Source: Drewry Shipping Consultants/UNCTAD.
Container throughput encompasses both full and empty containers, which account for 80% and 20% of maritime traffic, respectively. The large-scale adoption of the container and globalization consistently drove global container port growth rates between 5% and 10% from the 1980s to the 2000s. Then, in the 2010s, growth rates steadily declined as global trade headed toward a phase of maturity. Throughput grew from 36 million TEU in 1980 to 237 million TEU in 2000, 545 million TEU in 2010, and more than 740 million TEU in 2017. A core driver of the traffic surge in the 2000s was the rapid industrialization of China, partly due to the offshoring and outsourcing of manufacturing processes by multinational corporations.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, global container throughput reached approximately 802 million TEU in 2019, increasing by 2.3% compared to 2018. Similar to the financial crisis of 2008-09, the pandemic represented one of the only two events when growth turned negative. In both cases, the decline was associated with a drop in discretionary spending, which was more lasting and significant during the 2008-09 financial crisis, but with a strong recovery in the subsequent year. In 2021, container traffic resumed its growth, reaching 849 million TEUs, following stimulus packages across several economies and shifts in consumption patterns. However, as of 2022, container throughput has experienced its lowest positive growth rate in over 40 years, as demand has stabilized and sourcing strategies have begun to shift.