How large is the superyacht charter market—and what does the number include?
The closest recent public revenue benchmark found is approximately US$2.2 billion for 2025, reported by IYC. It is not a verified valuation of this desk’s exact 24-metre-plus market. The public summary does not sufficiently disclose revenue inclusions, fleet coverage or estimation methodology to treat it as an audited base-fee census. (iyc.com)
- Because its product definition is different.
- Not reliably from the figures located.
| Metric | Published figure and measurement period | Source and publication date | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global charter revenue | Approximately US$2.2bn in 2025 | IYC, July 27, 2026 | Supplier-reported market estimate; precise revenue perimeter insufficiently disclosed. (iyc.com) |
| Charter volume | More than 15,800 charter weeks in 2025 | IYC, July 27, 2026 | Weeks, not individual contracts or unique customers. (iyc.com) |
| Marketed charter supply | More than 2,300 yachts above 20m; approximately 6.5% average annual fleet growth | IYC, July 27, 2026 | Broader size threshold than this desk; growth period not specified in the public summary. (iyc.com) |
| Another booking-volume series | 13,812 charters in 2025, up 10.28% between 2023 and 2025, for yachts above 20m | Monaco Life, September 1, 2026, reporting BOATPro/YachtFolio data | Secondary reporting of a separate dataset; not directly reconciled with IYC’s weeks. (monacolife.net) |
| Broad yacht-charter market | US$8.98bn in 2025; forecast US$9.69bn in 2026 and US$18.20bn in 2034, with 8.19% forecast CAGR for 2026–2034 | Fortune Business Insights, updated September 28, 2026 | Publisher estimates covering bareboat and crewed contracts—not a superyacht-only market. (fortunebusinessinsights.com) |
| US-origin expenditure on professionally crewed yachts of approximately 24m+ worldwide | Not established | Desk assessment, October 16, 2026 | No reviewed source isolates residence, yacht size and charter expenditure together. |
Why not use the largest available market-size estimate?
Because its product definition is different. Fortune Business Insights explicitly includes bareboat and crewed contracts. Its headline market value therefore cannot be substituted for expenditure on professionally crewed superyacht holidays. Nor should a forecast CAGR be described as growth already achieved. (fortunebusinessinsights.com)
The IYC and BOATPro/YachtFolio figures also use different units. A charter can last longer or shorter than a week, and coverage may differ. Dividing one publisher’s revenue by another publisher’s contract count would create an apparently precise average from unmatched datasets. The reviewed material does not support that calculation. (iyc.com)
Can the US share be estimated from brokerage client statistics?
Not reliably from the figures located. Fraser says American owners and charterers account for more than 50% of its worldwide activity, on an undated company page reviewed October 16, 2026. That combines ownership and charter activity at one firm; it is not the US share of global charter-fee expenditure. (fraseryachts.com)
The supplied desk hypotheses of US$3–6bn globally and US$0.9–2.1bn from US-origin buyers remain unvalidated. They should not be published as measured market sizes. The defensible editorial position is to present the nearest available benchmark with its limitations and leave the exact US-origin total open.
Sources cited
- iyc.com https://iyc.com/blog/market-and-iyc-charter-performance-first-half-of-2026/
- monacolife.net https://monacolife.net/french-riviera-and-monaco-dominate-summer-charter-market/
- fortunebusinessinsights.com https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/yacht-charter-market-105123
- fraseryachts.com https://www.fraseryachts.com/en/fraser-us-offices/