Container Port Traffic by Country 2023

About This Dataset

This chart ranks countries by container port traffic in 2023, measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), the standard shipping container measure. It counts all containers moved through a country's ports, including transhipment.

✨ AI Insight

China leads with 278.8 million TEU, more than five times second-placed United States on 54.6 million and greater than every other country on this list combined. This single figure captures China's role as the workshop of the world better than almost any other statistic. Singapore is third on 39 million despite being a city-state of six million people, a position built almost entirely on transhipment as goods pass through rather than originate there. Southeast and East Asia are overwhelming: China, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan and Vietnam take six of the top ten. Spain at 16.4 million is the only European entry, underlining how far global shipping has shifted eastward.

Source: World Bank (UNCTAD / Drewry Maritime Research)

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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China leads with 278,759,834 in 2023.

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Average value in 2023: 53,332,682 · median: 25,227,425.

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Gap in 2023: China is 17× larger than Spain.