Shipping

The Sicilian sea is worth 900 million, but the supply chain lies outside the island

The Bank of Italy’s Report on Sicily’s Economy 2025 highlights the significance of a sector employing over 7,000 people. However, purchases and customers remain predominantly on the other side of the Strait

by Nino Amadore

26 June 2026

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3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The study on flows between businesses
A greater economic burden than an employment burden
The value is there, but the supply chain remains external
Energy, ro-ro and new opportunities

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

It is not just a question of ports, tonnes handled or shipping traffic. Sicily has one of the country’s most significant maritime economies: 275 shipping companies, over 7,000 employees and around 900 million euros in added value per year. However, the analysis of the supply chain carried out by researchers at the Bank of Italy highlights the sector’s structural limitation: almost 80 per cent of purchases and over 70 per cent of turnover are concentrated outside the region. The sea generates wealth, but the island is still unable to retain a sufficient share of suppliers, services and high value-added activities.

This is the picture painted in the Bank of Italy’s Annual Report on Sicily’s economy in 2025, presented in Palermo by Milena Caldarella, director of the Bank’s Palermo office. The report devotes a specific in-depth analysis to the maritime sector, going beyond the traditional focus on port traffic.

The study on flows between businesses

The novelty of the analysis lies in the method. Bankitalia has combined data from Infocamere, INPS, Cerved and the Port System Authority with data relating to business-to-business transactions and electronic invoicing. This has enabled it to measure not only the businesses directly involved in ports and shipping, but also the direct and indirect commercial relationships with customers and suppliers.

The shipping sector encompasses port system authorities, maritime and coastal transport of goods and passengers, transport-related services, cargo handling, freight forwarders, customs agents and companies authorised to operate within port areas. A vast network that brings together shipowners, terminals, logistics, services and intermediaries.

Between 2019 and 2023, there were on average 275 Sicilian limited companies operating in the sector, accounting for 9 per cent of the national total. They employed over 7,000 staff and generated around 900 million in annual added value: almost 15 per cent of Italy’s shipping sector employment and just under 20 per cent of the wealth generated by the sector in the country.

A greater economic burden than an employment burden

The most significant figure is the ratio of employment to value. Taking the supply chain into account, maritime logistics accounts for 1.9 per cent of the workforce in Sicilian limited companies, yet generates 4.5 per cent of their value added. Companies directly involved in shipping alone account for 1.3 per cent of the workforce and 3.8 per cent of the region’s value added.

It is therefore a sector with a high capacity to generate wealth, contributing almost three times as much to the value of output as its share of employment. This result is above the average for Italian regions with commercial airports, although it falls short of Liguria, which ranks first nationally in terms of the volume of goods handled.

The value is there, but the supply chain remains external

This limitation is evident from trade flows. For Sicilian shipping companies, almost 80 per cent of purchases of intermediate goods and services are made from firms in other regions. On the customer side, too, links with the external market predominate: over 70 per cent of turnover comes from transactions with counterparties outside Sicily.

In other port regions, however, the proportion of purchases from outside the region averages 60 per cent, whilst that of sales stands at 67 per cent. The Sicilian system therefore appears to be firmly integrated into national networks, but is less able to establish an equally extensive supply chain within the region itself.

The issue is not that this is a marginal sector, but quite the opposite: Sicily has a significant maritime sector, which, however, does not yet generate sufficient demand for maintenance, components, technical services, digital services, training and support businesses based on the island.

Energy, ro-ro and new opportunities

The port sector underscores the importance of this industry. In 2024, Sicilian ports handled almost 80 million tonnes of cargo, accounting for around 16 per cent of the national total. However, almost 70 per cent of this traffic consists of liquid bulk cargo, concentrated in ports near refineries.

Ro-ro traffic, relating to the transport of lorries, cars and trailers, accounts for more than a quarter of all cargo handled and is concentrated mainly in Catania, Palermo and Messina. Between 2015 and 2024, both ro-ro and container traffic grew by around a fifth. Furthermore, by 2025, passenger numbers at Sicilian ports had risen by 6.2 per cent and cruise traffic by 7.9 per cent.

During the conference in Palermo, the Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italia, Gian Luca Trequattrini, identified shipbuilding and maritime logistics as among ‘the foundations upon which a serious industrial strategy could be built’. The point is this: Sicily must not be content merely to be a transit point. The challenge is to turn the sea into an industrial sector capable of retaining more value, more innovation and more skilled jobs within the region.