ITALIAN MARINE INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION: AN OVERALL POSITIVE OUTLOOK SECTOR-WIDE WITH SMALL BOATS REPORTING SOME UNCERTAINTY

Against the backdrop of a growing sector heading towards normalisation while boatbuilding exports reach an all-time high, concerns about international tariff conflicts are beginning to emerge. The survey conducted shows no market overlap between Made in Italy and US production.

The latest edition of “La Nautica in Cifre Monitor – Trend di Mercato 2024/2025” (“Boating in Figures – Market trends for 2024/2025”) has just been published, a series of statistical reports produced by the Italian Marine Industry Association’s Research Department and only publication of its kind in Italy. Offering detailed analyses of mid-year market trends, the reports provide insights into the overall state of the Italian yachting industry.  

Following the outstanding results achieved up until 2023, in 2024 companies across the boating industry were faced with a scenario defined by a growing economic complexity that has led to the normalisation of the sector’s growth and a wider difference between market dynamics of high-end manufacturers, the demand for which still remains high, and those of small craft producers, who, in certain type and size segments, are instead experiencing uncertainties across a number of markets. This is also confirmed by the performance of indoor trade events throughout the first part of the year.

The outlook for the Italian boating industry remains overall positive, driven by the particularly significant contributions of the superyacht segment, which retains its global leadership for orders over 24 metres, with 572 yachts under construction out of a total of 1,138 worldwide.

Enterpreneur sentiment for 2025 among the data provided by Confindustria Nautica, sector operators and the market now also have access to the statistical survey the Association presented to its member companies last December and which made it possible to examine the 2025 sentiment of entrepreneurs with regards to market trends.

Of all the data analysed, for the superyacht segment a particular focus was given to the variation in backlog figures between December 2024 and December 2023. On the other hand, for units measuring up to 24 metres in length, boating equipment and engines, turnover forecasts for 2025 were examined in comparison to the previous year. For 34% of companies, order books in the superyacht segment as of December 2024 are either growing or stabilising compared to the same period in 2023. The remaining 66% report moderate cases of contraction, with 33% experiencing a reduction no higher than 5% while a further 33% report a decrease between 5 and 10%.

As for craft up to 24 metres in length, 22% of respondents anticipate an increase in turnover for 2025, 45% expect stabilisation and 33% expect a reduction.

In the equipment and engines segment, 16% of companies expect to see an increase in turnover in 2025 compared to 2024, 63% expect a stable trend, and 21% expect a contraction.

Entrepreneurs operating in the charter sector are split evenly between those who report overall positive expectations for the 2025 season with a higher turnover compared to the previous year while 43% expect turnover to stabilise and 7% are predicting a slight contraction (within -5%). Overall, 79% of respondents stated that the average value of weeks sold in 2024 either increased or remained stable.

With regards to nautical tourism, the survey conducted by Italy’s national marinas association Assomarinas with its members in September 2024 recorded a positive outlook for 2025, with forecasts that were more optimistic than those gathered the previous year. Projections for the 2025 calendar year indicate signs of growth across all the major factors that determine a marina’s turnover. Of particular note, estimates show increases ranging from +1.5% in berth sales to +3.2% in transit berths.

The impact of exogenous factors on the market and outlook for exports of all exogenous factors, the greatest impact is attributable to interest rates, which are still considered to be too high despite the recent cuts by the European Cental Bank, and unsold stock. In addition to these elements, the majority of respondents also considered political tensions and international conflicts among the most impactful factors on consumer confidence.

Within this context, the performance of global exports of Italian boatbuilding production is unequivocally the most significant factor responsible for driving growth in recent years: in September 2024, the Fondazione Edison, scientific partner of the Nautica in Cifre publication, recorded an all-time high for exports of yachting units produced in Italy, which reached the threshold figure of 4.5 billion euros. Italy remains the world’s leading exporter of boats and yachts units in 2024. Thus, in the “Libro Verde Made in Italy 2030” (“2030 Made in Italy Green Book”) issued by the Italian Ministry of Business and Made in Italy Production, the yachting industry has been included alongside Italy’s historic 4As, or traditional pillars of Italian manufacturing.

Concern is emerging across Europe over current escalations on the matter of tariffs and the possible consequences in terms of costs and supply for the yachting industry. The United States continue to be the most important market on the global stage for Italian yards, albeit with a downturn recorded in the last year, and Italian production involves types of yachts that tend to not overlap with those typically produced in the US. At the same time, US exports to Italy have almost doubled over the course of the last twelve months, compared to the previous twelve-month period.