Yachting Market Report 2023
source "the state of yachting"
The global yachting market is constantly expanding, with ships that are increasingly luxurious, comfortable and environmentally friendly. Find out more about market trends and key figures.
Who are the owners of yachts and superyachts?
The United States has the largest number of owners of Superyachts over 40 metres, with 24% of the total fleet.
Russian owners come second, with 8% of the fleet, followed by Greece and Turkey with 6% each.
The United Kingdom and Italy close the gap with 5% each.
American clients are the ones who have bought the most new yachts over 40 metres in the last 10 years, with 18% of all these yachts, closely followed by Russian clients, with 15%.
Looking only at yachts over 40 metres sold and under construction today, 26% are being built for American clients and 9% for Russian clients, well down on the 13% recorded in last year’s report.
Greece and Croatia have joined the ranks of the top new-build buyers, at the expense of Brazilian and Hong Kong buyers.
Greek buyers are now the third largest group of new-build buyers, with a 6% share of yachts under construction.
The market for new yachts
Of the 668 superyachts currently under construction, 134 are available for sale.
The number of units available for sale represents 20% of the order book. This figure is down from 21% last year and 35% in 2021.
Of the 134 superyachts available, 117 are under construction, while 17 are offered for sale by their owners.
Of the 5,555 superyachts in the fleet, 929 are for sale, representing 17% of the fleet. This figure is down from 21% last year and the lowest since we began publishing this report in 2016.
The number of new superyacht sales slowed by 27% in 2022. Sales of new builds launched to order have almost halved.
Sales of new yachts between 30 and 50 metres have fallen the most, while sales between 50 and 80 metres have fallen very slightly. Sales of new yachts over 80 metres fell relatively sharply, by 29%.
The second-hand yacht market
The availability of pre-owned yachts is at an all-time low.
In fact, 2022 was another year of very strong used yacht sales. 372 yachts were sold.
That’s not as high as the record 506 yachts sold in 2021, but it’s still the second best year we’ve recorded since used yacht market statistics were first published in 2017.
This year’s sales have resulted in a low availability of pre-owned yachts for sale, representing 17% of the operating fleet of superyachts over 30m.
The availability of pre-owned yachts has not been helped by the fact that many yachts have been withdrawn from sale in 2021 and 2022 as clients have been unable to find a replacement yacht and have decided to keep their yacht.
There would be a number of yachts sold to first-time buyers during the Covid-19 pandemic that would return to the market as their owners realise that the superyacht experience is a little more complex than they thought.
Sales of pre-owned superyachts fell by 27% to €372 million.
Yacht sales by size
226 new yachts over 30 metres were sold in 2022, 27% less than the 313 sold in 2021.
While this drop may seem dramatic, it is important to remember that 2021 was an extreme peak in sales and that the sales figures for 2022 are still very good.
In fact, 2022 is still one of the top five sales years in history.
Sales of yachts between 30 and 50 metres have fallen considerably, as have sales in the 80+ metre segment, which have also dropped by more than a third.
Sales of yachts between 50 and 80 metres were less affected, falling by 11%.
The used yacht market has followed a similar trend to the new yacht market, with a 26% drop from 506 sales in 2021 (a record) to 372 in 2022.
The outlook for the yacht charter market
According to several charter market players, the first few months of 2023 have been slightly slower than the same period last year in terms of bookings. This is not surprising as the first few months of 2022 were very hectic with clients catching up after the closure of Covid-19 or booking early to ensure they had the yacht and time slot of their choice.
2022 was generally seen as a very good year for the charter sector.
The yachting industry is booming. Brokers continue to report good business in 2023 and believe that the slowdown seen in the first few months of the year is more of a rebalancing of the market.
Many new customers entered the market after Covid-19, increasing the overall customer base. Some of these new customers are younger and from the technology sector.
Most of them are not yet opting for the larger yachts, although there is certainly a select group of regular billionaire clients in the market who charter very large yachts over 80 metres on a yearly basis.
Clients charter yachts over 80 metres for one or two weeks at a time, spending €1 million or more per week.
On the owner side, some clients continue to use their yacht privately for longer periods of time than before Covid-19, while others have returned to their old habits of operating the yacht commercially, taking a few weeks for private use and making the yacht available to charterers the rest of the time.
But it’s too early to tell what the trend will be. Some of the owners who bought their first yacht during the Covid-19 pandemic are now entering the charter market for the first time.
Owners need personalised advice from charter managers to ensure they have a satisfactory experience.
In conclusion
New yacht sales remained strong in 2022, but fell short of the dizzying heights of 2021, with sales down 28% to 226 vessels.
The pre-owned market also slowed to a similar pace, with 372 yachts sold.
The average price per pre-owned yacht rose by around a fifth, while the average price per GT increased by 15%.
Despite the slowdown in the market, the yachting industry is doing well, with the number of yachts under construction increasing by 7% in 2023.
Shipyards have full order books and some have already sold yachts for delivery in 2028.
