Maritime transport

In 2023, 11.6 billion metric tons of goods were loaded for international maritime trade worldwide. This represents a slight decrease of 0.6% from 2022 and is only 1.3% higher than in 2018. Since the start of the millennium, goods loaded for international trade have increased significantly and still grew by 14.2% in the five‑year period 2013–2018.

Since 2000, the share of seaborne cargo shipped by tankers has declined. Although tanker shipments of crude oil and other tanker transports rose by about 50%, shipments of dry cargo (containers, dry bulk and general cargo) more than doubled over the same period. In 2000, crude oil accounted for 29% of loaded volume; by 2023, its share had fallen to 18%.

In 2023, developing economies still accounted for the majority of global seaborne trade: Asian developing economies alone discharged 47% and loaded 32% of the world’s total volume.

Over the past 20 years, the volume of goods discharged in developing economies has overtaken the volume loaded. This shift can be attributed to growing deliveries of dry bulk cargo—such as iron ore and coal—and by crude oil shipments, especially to China.

Overall, ships carrying internationally traded goods to developing economies departed with 868 million metric tons less cargo than they had on arrival. The opposite was true for developed economies. This imbalance was slightly less pronounced in 2023 than in 2020, but considerably more pronounced than in 2015.

Large dry cargo shipments—including both bulk and containerized goods—have driven developing economies’ sea imports to outpace their exports. This trend is particularly pronounced in Asian economies.