Global container trade grew by 6.6% in 2021

Global maritime container trade increased by 6.6% year on year in 2021 compared to 2020. During 2021, global cargo volumes in TEUs increased to 179.1 million TEUs, according to provisional data from Container Trades Statistics (CTS), compared to 168.080 million teu in 2020 and 169.877 million teu in 2019.

The rise, according to DynaLiners, was more or less evenly distributed between intercontinental and intra-regional trade.

Container export trade increased in all regions except North America, where it shrank by 3.7%. The main growth regions were the Far East and the Middle East / India, with growth rates of 11.4% and 11.8%, respectively.

In imports, however, North America dominated with + 16.9% and Latin America with + 18.5%. Imports from the Far East actually fell by 6.6%, while those from Australia remained at the same level.

In terms of intra-regional trade volumes, there was strong growth in the Far East (+ 8.6%) and Latin America (+ 6.7%), but a sharp decline in Australia / Asia (12.0%) and the Middle East / India (-10.8%).

According to the preliminary data of the CTS, from the following table of imports / exports, there was an increase in the majority of transactions for 2021, although with some clear exceptions.

Examining the data for the two years from 2019 to 2021, the conclusion is that trade has increased by 5.4% over a two-year period, averaging 2.7% each year. For all regions except North America and Australia, exports are higher, while for imports, only the Middle East / ISC failed to grow.