Maritime transport indicators

In the third quarter of 2023, China was the economy best connected to the global liner shipping network, as measured by the liner shipping connectivity index (LSCIliner shipping connectivity index). The Republic of Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and the United States of America followed next in the rankings. Regional leaders included: Spain and the Netherlands in Europe; Panama and Colombia in Latin America and the Caribbean; Egypt and Morocco in Africa; and Sri Lanka and India in Southern Asia. Excluding landlocked countries, among the least connected 30 economies, 17 are SIDSsmall island developing States, four of which are also LDCsleast developed countries.

Three of the top five best-connected ports are in China, namely Shanghai, Ningbo and Quindao, together with Pusan in the Republic of Korea and the port of Singapore. The top ten includes eight Southern or South-Eastern Asian ports and two European ports, namely Rotterdam and Antwerp. Amongst the 30 best-connected ports, 20 were in Asia, nine in Europe and one, Tanger Med, in Africa.

In 2021, 851.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers were handled in ports worldwide. World container port throughput increased by 7 percent between 2020 and 2021. This marks the continuation of a long-term trend of steady growth that halted only in the year of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020. Over the last decade, world container port throughput increased by 43 per cent, from 593.8 million TEUs in 2011.¹

Asia’s leading role as a global maritime freight loading and discharging centre (see the World seaborne trade page) and its high liner shipping connectivity is mirrored in the region’s high contribution to containerized port throughput. In 2021, ports in developing economies of Asia handled 59 per cent of world port container traffic. The shares of developing America and developing Africa were significantly lower, at 7 and 4 per cent respectively.