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 to be partial and incomplete, 72 container terminals around the world were either fully or partially automated as of mid-2024. Considering that there are about 850 container terminals of relevant size and function, this represents 8.3% 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, underlining the scale propensity for automation.