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

Key figures

Over five years it is down 31.18% from 465,355 in 2016 (7.2% a year on average, compounded). Since 2012 it is down 27.45% from 441,469 in 2012 (3.5% a year on average, compounded).

What the numbers say

In 2021, Sudan's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) fell 19.2% on 2020 (from 396,267 to 320,274).

Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2013 to 2020), the average change was −1.2% and a typical year strayed about 6.4% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.8 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 10.9% in 2015 and the biggest yearly fall was 19.2% in 2021. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2012 to 2021 the straight-line trend is downward, about 9,557 a year. A straight line explains 36% 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

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to Sudan in the 2021 ranking

• Ukraine — 1st of 5: 1.02 million
• Venezuela, RB — 3rd of 5: 221,801
• New Caledonia — 4th of 5: 107,834
• Guyana — 5th of 5: 58,377

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 10 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 Sudan

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 155,802 (2022)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 0.32 (2022)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 9,330 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 911,090 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 20.04 (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 34.67 million (2022)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 70.21 (2022)
• ICT service exports (BoP, current US$) — US$30.59 million (2025)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 11.26% (2025)
• Scientific and technical journal articles

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

320,274 in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2012?

It is down 27.45% from 441,469 in 2012 (3.5% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 487,336 in 2017 and the lowest 320,274 in 2021.

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

In 2021, Sudan's container port traffic (TEU: 20 foot equivalent units) fell 19.2% on 2020 (from 396,267 to 320,274). Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2013 to 2020), the average change was −1.2% and a typical year strayed about 6.4% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.8 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), uri: http://unctad.org/en/Pages/statistics.aspx.

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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