Port performance measurement covers a wide array of key performance indicators (KPIs) related to supply chain performance, productivity, connectivity, sustainability/energy transition, corporate social responsibility (CSR), financial performance, customer satisfaction, innovation and economic impact. Still, it remains relevant to observe how cargo volumes have evolved over time, as cargo flows and related activities remain the bread and butter of many managing bodies of ports. The table shows the container throughput in TEU in 2023 for the top 15 containers ports in the European Union as well as the growth figures for 2022-2023, 2021-2022 and 2007-2023. The year 2007 preceded the financial crisis of 2008-09.
The top 15 EU ports combined handled 72.5 million TEU in 2021 or 5.3% more than in 2022.
This compares to -4.2% in 2022 and +5% in 2021. The economic and geopolitical situation is reflected in the handled container volumes.
The top three ports in the EU all recorded a traffic decline of around 7% in 2023 adding to a TEU drop of more than 5% in 2022. Among the top 15 ports, only Gioia Tauro, Piraeus and Sines handled more containers in 2023 compared to 2022. These three ports are characterized by a high sea-sea transhipment incidence.
The Spanish transhipment port Algeciras, Polish gateway port Gdansk, and Ports of Genoa all recorded a small drop in container throughput. A traffic loss of 5.5% in the Genoa port area was largely compensated by an exceptional 30% growth in Savona/Vado Ligure managed by the same port system authority. French ports HAROPA and Marseille were hit by massive double-digit TEU decreases in 2023. Spanish ports Valencia and Barcelona faced a drop in container throughput of about 5 to 6%. Benelux ports Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges remain by far the largest container ports in the EU. Piraeus became the fourth largest EU port in 2023 but keeps a respectable distance from Hamburg.
When taking a longer-term perspective, the TEU growth in a few ports can be considered rather underwhelming. The 2023 container throughput figures of German ports Hamburg and Bremerhaven, and French port HAROPA remained below the volumes handled in 2007, the year before the start of the financial-economic crisis. On the other side of the spectrum, relative newcomers Gdansk, Sines and Piraeus recorded the biggest traffic gains in the period 2007-2023, while Valencia performed the best among the more long-established container ports.