Five years after the publication of the first report on the economy of the sea, the Federation of the Sea gave the Censis the task of preparing a second report, analyzing and assessing the economic and employment impact of maritime activities on the country's development.

The scope of this volume was greatly enlarged compared to the previous one. The statistical and econometric estimates were reconsidered on the basis of the most up-to-date official data available. In addition to maritime business activities, other strategic sectors were considered as well, including the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Port Authorities.

In 2000, maritime activities in their entirety generated almost 26,300 million euro of production - equaling approximately 2.3% of the national GDP - providing employment to over 356,000 work units, both directly and indirectly, equaling approximately 1.5% of total national employment.

The report is completed by an in-depth reconstruction of the statistical situations of the individual maritime sectors and a study on the European level of the dynamics of forming national maritime clusters.

The study presents itself as a first step towards the creation, on the basis of the Federation of the Sea's core structure, of an Italian maritime cluster that could establish a unified representation of the common needs of its diverse members.