated last year’s results, demonstrating solid steady demand. In particular, the Seadeck was a great success among visitors, confirming the appreciation for the design and sustainable innovation of this new yacht.”

Italian marine industry statistics

Nautica in Cifre – LOG is the statistical yearbook produced by the Italian Marine Industry Association’s market intelligence and research department in partnership with the Edison Foundation.

“The final figures emerging from this 45^th edition of Nautica in Cifre reflect our previous estimates for 2023,” stated Stefano Pagani Isnardi, head of the Italian Marine Industry Association’s market intelligence and research department. “with turnover in the shipbuilding sector experiencing an increase of 14.8 per cent, achieving a growth rate close to the upper end of the estimated confidence interval.”  

One of the key factors fuelling this further increase in turnover was the feat achieved by shipbuilding production. In this regard, Marco Fortis, director and vice president of the Edison Foundation, reports that in 2023 the export of yachting units produced in Italy exceeded the 4 billion threshold, only to continue growing further in the first four months of 2024, reaching a peak of €4.23 billion euros.

“In 2023, Italy retained its leadership as the world’s number one exporting country in the shipbuilding sector, accounting for 19.3 per cent of world exports; this is the largest share ever recorded by our country,” Fortis continues. “The Italian yachting industry clearly enjoys a strong propensity for foreign markets, with the US continuing to be this country’s most important market on the global scale for our yards. Thanks to an export rate of 90 per cent, Italian production of new yachting units confirms its world leadership in the superyacht segment, accounting for over half of global orders. The same can be said for the large inflatable boat segment and that of components and equipment.”

Yachting units are also among the sectors that have recorded the greatest growth in exports since the beginning of the new millennium: considering only the most important manufacturing sectors for the Italian trade balance, i.e. those with a trade surplus of more than €2 billion in 2023, the recreational and sportsboats sector ranks fourth in terms of export growth, rising two places compared to 2022.

The sector’s share of the ‘other transport’ (transport equipment other than motor vehicles) has also grown over time. In terms of exports, the incidence of the yachting sector doubled from 8.7 per cent in 2000 to 18.5 per cent in 2023.

As for the impact of the Italian yachting sector on the labour market, the actual number of people employed in 2023 rose to 30,690, a significant increase of about 7 per cent.

The contribution of the yachting sector to national GDP was more than €7 billion in 2023, an increase of about 14.2 per cent compared to last year. The weight of the industry’s contribution to GDP as a proportion of the national GDP also reached 3.38 per thousand, rising steadily since 2013, and demonstrating the sector’s higher growth rate relative to the national economy, a phenomenon that has become particularly more evident over the last three years.

According to the analysis provided by Isnardi: “The big picture of these last 12 months that separate us from the previous edition of LOG has clearly shifted, with a number of transformations occurring across the yachting market’s various segments. As of now, the 2024 yachting industry is showing signs of normalisation in terms of growth, following a long cycle of strong development, and signs of a more evident differentiation between the dynamics that define high-end products and smaller boats. Specifically, the latter is experiencing a moment in history characterised by uncertainty, caused by the presence in a number of markets of high stocks of recreational boats, which are interfering with the sale of new models in certain size segments. The performance of the main autumn boat shows in 2024, driven by our own Genoa International Boat Show, may help to clarify this picture, however, the outlook for the future, in terms of the Italian industry, should remain positive overall. And this is no small thing, considering the current complex economic scenarios outside our borders, with interest rates still far too high, difficulty in accessing credit, growing international geopolitical tensions, and the uncertainty as we wait for the results of the US elections“.

In her closing statement, Enrica Del Grosso, regional director of the North-west Business Network at SACE, outlined the role played by the Italian insurance-financial group in supporting companies across the sector, helping them become more competitive as they face the double transition of digitalisation and sustainability.