ABSTRACT
The drawing up of a Satellite Account for the Sea is the most appropriate instrument to estimate the dimension of the ocean economy, as well as to provide information on the production structure of the sea-related economic activities. Portugal became the first EU Member-State to prepare a Satellite Account for the Sea. This paper uses the published data to analyse the relative weight of the sectors of the Portuguese maritime economy. The results show the importance of the sectors “Fisheries, aquaculture, processing, whole-sale and retail of its products” and “Recreation, sports, culture and tourism”; together they represent 91% of all economic units, 61% of GVA and 67% of employment. International comparisons with other EU MS indicate that in Portugal the ocean economy weighs more heavily (in relative terms) than in its European partners. This is particularly true in terms of employment due to the dominance of labour-intensive sectors.
