Shipbuilding, Liguria first for added value

Shipbuilding is growing in Liguria and in seven years has taken the region to first place in Italy in the sector in terms of added value. This is what emerges from a Bankitalia study on the Ligurian economy. Considered one of the region's leading sectors, shipbuilding recorded a strongly positive dynamic between 2015 and 2022 (the latest period for which figures are available). This has resulted in an increase in the share of shipbuilding in manufacturing value added.

According to data from ISTAT's Territorial Frame SBS register, which reports information on the factories operating in the region, regardless of where the companies have their registered offices, at the end of 2022 (the latest year available), the Ligurian research office of the Bank of Italy notes, the shipbuilding industry "accounted for 17% of the added value and 15% of the manufacturing workforce, values that were significantly higher not only than the national figure (equal to just over 1% for both), but also the average of the comparison group, made up of the top five Italian regions in terms of importance of the sector", i.e. Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Tuscany, Marche and Campania.

Moreover, the report emphasises, 'unlike in these regions, in Liguria the incidence of shipbuilding grew markedly between 2015 and 2022, in terms of both added value and the number of employees in local units. The added value in real terms grew by 15%, reaching a quarter of the national total: the highest share among all Italian regions'.

In the period considered, "the added value in real terms per employee (an indicator of labour productivity) has risen significantly: after a drop observed in 2020, it rose sharply in 2021 and fell again in 2022, reaching almost 77 thousand euros, a level higher than that recorded in the other regional manufacturing sectors (74 thousand euros) and in the shipbuilding industry of the five regions of the comparison group (57 thousand euros, on average). Higher levels of productivity are associated with higher salaries: Liguria is the region where these are highest (over 30 thousand euros per year)'.

Ligurian shipbuilding companies, the study certifies, are also characterised by "a higher degree of internationalisation than those in the comparison group. In 2022, 74% of the added value and 57% of the employees were attributable to local units belonging to multinational companies, some 20 percentage points more than in the other regions. Establishments attributable to exporting companies generated 86% of the total value added and employed 67% of the workforce (again about 20 percentage points more than the other regions)'.