Ocean and Great Lakes Economy 

ocean economy

Ocean Economy Data 

The visualization below begins with the US Ocean GDP for each sector of the ocean economy. Users may search by state and/or county, industry, sector, and year. Users may also change the graph variable to examine trends in GDP, Wages, Employment, and establishments. For more information on how to use the NOEP Apps, view the manual. 

The data presented here represent a subset of economic values in the Ocean and Great Lakes economies that are derived from and consistent with standard federal government economic data series from the Department of Labor and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. It is thus consistent with the major national and regional economic data.

The Ocean Economy Sector & Industry Data includes six primary sectors of economic activity that derives all or part of its inputs from the ocean and/or Great Lakes. These economic activities are grouped into sectors and their component industries, as defined by NOEP, to delineate the Ocean Economy. For more information regarding Ocean Sectors and Industries, see Sector and Industry Definitions.

For more detailed information, see the Guide to the Measurement of the Market Data for the Ocean and Coastal Economy, a PDF document containing the FAQs and background information explaining the terms and boundaries and exposing the data collection methodology.

The Geographic Regions available in the Ocean Economy are the nation and the thirty coastal states and their counties. The economic indicators of the ocean sectors and industries are derived from different geographic areas, depending on the industry definition and the resource classifications. Some sectors, such as Tourism & Recreation, are aggregated from Near Shore regions, while others depend on coastal counties for valuation. See How is "ocean" defined? for more information.

The Ocean Economy data for the years beyond 2004 were generated by NOAA's Office of Coastal Management through the Economics National Ocean Watch (ENOW). All other Ocean and Coastal Economy data were compiled by the National Ocean Economics Program.

Economic Indicators found in the Ocean Economy and Coastal Economy data are the number of establishments, employment, wages, and State Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For more information, see How are the Ocean and Coastal Economies measured?