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

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2019, Mauritania's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) rose 5% on 2018 (from 80,462 to 84,458).

Across the 10 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2018), the average change was +3.7% and a typical year strayed about 8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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 21.9% in 2017 and the biggest yearly fall was 9% in 2018. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2010 to 2019 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1,975 a year. A straight line explains 72% 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 2019, Mauritania had the 12th highest value of the 32 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 Mauritania in the 2019 ranking

• Maldives — 8th of 32: 107,728
• Somalia, Fed. Rep. — 9th of 32: 92,238
• Liberia — 10th of 32: 91,454
• Sierra Leone — 12th of 32: 78,413
• Vanuatu — 13th of 32: 77,436
• Tonga — 14th of 32: 76,854

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

• Angola — 709,221 (2024)
• Benin — 510,896 (2019)
• Cabo Verde — 89,382 (2024)
• Cameroon — 350,000 (2024)
• Comoros — 54,359 (2019)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 42,211 (2019)
• Congo, Rep. — 1.05 million (2024)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 1.8 million (2024)
• Equatorial Guinea — 13,851 (2019)
• Gabon

More infrastructure data for Mauritania

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 15,997 (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 0.31 (2024)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 4,365 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 328,992 (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 4.76 million (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 92.07 (2024)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 0 (2023)
• Individuals using the Internet (% of population) — 45.78% (2024)
• Scientific and technical journal articles — 46.84 (2023)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

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

84,458 in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2008?

It is up 46.94% from 57,478 in 2008 (3.56% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 88,400 in 2017 and the lowest 57,478 in 2008.

How does Mauritania rank?

12th highest of 32 economies with data for 2019.

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

In 2019, Mauritania's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) rose 5% on 2018 (from 80,462 to 84,458). Across the 10 yearly changes before that (2009 to 2018), the average change was +3.7% and a typical year strayed about 8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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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