Quanto Vale o Mar na Economia Portuguesa?

This paper tries to make a quantitative assessment of the evolution of the main economic activities directly related to the sea- fishing, ports, merchant navy and naval defence - in Portugal since the 19th century. It concludes that these activities increased their importance in the early 20th century, and lost importance during the late 20th century. The turning point came rather early in the case of fishing and port activity (1920s), and even of naval defence (1930s), somewhat later in the case of merchant navy (1960s). These activities represent today, on the whole, around 1.5 % of total added value in the Portuguese economy. However, an increase of the weight of maritime economy in the Portuguese economy seems possible, given the possibility to expand these activities and others, such as aquaculture and sea leisure, which are favoured by the country's geography.