Maritime and other transport

Data insights

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

Ship building and recycling are concentrated in a few economies; while ownership and registration are more dispersed

Building, ownership, registration and recycling of ships, main specialization, 2026

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 2025. Registration and ownership figures refer to the beginning of the year 2026.

See metadata.

At the start of 2026, the global merchant fleet comprised around 116,000 vessels of at least 100 gross tons (GT), including both cargo-carrying and non-cargo-carrying ships. Of these, around 62,000 were larger than 1,000 GT.

Several economies play specialized roles in the global maritime industry. In gross tonnage terms, 91% of ships completed in 2025 were built in China, the Republic of Korea, or Japan, while 80% of ship recycling took place in India, Bangladesh, or Türkiye.

Beneficial ownership and registration are somewhat more geographically distributed. At the start of 2026, Greece, China, and Japan had the world’s largest beneficially owned fleets in terms of deadweight tonnage, while Liberia, Panama, and the Marshall Islands hosted the world's largest ship registers.

Data updated on 18 Jun 2026

World fleet capacity to carry goods growing steadily

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

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

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

See metadata.

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 accounted for 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%.

Data updated on 18 Jun 2026

93% of world ship carrying capacity is owned in Asia and Europe

Fleet market by region of beneficial ownership, millions of dead weight tons (dwt), 2026

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

Commercial ships of 1 000 gross tonnage (GT) and above. Beginning-of-year figures. 

See metadata.

Asian companies own 56% of the world’s carrying capacity in dead weight tons (dwt), with China (377 million dwt) and Japan (243 million dwt) holding significant shares. Greece is the largest ship-owning economy (397 million dwt). In total, European companies own 34% of global carrying capacity, while 4% is owned in North America. Excluding China, developing economies account for only 29% of the beneficial ownership of global carrying capacity.

Data updated on 18 Jun 2026

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

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

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

Commercial ships of 100 gross tonnage (GT) and above. Beginning-of-year figures. Ranked by values as of 1 January 2026. The data source changes in 2011.

See metadata.

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

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

Data updated on 18 Jun 2026

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:

More data insights

International trade
Economy and finance
Environment
Digital economy and tech
Population and inclusiveness