Source: Data from Rodrigue, J-P (2025) “A Systemic Analysis of Container Terminal Layouts”, Journal of Shipping and Trade, Vol. 10, No. 4, https://doi.org/10.1186/s41072-025-00194-3.
An inventory of terminal automation reveals a rapidly evolving situation. Although the information is likely incomplete, 77 container terminals worldwide were either fully or partially automated as of 2025. Considering that there are about 850 container terminals of relevant size and function, this represents 9.0% of all main container terminals but 14.7% of the total global footprint in terms of hectares. While the average container terminal size was 51.7 hectares, it was 74.7 hectares for automated terminals, underscoring the scale advantage of automation.