The top 30 throughput ports in the world were released in the first half of 2025, an increase of 4.6% year-on-year.

Recently, Alphaliner released the throughput ranking and analysis report of the top 30 container ports in the world in the first half of 2025.

Data shows that despite multiple challenges such as trade uncertainty and geopolitics, the total throughput of the world's top 30 ports in the first half of the year still increased by 4.6% year-on-year.

The top 30 lists are:

1. Shanghai (China), 2. Singapore, 3. Ningbo Zhoushan Port (China), 4. Shenzhen Port (China), 5. Qingdao Port (China), 6. Guangzhou Port (China), 7. Busan (South Korea), 8. Tianjin Port (China), 9. Los Angeles (USA), 10. Dubai (UAE), 11. Klang (Malaysia), 12. Rotterdam (Netherlands), 13. Antwerp-Bruges (Belgium), 14. Tanjung Parapas (Malaysia), 15. Hong Kong Port (Hong Kong), 16. Xiamen Mengang (China), 17, Tangier-Mediterranean (Morocco) 18, Lin Chaban (Thailand), 19, Beibu Gulf (China), 20, Kaohsiung (Taiwan), 21, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), 22, New York/New Jersey (United States), 23, Mondra (India), 24 Hamburg (Germany), 25, Colombo (Sri Lanka), 26, Jakarta (Indonesia), 27, Haipong (Vietnam), 28, Gaimei (Vietnam), 29, Navaseva (India) 30, Rizhao Port (China).

Chinese ports continue to lead

Among the top 30 ports, China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) has 11 ports on the list: Shanghai Port, Ningbo Zhoushan Port, Shenzhen Port, Qingdao Port, Guangzhou Port, Tianjin Port, Hong Kong Port (Hong Kong, China), Xiamen Port, Beibu Gulf Port, Kaohsiung Port (Taiwan, China), and Rizhao Port.

China's ports' total throughput in the first half of the year reached 170 million TEU, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%, setting a record high.

Southeast Asia and India ports perform outstandingly

As a global transshipment hub, Singapore continues to rank second in the world, with a throughput of 21.71 million TEU, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%.

Malaysia's Tanjung Palapas Port performed the most, with a year-on-year increase of 15.4%, becoming the world's fastest-growing large port. The port has been designated as the core hub of the Far East-Europe route due to the "Gemini cooperation mechanism". According to CEO Mark Hardyman, Gemini's shipment currently accounts for about 60% of the port's throughput. By comparison, Port Klang, another largest port in Malaysia, recorded only 2.9%.

In India, the throughput of Navasivawa Port reached 3.87 million TEU, an increase of 15.2% year-on-year. In February this year, the second phase of the port's Mumbai Container Terminal (BMCT) was completed, with a new capacity of 2.4 million TEU, and the total capacity is expected to exceed 10 million TEU by 2027.

Although its west coast rival, Port Mondra, has not released data from April to June, the main terminal operator APSEZ reported a 20% increase in container traffic in fiscal year 2024/25 (April-March of the following year), which currently handles more than 45% of container cargo in India nationwide.

European and US port trends

Hamburg Port, the third largest port in Europe, finally rebounded after years of decline, with a year-on-year increase of 9.3% in the first half of the year. The growth mainly comes from the Far East (+10.7%, especially Malaysia, India and China driven by tariff re-export), as well as the Baltic market (+20.8%, mainly Denmark, Finland and Poland).

Among them, the number of ships affiliated to 10,000 TEU or above increased by 50%, and the number of ships affiliated to 24,000 TEU or above increased by 30%. However, the port's throughput has not yet returned to its pre-COVID-19 level.

Throughput of the major west coast port of the United States, Los Angeles/Long Beach Port (LA/LB) increased by 7.5% to 9.7 million TEU, the highest record in January to June since 2022.

The port of New York/New Jersey (NY/NJ) on the East Coast grew by 4.9%, with a throughput of 4.4 million TEU. In July, in order to avoid tariff policies, both coasts experienced large-scale imports, but the growth of LA/LB was still significantly higher than that of NY/NJ.