The blue economy in the Mediterranean

  • 600 ports and terminals.
     
  • 150 million: size of the coastal population which doubles during the summer season.
     
  • 360 million: tourists arrivals in 2017 with an estimated 50% concentrating in coastal areas.
     
  • 2 million: jobs in the blue economy in the European Union's Mediterranean member states.
     
  • 79% of the total blue economy jobs are provided by tourism in coastal areas.
     
  • 1 million: size of the workforce involved in direct or indirect employment in the fisheries sector.
     
  • $12 billion: the estimated combined output of fisheries and aquaculture.
     
  • 20%: share of the Mediterranean (less than 1% of the ocean surface) in the world Global Marine Product.
     
  • 25% of global maritime traffic and 30% of the world’s oil traffic are concentrated in the Mediterranean.
     
  • 13.24%: share of the Suez Canal/SUMED Pipeline and the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits in the world’s seaborne oil trade (2015).
     
  • 100,000: number of fishing vessels, of which at least 83% are considered small-scale.
     
  • 30,900: fish farms, almost all of which are small to medium-sized enterprises and family-owned farms.
     
  • 18%: average portion of the total catch that is discarded.
     
  • 112%: the increase in aquaculture production in the EU Mediterranean countries expected in 2030 based on the production level recorded in 2010.
     


Learn more on the blue economy in the Mediterranean:


Towards a sustainable blue economy in the Mediterranean

The UNEP/MAP-Barcelona Convention system is working to ensure that the crucial contribution of the Mediterranean sea and coast to food, water and energy provision must not come at the expense of marine and coastal ecosystems: