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Measuring the Blue Economy Worldwide

| by Rachel Christopherson

News Stories

Rotterdam, south Holland
Rotterdam is a major port city in the Dutch province of South Holland. (Credit: Pixabay Public Domain Images )

The Center for the Blue Economy leads the effort to measure the economic contributions of oceans and coastlines at the local, regional, state, national, and international levels.

In 2015, the Center for the Blue Economy hosted the first Oceans in International Income Accounts symposium with 26 attendees representing 10 countries. This was the start of an important global conversation on how to define and measure the ocean economy within a national income accounting system. The third annual Oceans in International Income Accounts symposium was hosted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France, in 2017, with 71 people representing 26 countries. Not only is the Center for the Blue Economy a leader in fostering this growing movement, we are also leading the way in “metadata analysis.” Metadata is data about data—a standard way of describing the oceans in national income accounts. This will allow us to compare data between nations.