Today shipping is one of the most important sectors of the business life in the Aaland Islands. It has traditions from centuries ago. During the 20th century shipping developed from sailing-vessels to steamships, and later on to motorships, oil-tankers and today's big passenger-vessels. About one-third of the Finnish fleet is administered from Mariehamn. The shipping sector creates about 42% of the total GNP-value of Aaland and employs about 1/5 of the population there.

Tourism is growing fast and it has grown swiftly since the introduction of the car-ferry service to Sweden and Finland in 1959.

Fishing is still an important industry. In addition to catching fish for home consumption, the islanders operate a large fleet of well-equipped trawlers, comprising a considerable part of the fishing fleet of Finland.

Business life is versatile in Aaland, with over 1,300 enterprises. There are small and medium-sized enterprises. The business spirit is widespread, so many people run their own firms. The Aaland Chamber of Commerce is the organization that unites these enterprises. It is an organization with about 220 company members and 120 personal members in most branches of industry. There are also employer associations and other organizations in various fields.