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

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Canada's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) rose 4.8% on 2023 (from 6.1 million to 6.39 million).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2023), the average change was +2.4% and a typical year strayed about 7.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 13.8% in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 13.8% 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 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 18% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

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

How it compares

In 2024, Canada had the 30th highest value of the 103 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 Canada in the 2024 ranking

• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 26th of 103: 8.58 million
• Saudi Arabia — 27th of 103: 8.03 million
• Sri Lanka — 28th of 103: 7.78 million
• Greece — 30th of 103: 5.69 million
• France — 31st of 103: 5.37 million
• Colombia — 32nd of 103: 5.19 million

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 15 values

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

• Bermuda — 4,006 (2019)
• United States — 59.71 million (2024)

More infrastructure data for Canada

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 10.97 million (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 27.6 (2024)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 1.08 million (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 2,036 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 88.62 million (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 37.4 million (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 94.11 (2024)
• ICT service exports (BoP, current US$) — US$24.75 billion (2025)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 14.39% (2025)
• Industrial design applications, nonresident, by count

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

6.39 million in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2010?

It is up 36.89% from 4.67 million in 2010 (2.27% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 7.17 million in 2021 and the lowest 4.67 million in 2010.

How does Canada rank?

30th highest of 103 economies with data for 2024.

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

In 2024, Canada's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) rose 4.8% on 2023 (from 6.1 million to 6.39 million). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2023), the average change was +2.4% and a typical year strayed about 7.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

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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