The Blue Economy, also known as the ocean economy, refers to the sustainable use and conservation of aquatic resources in both marine and freshwater environments. It acknowledges the vast potential of marine and coastal ecosystems while underlining the need for their preservation and sustainable management.

In terms of economic and environmental benefits, coastal populations globally contribute approximately to €1.5 trillion annually, with projections indicating an increase to €3 trillion by 2030. The Blue Economy is predicted to outperform the global economy in the near future.

The European Union Blue Economy generated a total turnover of €523 billion in 2020. It provides at least 4.5 million direct jobs and countless more indirect and sub-contracted forms of employment, many in regions where there are few alternatives. However, the definition of the Blue Economy in statistical classifications often includes activities such as oil and gas extraction.

The Blue Economy has an enormous economic and transformational potential and significance for EU global competitiveness given the breadth of the sectors it covers, the number of companies and jobs it supports, and the depth of its value chains.

Europe has strong capabilities in ocean technologies, which need to be preserved and reinforced. Keeping investing Continuous investment in ocean innovation and related EU capabilities is crucial to achieving EU Green Deal targets and maintaining European leadership and its competitiveness. Given the rapidly advancing use of autonomous platforms in security applications, the Blue Economy has also important implications for EU’s security and strategic autonomy.

This evolving context frames the EU policymakers’ perspective on the role of a sustainable Blue Economy as part of the EU Green Deal. Since May 2021, the European Commission has adopted an approach to ensure a coherent agenda for the sector to transition from ‘blue growth’ to a sustainable Blue Economy, replacing expansion with clean, climate-proof and sustainable activities and fostering synergies between related initiatives.

The EU’s commitment to supporting the Blue Economy is further demonstrated by the growing funding for this area. For instance, in its latest report, the EIB Group announced that its financing for the Blue Economy in 2018-2022 totalled €6.7 billion. BlueInvest, the initiative authoring this report, operates within this context. A flagship programme of the European Commission, its mandate is to boost investment and innovation in sustainable technologies for the Blue Economy.

The BlueInvest platform supports investment readiness and access to finance for maritime and ocean start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and scale-ups, while simultaneously building capacities and promoting opportunities to investors. It is enabled by the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and driven by the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (DG MARE) and the European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency.

This report is an update that complements the first edition of the BlueInvest Investor Report: An ocean of opportunities, released in 2023 that aimed to provide investors with market knowledge on the EU Blue Economy to support their investment decisions and targeted those actively engaged or interested in new prospects.