Shanghai and Singapore - the busiest ports in the world, by cargo traffic

Nine of the world's ten busiest ports are in Asia, underscoring the eastward shift of global trade flows in 2024, according to a visualcapitalist.com analysis.

Amidst supply chain changes and deeper integration, intra-regional trade in Asia has grown significantly. In the 1990s, over 70% of Asian exports - by value - left the region, the containers being sent back mostly empty, notes the quoted source. By comparison, approximately 60% of exports from Asia are traded in the region today.

Ship Technology shows that, according to the figures for 2023, the busiest ports in the world are the following: Shanghai (China), with 49 million TEU; Singapore - 39 million; Ningbo-Zhoushan (China) - 35.3 million; Shenzhen (China) - 26.9 million; Qingdao (China) - 26.4 million; Busan (South Korea) - 22.8 million; Tianjin (China) - 21.8 million; Guangzhou (China) - 20.8 million; Hong Kong (China) - 14.3 million; Rotterdam (Netherlands) - 13.4 million. TEU stands for twenty-foot equivalent unit, a general unit of cargo capacity used for container ships and container ports. As can be seen from the data above, seven of the ten busiest ports in the world are located in China, which illustrates the central role of the Asian country in global production and trade.

As of 2009, China is the world's largest exporter of goods. The expansion and modernization of China's port network are essential to the Belt & Road Initiative. As a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by China in 2013, Belt & Road aims to expand connectivity and trade between Asia, Europe and Africa by creating extensive networks of railways, energy pipelines, highways and shipping routes.

The second largest port globally, Singapore, receives 130,000 ships each year. Singapore is connected to 600 ports in over 120 countries around the world. Moreover, 1,000 ships are in this port at any hour of the day, according to the cited analysis.

• Rotterdam - the main hub in Europe

Beyond Asia, the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands (Netherlands) is the main hub in Europe. With origins in the 15th century, Rotterdam has a port area of 12,500 hectares and a length of the port area of more than 40 km, while the length of the quay is 89 km. The total land area of the port is over 7,800 hectares, and the water area is almost 4,500 hectares. More recently, the port of Rotterdam has been working on multi-partner autonomous shipping projects, allowing ships to be operated remotely using cameras and sensors. Rotterdam held the title of world's busiest port by annual cargo tonnage until 2004, when it was overtaken by Singapore. Europe's busiest port has 14 container terminals for short sea, deep sea and inland shipping and 20 container depots, according to ship-technology.com. The port's Maasvlakte II area is currently being expanded and is expected to be completed by 2026.

Overall, port throughput decreased by 6.1% in 2023 compared to the previous year, mainly due to reduced coal, container and dry bulk throughput by port. Container throughput - of 13.4 million TEU in 2023, shows a 7% decrease from 2022.