The shipbuilding sector in Galicia provides 3,500 direct jobs in the shipyards, a thousand of which are in small and medium-sized factories, and 6,500 indirect jobs in auxiliary industries in the sector.

The Galician shipbuilding industry is focusing on technological advancements, building more sophisticated and complex ships, and on reducing productive capacity in order to allow the sector to adapt to the demands of a highly internationalised and competitive market.

The auxiliary industry experienced considerable growth, becoming a fundamental part of the economic fabric, as a subcontractor of a large part of the shipbuilding activity, and a source of innovation and specialisation. Also noteworthy is the construction and repair of all types of recreational watercraft, which has gained importance in recent years as a booming subsector of the shipbuilding industry.

The coordination and management provided since the year 2000 by the Cluster of the Galician Naval Sector (Clúster del Naval de Galicia or ACLUNAGA), an organisation dedicated to unifying and organising shipyards and auxiliary companies in the shipbuilding industry, helped boost activities in the sector through cooperation between companies. ACLUNAGA, the first cluster created in the Spanish naval sector, is comprised of 138 Galician companies, has a turnover of over 950 million Euro, and employs some 6,500 workers.