The Global Order Book 2026, published by Boat International on 11 December 2025, confirms that Italy now accounts for 52% of the world's superyacht order book: 568 vessels of 24 metres or more, totalling 240,560GT, out of 1,093 yachts on order or in build worldwide. Azimut|Benetti Group tops the builder ranking for a 26th consecutive year, ahead of Sanlorenzo and the Ferretti Group.
Table of Contents
- What the Global Order Book 2026 shows
- Azimut|Benetti and Sanlorenzo: the ranking's two giants
- Ferretti Group: the industry's other pillar
- Design and showcase: Kitzbühel and Genoa
- Where Italy sits in the global picture
- FAQ
What the Global Order Book 2026 Shows
Boat International surveyed 190 shipyards across five continents to build the Global Order Book 2026, published on 11 December 2025: 1,093 yachts of 24 metres or more under contract before 1 September 2025, down about 4% from 1,138 the year before — even as average length and tonnage under construction hit record highs. Build slots at the leading yards are already committed through 2028–2029. Within that smaller but denser pool, Italy's share climbed two percentage points to 52% — 568 vessels and 240,560GT — as also covered in our earlier report on the Global Order Book 2026 and its 1,093 yachts under construction.
Azimut|Benetti and Sanlorenzo: the Ranking's Two Giants
Azimut|Benetti Group holds the top spot in the builder ranking for a 26th consecutive year, with 163 units under construction totalling 5,924 metres of combined length — roughly 23% of the entire global market measured in metres, spread across facilities in Viareggio, Avigliana and other sites on the peninsula. Second place belongs to Sanlorenzo, which has folded the Finnish sailing-yacht builder Nautor Swan into its reported figures: combined, the two now account for 130 yachts and 4,698 metres of total length. The financials back that ranking up: over the first nine months of 2025, Sanlorenzo posted net revenue of €690.1 million (+3.2% versus 2024), net income of €75.9 million, EBITDA of €128.0 million and a total backlog of €1.7 billion — 90% already sold to final clients — with order intake up 18.4% to €689.7 million, according to the company's own nine-month results.
Ferretti Group: the Industry's Other Pillar
The third name underpinning Italy's dominance is the Ferretti Group, owner of Riva, Pershing, Custom Line and CRN. Over the first nine months of 2025, revenue reached €887 million (+2.5%), EBITDA hit €142 million (+2.5%) and net profit reached €61 million — essentially flat against €62.2 million in the same period of 2024, even against a backdrop of US-EU tariff uncertainty the company itself flagged as weighing on the yacht industry in the first half. The figure that matters most here sits in the backlog: up 12.9% to €1.5 billion, driven specifically by 29.5% growth in the superyacht segment, according to the group's nine-month results. That acceleration in the largest size segment is the same force pushing Italy's overall order-book share upward.
Design and Showcase: Kitzbühel and Genoa
Italy's dominance is not only a matter of volume. On 1 February 2026, the Boat International Design & Innovation Awards, presented at the Superyacht Design Festival in Kitzbühel, Austria, named the 24.47-metre Ferretti Yachts 800 Best New Series, and also recognised Cantiere delle Marche's 46.71-metre RJ, Genoa-based builder Tankoa's 56-metre Loewe, and Perini Navi, which won Best Interior Design among sailing yachts for the 60-metre Katana. Much of that engineering converges every September on the Salone Nautico di Genova, which reached its 65th edition in 2025, running 18–23 September at Piazzale Kennedy — the same backdrop covered in Genoa Boat Show 2025 and the Weight of Italian Industry. Genoa functions as the domestic showcase for an industrial cluster concentrated along the coasts of Liguria and Tuscany.
Where Italy Sits in the Global Picture
Italy's growing share is happening precisely as the global order book gets smaller, not bigger — 1,093 yachts against 1,138 the year before. On the demand side, however, the sales pace remains strong: brokerage Denison Yachting recorded 470 yachts of 24 metres or more sold globally in 2025, up 19.9% from 392 in 2024, as detailed in Superyacht Sales Up 19.9% in 2025 — the demand backdrop that helps explain why Italian builders such as Azimut|Benetti and Sanlorenzo have production committed through the end of the decade, a trend already flagged in Fewer Yachts, Bigger Yachts: What the Order Book Says About 2028.
| Builder / group | Order-book units | Total length | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azimut|Benetti Group | 163 | 5,924 m (~23% of the global market) | 1st, 26th consecutive year |
| Sanlorenzo (with Nautor Swan) | 130 | 4,698 m | 2nd |
| Italy (total) | 568 | 240,560 GT | 52% of the global order book |
| World (total) | 1,093 | — | Base: 190 shipyards across 5 continents |
FAQ
What is the Global Order Book 2026? It is Boat International's annual survey of yachts of 24 metres or more on order or in build worldwide, published on 11 December 2025 based on a survey of 190 shipyards across five continents. The 2026 edition counted 1,093 units, down from 1,138 the year before.
Why does Italy build 52% of the world's superyachts? The country holds the segment's largest shipbuilding cluster — Azimut|Benetti, Sanlorenzo, the Ferretti Group, Cantiere delle Marche and Tankoa — concentrated along Liguria and Tuscany. The Global Order Book 2026 attributes 568 of the world's 1,093 yachts to Italy, a share up two percentage points from the prior year.
How many yachts does Azimut|Benetti have under construction? 163 units, totalling 5,924 metres of combined length — about 23% of the entire global market measured in metres. It is the group's 26th consecutive year topping Boat International's builder ranking in the Global Order Book.
What changed with Sanlorenzo folding in Nautor Swan? Consolidating the Finnish sailing-yacht builder lifted Sanlorenzo's combined total to 130 yachts and 4,698 metres in the order book, holding it in a clear second place, with revenue and order intake both up by double digits through the first three quarters of 2025.
Do the shipyards' financial results back up this growth? Yes. Sanlorenzo closed the first nine months of 2025 with revenue of €690.1 million and a backlog of €1.7 billion. The Ferretti Group posted revenue of €887 million over the same period, with its superyacht segment backlog growing 29.5% — the fastest-growing line in the group.
Is the global superyacht order book growing or shrinking? By unit count, it shrank: from 1,138 to 1,093 yachts, a drop of roughly 4%. By average length and tonnage under construction, the report shows records — a sign the market is concentrating around larger projects, with production slots at the leading yards already committed through 2028–2029.
Further Reading
This report is part of Voguer News's ongoing coverage of the superyacht industry: Superyacht Sales Up 19.9% in 2025, Fewer Yachts, Bigger Yachts, Global Order Book 2026, Ferretti: Backlog Up 12.9% and Genoa Boat Show 2025. For Mediterranean charter, see the Voguer Yachts fleet; for Brazil's coastline, Voguer lists options by region.
