“Blue Amazon” : Brazilian Ocean Economy (an “Input-Output” Approach)[1] [1] Declarations of Interest: None

The aim of this paper was to measure for the first time the size of the Brazilian ocean economy. To do so we used the OECD methodology adapted for the Brazilian national economic accounts. An input-output matrix was developed to calculate the participation of the sectors. Multipliers of production, value added, income and employment were constructed. Finally, linkages indexes were calculated for all sectors. In a primary perspective, the results showed one of the biggest ocean economies of the world, then, they demonstrated an extreme dependence on tourism and oil and gas. Sectors with higher technological content and greater capacity to generate value added had little participation. There is an unexplored potential for integrating the ocean economy with the productive structure of the country. We conclude that Brazil needs a national ocean strategy to develop its blue Amazon without damaging its highly diversified marine ecological systems