There is a wide set of economic activities directly or indirectly connected with the sea and coastal area.
The main ones are fishery and associated activities, maritime transport, naval construction and repair. Besides these, there are other activities benefiting from being close to the sea such as tourism.
Other than being quite diverse, these activities have also evolved randomly over the last years.
Fishery and associated activities stood for a total turnover of EUR 2 684 million in 2012, corresponding to a decrease of 2.3% when compared with the previous year. In 2012 fishery and associated activities employed 28.8 thousand persons (3.1% less than in 2011).
In 2012, naval construction and repair accounted for a total turnover of EUR 245 million (involving a total of 3.5 thousand workers), which represented an 11.4% increase in comparison with 2011.
The maritime transport employed 4.1 thousand persons in 2012 and accounted for a turnover of EUR 664 million in this year (-2.9% compared to 2011).
In 2012 the enterprises operating in accommodation and food and beverage related activities within coastal areas originated a turnover of EUR 6.5 billion. The turnover originated by accommodation enterprises in coastal areas represented 87.0% of the turnover of the accommodation enterprises in Portugal.
Food and beverage service activities in coastal areas involved 40.4 thousand enterprises in 2012 (1.2% less than in 2011) and accounted for a turnover of EUR 4.4 thousand in this year (-11.5% towards 2011).