A Comparative Assessment of National Approaches to Defining the Ocean Economy

The development of an Ocean Economy Satellite Account (OESA) within the Industry Accounts of the National Income and Product Accounts is taking place at a time when there is increased attention to the measurement of the contribution of oceans to national and regional incomes in many countries. The question arises, therefore, about how the experience in other countries can inform the process in the U.S. The first part of this report presents a summary of discussions that took place at a symposium held at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in November 2017 on the subject of the measurement of oceans in national income accounts. It then presents a preliminary analysis of the industries and sectors that have been defined in twenty-five ocean economy studies for national governments and international organizations