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Maritime transport

Data insights

Maritime transport is the lifeblood of global trade, facilitating the movement of goods across oceans and connecting economies worldwide. As the most cost-effective and efficient mode of transport for large-scale cargo, the maritime industry plays a pivotal role in sustaining global commerce. This collection of thematic insights explores key aspects of maritime transport, providing a detailed look at its vital components.

Most ship recycling occurs in the Indian subcontinent; Economies’ roles in world shipping and merchant fleet supply vary

Building, ownership, registration and recycling of ships, main specialization, 2023

UN Trade and Development, UNCTADstat and Clarkson's research.

Top three economies in each segment are shown in the default selection. Building and recycling are estimated deliveries and demolitions during 2023. Registration and ownership figures refer to the beginning of the year 2024.

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At the start of 2024, the global merchant fleet comprised around 109 000 vessels (including cargo and non-cargo carrying ships) of at least 100 gross tons (GT), including 58 200 which were over 1 000 GT. 

Ownership is spread over the whole globe, with 41 per cent of carrying capacity held by entities in Greece, China and Japan. Several economies play specific roles for the global fleet. Liberia, Panama, and the Marshall Islands host the largest ship registries.

While China and Japan are major shipowners, these economies (together with the Republic of Korea) play an even bigger role in ship building. India, Bangladesh and Pakistan jointly accounted for nearly 84 per cent of ships recycled.

Data updated on 5 Jun 2024

World fleet capacity to carry goods growing steadily

World fleet by principal vessel type, millions of dead weight tons

UN Trade and Development, UNCTADstat and Clarkson's research.

Commercial ships of 100 GT and above. Beginning-of-year figures. The data source changes in 2011.

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As of 1 January 2024, the world fleet's carrying capacity reached 2.35 billion dead weight tons (dwt), an increase of 77 million dwt from the previous year. Oil tankers and bulk carriers made up 71 per cent of total capacity. Fleet growth averaged 7.1 per cent annually from 2005 to 2010 but slowed to 3.7 per cent per year since 2011. The capacity to transport cargo has increased primarily for ships built for a given purpose: oil tankers, bulk carriers and container ships.

Data updated on 5 Jun 2024

Ninety per cent of world ship carrying capacity owned in Asia and Europe

Fleet market by region of beneficial ownership, millions of dead weight tons, 2024

UN Trade and Development, UNCTADstat and Clarkson's research.

Commercial ships of 1000 GT and above. Beginning-of-year figures. 

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Over half of the world’s tonnage is owned by Asian companies, with China (310 million dwt) and Japan (242 million dwt) holding significant shares. The individual economy with most ship capacity owned is Greece (395 million dwt). In total, European companies own 35 per cent of the global carrying capacity, while 5 per cent is owned in North America. Other geographical regions have small shares. Indeed, excluding China, only 29 per cent of the beneficial ownership is in developing economies.

Data updated on 5 Jun 2024

Liberia the world's largest ship registry in terms of capacity

Ship carrying capacity in top five registries, millions of dead weight tons

UN Trade and Development, UNCTADstat and Clarkson's research.

Commercial ships of 100 GT and above. Beginning-of-year figures. Ranked by values as of 1 January 2024. The data source changes in 2011.

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The flag a ship flies is often unrelated to the owner’s nationality. For example, at the start of 2024, 87 per cent of Greek-owned tonnage and 84 per cent of Japanese-owned tonnage were registered under foreign flags. 

Liberia (408 million dwt), Panama (380 million dwt) and the Marshall Islands (309 million dwt) led in ship registration. While Panama's register has remained stable, the Marshall Islands and Liberia have surged, with Liberia seeing rapid growth since 2018.

Data updated on 5 Jun 2024

Metadata

The unit dead weight tons (dwt) is used to indicate the cargo carrying capacity of a ship, while gross tons (GT) reflects its size. The latter is relevant to measure shipbuilding and recycling activity, while the former is used to capture the capacity to transport cargo.

The presented statistics on fleet registration (the flag of a ship), shipbuilding and recycling cover all commercial ships of 100 GT and more. The market shares for ownership only cover larger ships of 1 000 GT and above, as the true ownership is not always known for smaller vessels.

For in-depth analysis on the world shipping fleet and related topics see the Review of Maritime Transport.

Full metadata are available in our Data Centre for:

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