Maritime profile: United States

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR 2024

Population

GDP

Merchandise trade¹

345.427 Millions

29 185 798 Millions current US$

5 424 516 Millions current US$

Land area²

GDP growth

Transport services trade³

(p) 9 147 420 Km²

2.80 %

1 993 624 Millions current US$

MARITIME KEY FIGURES FOR 2024

Coast/area ratio²

Ship building⁴

Ship recycling⁴

14.6 m/km²

30 782 GT

0.000 GT

Fleet - National flag⁵

Fleet - Ownership⁶

13 268 Thousands DWT

3 513 ships

49 542 Thousands DWT

Number of port calls⁹

Container port throughput⁷

Number of seafarers⁸

54 282 705 TEU

(m) 59 586

267 937

WORLD SHARES FOR 2024

INTERNATIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADE

+2.3 %

Merchandise exports growth rate in 2024

Total merchandise trade

(millions of US$)

2005

2010

2015

2024

Merchandise exports

901 082

1 278 495

1 502 572

2 065 131

Merchandise imports

1 732 706

1 969 184

2 315 301

3 359 385

Merchandise trade balance

-831 624

-690 689

-812 729

-1 294 254

Export structure by product group in 2024

(as % of total exports)

Top 5 partners in 2024

(exports, millions of US$)

INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN TRANSPORT SERVICES

+5.3 %

Transport services exports growth rate in 2024

Services exports by main category¹⁰

(as % of total services)

2005

2010

2015

2024

Transport

15.4

13.1

11.0

8.9

Travel

24.7

22.4

25.0

18.5

Other services

58.1

62.2

61.4

69.5

Total trade in transport services¹⁰

(millions of US$)

2005

2010

2015

2024

Transport services exports

58 377

76 357

84 434

102 238

Transport services imports

78 796

88 394

99 557

154 749

Transport services trade balance

-20 419

-12 037

-15 123

-52 511

NATIONAL FLEET

+4.6 %

Fleet growth rate in 2024

Carrying capacity by type of ship⁵

(Thousands DWT)

2005

2010

2015

2024

Total fleet

11 658.4

12 791.8

11 794.0

13 268.3

Oil tankers

4 245.0

3 973.7

3 173.4

4 385.1

Bulk carriers

2 249.8

2 232.6

306.7

210.9

General cargo

717.3

966.0

2 063.4

2 215.1

Container ships

3 318.5

3 781.9

3 178.5

3 251.6

Other types of ships

1 127.8

1 837.7

3 072.0

3 205.6

Fleet by type of ship⁵

(Number of ships)

LINER SHIPPING CONNECTIVITY

Bilateral connectivity index - Top 10 partners in Q1 2006¹¹

Can only take values between 0 (minimum) and 1 (maximum)

Liner shipping connectivity index¹¹

Average Q1 2023=100

PORT CALLS AND PERFORMANCE

Port calls, time spent in ports, vessel age and size in 2023⁹

Number of arrivals

Median time
in port (days)

Avg age
of vessels

Avg size (GT)
of vessels

Avg cargo
carrying
capacity (DWT)
per vessel

Avg container
carrying
capacity (TEU)
per container ship

Maximum size (GT) of vessels

All ships

267 937

1.54

18 671

49 816

5 691

235 600

Liquid bulk carriers

22 585

1.71

37 291

64 920

170 611

Liquefied petroleum gas carriers

3 035

1.81

31 394

35 414

60 784

Liquefied natural gas carriers

1 601

1.36

106 815

85 368

149 367

Dry bulk carriers

14 487

2.25

29 458

52 746

108 901

Dry breakbulk carriers

7 368

1.88

12 994

17 297

91 784

Roll-on/ roll-off ships

6 068

58 946

21 502

100 430

Container ships

19 418

1.08

63 680

5 691

194 308

Passenger ships

193 375

9 594

235 600

Port liner shipping connectivity index - Top 5 ports in 2024¹¹

Average Q1 2023=100

Source: Detailed data sources are available in the documentation of the corresponding tables in the Data Center (https://unctadstat.unctad.org/datacentre/). A link to these tables is provided in each section of the profile.


	Notes:
	1	Sum of exports and imports.
	2	Land area refers to the total area of a country excluding area under inland water bodies. It differs from the country area, that includes area under inland water bodies, but excludes offshore territorial waters. Coastline length based on data calculated in 2000 from the World Vector Shoreline database at 1:250,000 scale.
	3	Sum of exports and imports. Statistics presented correspond to the 6th edition of the IMF Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, 2009 (BPM6, 2009).
	4	Propelled seagoing merchant vessels of 100 GT and above. Source: Clarksons Research (https://www.clarksons.com/services/research/).
	5	Propelled seagoing merchant vessels of 100 GT and above, on 1 January. Source: Clarksons Research (https://www.clarksons.com/services/research/).
	6	Propelled seagoing merchant vessels of 1000 GT and above, on 1 January. Source: Clarksons Research (https://www.clarksons.com/services/research/).
	7	UNCTAD Secretariat, derived from various sources including Dynamar B.V. Publications, terminal operators and port authorities. Refers to year 2023.
	8	Refers to year 2021. Source: BIMCO-ICS Manpower Report 2015 and BIMCO-ICS Seafarer Workforce Report, 2021 edition.
	9	Refers to year 2023. UNCTAD Secretariat, based on data provided by MarineTraffic (http://marinetraffic.com). Ships of 1000 GT and above.
	10	Statistics presented correspond to the 6th edition of the IMF Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, 2009 (BPM6, 2009).
	11	UNCTAD Secretariat, generated from data provided by MDS Transmodal (https://www.mdst.co.uk).
	m	Estimated by BIMCO/ICS based on estimates of seafarer demand.
	p	Estimated. Data refers to 2020.


	Symbols for missing values:
	0	Zero means that the amount is nil or negligible
	..	No value reported or collected
	_	Not applicable
	...	Not available, including no quotation
	#	Non-relevant calculation
	-	Not publishable
	***	Negative accumulation of flows; Value included in regional and global totals

Abbreviations & acronyms:

DWT:

Dead weight tons

LNG:

Liquefied natural gas

LPG:

Liquefied petroleum gas

GDP:

Gross domestic product

GT:

Gross tons

TEU:

Twenty foot equivalent unit

Disclaimer:

The designations employed and the presentation of the material on UNCTADstat do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Where the designations "economy" or "country or area" appear in texts or tables, they cover regions, countries, territories, cities or areas.
The designations "developing", "transition" and "developed" are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached by a particular economy in the development process.

UNCTAD strives for the highest level of accuracy and is committed to promptly correcting any errors on its part. It does not guarantee or make any express or implied representations regarding the accuracy, reliability, correctness, fitness for use for a particular purpose, or otherwise, whatsoever, of any of the tables in UNCTADstat.

Generation date: 02 December 2025