Boat and yacht industry

Use our industry guide to find key background information, market research, import and export guidelines, statistics, legislation, trade bodies and trade publications.

The Business & Industry Guides series is produced by the Library & Information Service for ICAEW members and ACA students.

We can compile tailored key players reports, mailing lists, market reports, benchmarking reports and industry news. Our enquiry team can also research other industry-specific information, such as taxation, for you. Call us on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

Trends and forecasts

Access to articles from leading business, finance and management journals is available to ICAEW members and students.

Coronavirus

Reports, studies and articles looking at the impact of COVID-19 on the boat and yacht sector.

Impact of COVID-19 on the European recreational boating industry
European Boating Industry, April 2021
Summary of a study by European Boating Industry, Bundesverband Wassersportwirtschaft e.V., and boot Düsseldorf. Provides insight into how the recreational boating industry in Europe fared in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. An outlook for 2021 is also included.

Market research

Some free information is available from the following market research specialists, ranging from industry news to executive summaries of the reports.

Euromonitor
A full listing of reference products and research reports for the travel and tourism industry from Euromonitor, with a range of global, country and company level reports. Each report provides a contents listing and a useful executive summary reporting on the key trends in each country report.

IBISWorld
Business and industry research specialists offering reports on a wide range of sectors, including recreational boat and yacht building; boat repair and maintenance; and sea and coastal passenger water transport. Report snapshots, table of contents and a sample report are available. The company also produces global industry research reports.

Mintel
A report from Mintel covering the UK cruises market. The website includes a summary and the option to view a contents listing.

Industry news

The Library can carry out industry news searches for ICAEW members and ACA students.

Statistics on the UK

British Marine Federation

The British Marine Federation compiles statistics and marketresearch including annual key performance indicators and biannual marine industry trends.

Office for National Statistics

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:

number of enterprises;
total turnover;
approximate gross value added at basic prices;
total purchases of goods, materials and services;
total employment costs;
total net capital expenditure;
total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
total net capital expenditure – disposals;
total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:

Building of pleasure and sporting boats (30.12)
See Section C: Manufacturing
Repair and maintenance of ships and boats (33.15)
See Section C: Manufacturing
Sea and coastal passenger water transport (50.1)
See Section H: Transport and storage
Inland passenger water transport (50.3)
See Section H: Transport and storage
Service activities incidental to water transportation (52.22)
See Section H: Transport and storage
Renting and leasing of water transport equipment (77.34)
See Section N: Administrative and support service activities

Statistics on Europe

Eurostat

Eurostat, the EU statistics hub, collates detailed Structural Business Statistics giving the latest figures for industry, construction, trade and services by sector and country. The indicators available include:

number of enterprises
turnover or gross premiums written
production value
value added at factor cost
gross operating surplus
wages and salaries
social security costs
gross investment in tangible goods
gross investment in land
gross investment in existing buildings and structures
gross investment in construction and alteration of buildings
gross investment in machinery and equipment
number of employees
number of persons employed per enterprise.

Statistics within the database are available for:

Building of pleasure and sporting boats (C3012)
See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’
Repair and maintenance of ships and boats (C3315)
See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’
Sea and coastal passenger water transport (H501)
See database section ‘SBS – services’
Inland passenger water transport (H503)
See database section ‘SBS – services’
Service activities incidental to water transportation (H5222)
See database section ‘SBS – services’
Renting and leasing of water transport equipment (N7734)
See database section ‘SBS – services’

Global statistics

INDSTAT

The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) collects and compiles industrial statistics known as INDSTAT, which give information on:

number of employees
number of establishments
output
value added
total wages and salaries.

Statistics by country are available for:

Building/repairing of pleasure/sporting boats (3512)

UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade)

The UN compiles and publishes international import and export statistics in the Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade), giving figures for goods traded by value, quantity and weight for each country.

Statistics are available for:

Ships, boats and other floating structures (89)

UN Industrial Commodity Statistics Database

The UN provides statistics on the quantity of goods produced by country in the Industrial Commodity Statistics Database.

Figures are available for:

Ships, vessels, ferry-boats for the transport of persons (49)

Employment

UK

The annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), published by the Office for National Statistics, includes total employee and employment estimates for different industries for Great Britain and the UK. Figures are broken down to show full-time/part-time and public/private splits. The dataset Industry – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2 includes statistics for:

Building of pleasure and sporting boats (30120)
Repair and maintenance of ships and boats (33150)
Sea and coastal passenger water transport (50100)
Inland passenger water transport (50300)
Service activities incidental to water transportation (52220)
Renting and leasing of water transport equipment (77341)

The Office for National Statistics publication Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) includes average employment costs within this sector which can be found in Table 14. Average employment costs are provided for full-time employees, part-time employees and all employees.

The data includes average employment costs for:

ship and hovercraft officers
seafarers (merchant navy); barge, lighter and boat operatives.

Other regions

Please see individual country profile pages for links to sources of national statistics.

Legislation and regulation

UK

Gov.uk provides guidance on maritime and freshwater businesses, including:

Air, sea, road and rail transport between the UK and EU
Guidance published by GOV.UK for those working in the transport sector or travelling to the EU from 1 January 2021. Areas covered include maritime and shipping.

Import and export

Trade Tariff

The Trade Tariff is a useful Gov.uk database listing tax, duties and licenses for the import and export of goods between the UK and other countries. The database is searchable by product or commodity code and results can be filtered by date and country. Information also includes links to relevant conditions and regulations.

See import and export information for:

ships, boats and floating structures.

UK key players, ratios and trends

A range of reports on this sector are available to ICAEW members and ACA students via the Library.

UK benchmarking

The Library can supply benchmarking reports to ICAEW members and ACA students.

Trade journals and publications

Trade journals, B2B magazines and specialist consumer magazines are another useful source of news and statistics.

Trade bodies

The websites of trade bodies in this sector are a useful source of industry overviews, contacts and statistics.

UK

Europe

Americas

Asia

Oceania

Global

ICOMIA provides a listing, by country, of member organisations.

ISAF lists Member National Authorities by region.

Sailing Networks provides a Marine Directory, arranged alphabetically and by region, listing associations and national authorities.