Robert van Tol

One of the things I would like to develop in my new role as executive director of SYBAss is data availability and its analysis, use and monitoring of the yachting sector, whether it’s data needed to assess environmental impact (the main focus of my seven years at Water Revolution Foundation) or data to analyse the sector’s economic impact. As a sector we need to ensure that what needs protection is protected – and that is the privacy of the client. However, if all data on yachts is locked up by NDAs we disable ourselves to utilise it for various important purposes, not the least to show regulators in a proper quantified way the unique character and useage of yachts, which is significantly different from that of commercial ships.

This also counts for claiming yachting’s contribution to the global economy. Yachting is redistributing a large part of the wealth of a relatively small group of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) among thousands of families worldwide. The following breaks down precisely how much money that is every single year.

Together with The Superyacht Life Foundation, SYBAss commissioned an economic impact study that was delivered at the end of 2025. Impacts were calculated based on the year 2022. The global yachting sector has an annual economic impact of 54 billion euros. The metaphor of an iceberg applies here, where the part above the surface presents an impressive 22.2 billion euros direct impact, but the part below the surface adds an additional 31.7 billion euros of indirect impact as the result of a multiplier effect.

The new-build segment was calculated to have an annual economic impact of 20 billion euros, which is 37 per cent of the total annual economic impact of yachting. While the direct impact of new-build activity was calculated at 7.2 billion euros, the multiplier effect for indirect knock-on impact added another 12.8 billion euros. Elaborating on this multiplier effect, new build exhibited the strongest indirect effects compared to refit, brokerage and charter and fleet operations (relative to its total output impact). This reflects new build’s complex and internationally connected supply chain. The average output multiplier for new build is 2.8, meaning that each euro of production in this segment generates an additional 1.8 euros of output elsewhere in the global economy. This magnitude of new build turned out to be broadly comparable to those observed in other advanced manufacturing industries.

The top three major contributors to the new-build impact are:

1) Hull and superstructure construction at 21 per cent
2) Mechanical systems at 20 per cent
3) Luxury interior at 11 per cent.

It will not come at a surprise that the centre of gravity of new build is in Europe at almost 80 per cent, yet this report informed that 135 shipyards were actively building 30-metre-plus yachts globally in 2022. This seems a lot compared to the 24 members SYBAss has. The threshold of having built at least three motoryachts over 40 metres or three sailing yachts over 27 metres over the last 10 years proves a significant barrier. Members represent 33 per cent of current production between 30 and 39 metres, both motor and sailing, and 44.5 per cent over 40 metres, 56 per cent motor and 33 per cent sailing. The market share of SYBAss members goes up exponentially in the bigger size ranges.

I kindly invite you to keep an eye on the online SYBAss channels for further release of this economic impact study’s results, executed by Deloitte and the Spatial Economics faculty at VU University of Amsterdam.

I am obviously biased, but if you ask me, the new-build segment is where the biggest excitement is – turning new designs into reality, game-changing R&D and innovations and perhaps a new clientele with different dreams and concepts that will redefine the yachting lifestyle, while preserving craftsmanship, feeding thousands of families and taking incredible risks for minor and very fragile margins. The position of the builders is one that needs the sector’s collective priority, as data proves it is decisive for everyone else’s long-term success.

Together with the clients, the shipyards are the engine of the yachting sector. The glamorous end-product and jet-set lifestyle often gets the spotlight, but yachting is primarily a blue-collar manufacturing and repair maritime industry, with highly skilled workforces that requires nurturing and continuous development while competing with other industries that look for the same individuals.

So let’s be more supportive of shipyards, as in the end it will benefit all other yachting stakeholders. I am honoured to lead this mission and look forward to work together. 

This article first appeared in The Superyacht Report: New Build Focus. With our open-source policy, it is available to all by following this link, so read and download the latest issue and any of our previous issues in our library.

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