The Balearic marine industry is maintained despite international uncertainty

The Balearic marine industry has closed 2023 with a total of 1,075 recreational boats registered, a figure virtually identical to that of 2022, in which 1,080 units were registered, representing a slight decrease of 0.4%, compared to the slight increase of 2.2% recorded nationally, where 5,976 units were registered.

Of this overall figure, just over half corresponded to the yacht charter market. Specifically, 608 of the boats registered in 2023, i.e. 56.3% of the Balearic total, are for charter. With these data on the table, the Balearic charter accounts for 29.56% of the national market, placing it comfortably as the leading province in this area, followed by Barcelona, with 9.7%, and Girona, with 8.2%.

Turning to the global nautical market data, last year, the Balearic Islands registered 18% of the boats registered in Spain, leading Spain by provinces. This was followed by Barcelona, with 10.5%, and Madrid, with 7%. 

By autonomous communities, only Andalusia and Catalonia, with market shares of 20% and 19% respectively, slightly surpassed the Balearic Islands as the regions with the highest nautical activity in the overall calculation. In the charter market, the Archipelago leads the market in 2023 followed by Catalonia, with a share of 22%.

These data are part of the "January-December report on the recreational boating market 2023", published by ANEN based on data provided by the Directorate General of the Merchant Navy. "It has been a year in which the nautical market has maintained the balance in registration data, thanks mainly to those made for jet skis, with a downward trend that is likely to extend over the next year," ANEN points out. Given the complex global economic situation in which there is no end in sight to the international conflicts that bring uncertainty, the sector must make a significant effort in innovation, which backed by an adaptation of taxation and the progress of ongoing regulatory changes, can maintain and expand an attractive offer to stimulate sales," says Jordi Carrasco, general director of  ANEN.