Belize: Container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Belize's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) fell 55% on 2022 (from 47,264 to 21,279).

Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2022), the average change was +3.7% and a typical year strayed about 9.4% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 6.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 14.8% in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 55% in 2023. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is downward, about 1,516 a year. A straight line explains 33% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2023, Belize had the 12th highest value of the 12 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Belize in the 2023 ranking

• Barbados — 9th of 12: 101,300
• Brunei Darussalam — 10th of 12: 99,000
• St. Lucia — 11th of 12: 37,054

What this measures

Port container traffic measures the flow of containers from land to sea transport modes, and vice versa, in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a standard-size container. Data refer to coastal shipping as well as international journeys. Transshipment traffic is counted as two lifts at the intermediate port (once to off-load and again as an outbound lift) and includes empty units.

Limitations: Measures of port container traffic, much of it commodities of medium to high value added, give some indication of economic growth in a country. But when traffic is merely transshipment, much of the economic benefit goes to the terminal operator and ancillary services for ships and containers rather than to the country more broadly. In transshipment centers empty containers may account for as much as 40 percent of traffic. Data cover coastal shipping as well as international journeys. Transshipment traffic is counted as two lifts at the intermediate port (once to off-load and again as an outbound lift) and includes empty units.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a sum.

All 14 values

Container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) in nearby economies

• Antigua and Barbuda — 28,000 (2024)
• Argentina — 1.47 million (2024)
• Aruba — 64,800 (2024)
• Bahamas, The — 1.54 million (2024)
• Barbados — 101,300 (2023)
• Brazil — 13.89 million (2024)
• British Virgin Islands — 45,956 (2019)
• Cayman Islands — 46,658 (2024)
• Chile — 4.47 million (2024)

More infrastructure data for Belize

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 17,806 (2022)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 4.42 (2022)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 270,536 (2022)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 67.18 (2022)
• Medium and high-tech exports (% manufactured exports) — 0.41% (2024)
• ICT service exports (BoP, current US$) — US$123.3 million (2025)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 10.16% (2025)
• Individuals using the Internet (% of population) — 80.01% (2024)
• Scientific and technical journal articles — 18.02 (2023)
• ICT goods imports (% total goods imports)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Belize's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units)?

21,279 in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2010?

It is down 33.33% from 31,917 in 2010 (3.07% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 48,141 in 2015 and the lowest 21,279 in 2023.

How does Belize rank?

12th highest of 12 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) unusual for Belize?

In 2023, Belize's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) fell 55% on 2022 (from 47,264 to 21,279). Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2022), the average change was +3.7% and a typical year strayed about 9.4% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 6.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IS.SHP.GOOD.TU, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), uri: http://unctad.org/en/Pages/statistics.aspx Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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