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

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Namibia's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) rose 6.4% on 2023 (from 160,883 to 171,151).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2023), the average change was −2% and a typical year strayed about 18.1% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 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 51.9% in 2012 and the biggest yearly fall was 18.2% in 2019. 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 the straight-line trend is downward, about 7,044 a year. A straight line explains 54% 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 2024, Namibia had the 93rd 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 Namibia in the 2024 ranking

• El Salvador — 90th of 103: 255,017
• Haiti — 91st of 103: 201,514
• Gabon — 92nd of 103: 180,878
• Nicaragua — 94th of 103: 167,682
• Suriname — 95th of 103: 105,949
• Curaçao — 96th of 103: 98,100

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

• 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 Namibia

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 77,390 (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 2.55 (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 2.58 million (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 85.16 (2024)
• ICT service exports (BoP, current US$) — US$26.03 million (2024)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 2.02% (2024)
• Medium and high-tech exports (% manufactured exports) — 0.42% (2024)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 2,960 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 60,304 (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 Namibia's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units)?

171,151 in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2010?

It is down 30.92% from 247,743 in 2010 (2.61% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 334,410 in 2012 and the lowest 148,642 in 2020.

How does Namibia rank?

93rd highest of 103 economies with data for 2024.

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

In 2024, Namibia's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) rose 6.4% on 2023 (from 160,883 to 171,151). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2023), the average change was −2% and a typical year strayed about 18.1% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 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.