LYRA Yachting Agency has published The Premium and Luxury Yacht Market 2026, an interactive study of the yacht offer available to end buyers.
The research analyses 1,025 current model records from 193 brands and shipyards. The dataset was captured on 17 August 2026 and covers series-built and semi-custom yachts selected under LYRA's premium and luxury market methodology.
Unlike a sales or delivery report, the study looks at the market through represented choice. Each model card is treated as one available option. The study then examines how those options are distributed by size, yacht type, hull configuration, country of origin, brand portfolio and intended use, alongside listed starting prices and modelled ownership scenarios.
LYRA plans to publish a new edition annually ahead of the Cannes Yachting Festival and Monaco Yacht Show. Each edition will identify its own research snapshot so that figures from different years are not mixed.
Where the Market Offers the Most Choice
The broadest size band is 15 to under 20 metres, with 294 models. It represents 28.7% of all yachts in the study with a stated length.
In total, 620 models — 60.5% of the length sample — are below 25 metres. Above that point, represented choice narrows while median listed prices and price per metre rise.
Across the complete represented offer, the median yacht is 21.99 metres long and has a median listed starting price of €3.90 million.
The median listed price is €182,188 per linear metre of overall length. Size-band medians range from €73,077 per metre below 15 metres to €1,124,966 per metre at 50 metres and above, a difference of more than fifteen times.
The change reflects more than additional length. Engineering, crew requirements, onboard infrastructure and the level of customisation change as yachts move between size categories.
“The market is normally presented to a buyer one yacht, one brand or one portfolio at a time. This study puts those options into one structure. It shows where a buyer has a wide field to compare and where the field becomes much narrower, while keeping the difference between represented choice, sales and demand clear.”
Looking Beyond the Purchase Price
The study also examines what happens after a yacht is purchased.
Using LYRA's modelled ownership scenario across 810 yachts within the calculator range, the median first-year ownership budget equals 4.96% of the yacht's base price. Across five modelled years, the median ratio reaches 25.70%.
The figures represent a complete modelled ownership budget rather than maintenance alone. The scenario includes crew, marina, insurance, registration, planned expenditure and the cost of one full fuel tank. The fuel line is not annual consumption.
Crew is the largest component in the combined first-year scenario, accounting for 46.3% of the modelled budget.
The study also shows how charter may contribute towards annual ownership expenditure. Under LYRA's assumptions, four to seven modelled charter weeks depending on yacht size offset a median 60.2% of the complete first-year charter-mode ownership budget across the analysed set.
This is not a forecast of utilisation, investment return or repayment of the yacht's purchase price.
Why the Size Labels Differ
The study separates market coverage from calculator coverage.
The full market view includes every model with a stated overall length. Its editorial classes are: under 24 metres, 24 to under 40 metres, 40 to 50 metres inclusive, and over 50 metres. The under-24-metre class contains 597 models, including 135 below 15 metres.
The ownership calculator covers yachts from 15 to 50 metres. Its first class is therefore 15 to under 24 metres and contains 456 models with complete calculator inputs. Models below 15 metres and megayachts above 50 metres are not included in ownership calculations.
The two labels must not be used interchangeably.
A Market Viewed Through the Buyer's Decision
Beyond price and size, LYRA's research examines different ways an owner may intend to use a yacht.
The study identifies 362 models within its “First yacht” criterion, 737 within its Travel scenario and 111 meeting the narrower Expedition criteria. Other views examine yachts positioned as floating homes and Explorer-type platforms.
These are editorial and catalogue lenses, not technical certification classes. Their purpose is to translate a complex catalogue into questions closer to the decision a buyer is making: whether a yacht is intended as an entry into ownership, for extended cruising, as a residence on the water or for more autonomous travel.
Geography also shows a concentrated represented offer. Italy has the largest country portfolio in the study, with 503 models across 74 brands, followed by the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and Turkey by model count.
About the Research
The Premium and Luxury Yacht Market 2026 is presented as a dedicated interactive report by LYRA, built from the company's catalogue of current premium and luxury yacht models.
The analysis uses listed starting prices rather than transaction prices. Listed prices may exclude options and taxes. Model counts describe the breadth of represented choice and must not be interpreted as sales, production volume, market share or buyer demand.
Ownership figures are LYRA modelled scenarios rather than observed owner expenditure. Every chart and tooltip should display its sample size and unit.
Read The Premium and Luxury Yacht Market 2026
About LYRA Yachting Agency
LYRA Yachting Agency is an independent buyer-side yacht advisory founded in Marbella, Spain. It supports clients internationally across yacht selection, purchase, negotiation, new-build projects, delivery, refit and ownership. LYRA combines structured yacht-market data and AI-assisted technology with human advisory and personal representation.
