Transport maritime et autre

As of 1 January 2026, the world fleet's carrying capacity reached 2.5 billion dead weight tons (dwt), an increase of 85 million dwt from the previous year. Oil tankers and bulk carriers made up 69% of total capacity. 

Following a decade of rapid expansion from 2004 to 2013, growth in the carrying capacity of the global fleet has been relatively stable since 2014, with annual growth rates ranging from 2.7% to 4.2%.

Of the world’s carrying capacity in dead weight tons, 56% is owned by Asian companies, with China (377 million dwt) and Japan (243 million dwt) holding significant shares. The individual economy with most ship capacity owned is Greece (397 million dwt). In total, European companies own 34% of the global carrying capacity, while 4% is owned in North America. Other geographical regions have small shares. Excluding China, only 29% of the beneficial ownership is in developing economies.

Liberia (447 million dwt), Panama (350 million dwt) and the Marshall Islands (318 million dwt) were the world's largest ship registers in 2026. The registers of Singapore and Hong Kong rounded out the top five. Together, these five registers accounted for 58% of global carrying capacity and included ships owned by companies from around the world.

While Panama's register has remained relatively stable over the past decade, the registers of the Marshall Islands and Liberia have expanded rapidly, with Liberia experiencing particularly strong growth since 2018.