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

Key figures

Since 2010 it is up 79.38% from 259,319 in 2010 (4.6% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 2 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2023, Libya's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) rose 8.5% on 2022 (from 428,760 to 465,168).

Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2022), the average change was +1% and a typical year strayed about 21.6% 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 29.6% in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 26.5% in 2013. 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 upward, about 42,495 a year. A straight line explains 84% of the movement over 8 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, Libya had the 4th 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 Libya in the 2023 ranking

• Nigeria — 1st of 12: 1.57 million
• Trinidad and Tobago — 2nd of 12: 545,177
• Mozambique — 3rd of 12: 489,000
• Iceland — 5th of 12: 425,000
• Guinea — 6th of 12: 286,286
• Cuba — 7th of 12: 281,140

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 12 values

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

• Algeria — 1.83 million (2024)
• Bahrain — 409,382 (2024)
• Djibouti — 1.29 million (2024)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 8.58 million (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 2.92 million (2024)
• Iraq — 932,729 (2019)
• Israel — 3.06 million (2024)
• Jordan — 824,199 (2024)
• Kuwait — 863,618 (2020)
• Lebanon

More infrastructure data for Libya

• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 11,246 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 60.05 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 1.09 million (2023)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 1.22 million (2022)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 16.86 (2022)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 13.94 million (2022)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 192.97 (2022)
• Medium and high-tech exports (% manufactured exports) — 6.34% (2021)
• Scientific and technical journal articles — 443.08 (2023)
• Individuals using the Internet (% of population)

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 Libya's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units)?

465,168 in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2010?

It is up 79.38% from 259,319 in 2010 (4.6% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 465,168 in 2023 and the lowest 105,636 in 2017.

How does Libya rank?

4th highest of 12 economies with data for 2023.

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

In 2023, Libya's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) rose 8.5% on 2022 (from 428,760 to 465,168). Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2022), the average change was +1% and a typical year strayed about 21.6% 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.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.