Measuring the international ocean economy trade: Method and application

With the increasing importance of ocean in the international economy, it is time for the statistics of ocean economy to go beyond the simple accounting of national economic share, and move to the statistics and measurement of international trade flows. Based on the “Theory-method-application" approach and a global review of ocean economy and its trade statistics accounting theory, this paper reclassifies the products in the international trade classification code that meet the screening criteria, proposes an accounting method of trade statistics including ocean trade in goods and services, and applies the method to the measurement of global trade in ocean goods and services from 2005 to 2021. The results show that global ocean trade has grown substantially from $5.85 trillion to $11.20 trillion during this period, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.14 %. Offshore oil & gas, ocean mining, and shipbuilding dominate goods trade, while maritime transportation, marine information services, and coastal tourism account for the majority of services trade. Instead of the generally assumed “three poles of the world”, the global spatial distribution of ocean economy trade demonstrates that a dynamic of multiple core players. Using this method, it is possible to conduct economic analysis across countries and sectors and meet the consistency of theory, accounting, and standards, which can be used by scholars to conduct replicable research that can contribute to the larger object of integrated ocean accounts and expanding the research of ocean economy and its policies. • Development of a novel statistical methodology for quantifying global ocean economy trade. • Comprehensive quantitative analysis of ocean economy trade using granular micro-data on goods and services. • Revelation of a multipolar pattern in the international trade landscape of the ocean economy. • Enhancement of ocean economy trade accounts to expand research horizons and inform policy decisions.