This is a list of the world's busiest seaports by cargo tonnage, the total mass, or in some cases volume, of actual cargo transported through the port. The rankings are based on AAPA world port ranking data.

The cargo rankings based on tonnage should be interpreted with caution since these measures are not directly comparable and cannot be converted to a single, standardized unit. In the Measure column, MT = Metric Tons, HT = Harbor Tons, FT = Freight Tons, and RT = Revenue Tons.

2018–2019

Rank Port Country 2019 kiloton[1] 2018 kiloton[2]
1 Ningbo-Zhoushan  China MT 1,120,090 1,038,080
2 Shanghai  China MT 716,770 716,590
3 Tangshan  China 656,740 636,990
4 Singapore  Singapore FT 626,180 630,130
5 Guangzhou  China MT 606,160 538,330
6 Qingdao  China MT 577,360 541,610
7 Suzhou  China 522,750 531,790
8 Port Hedland  Australia MT 521,880 517,990
9 Tianjin  China MT 492,200 472,810
10 Rotterdam  Netherlands MT 469,400 468,980
11 Rizhao  China 463,770 437,520
12 Busan  South Korea RT 455,910 450,220
13 Yantai  China 386,320 333,610
14 Dalian  China MT 366,410 351,300
15 Nantong  China MT 336,200 265,980
16 Zhanjiang  China 329,160 157,720
17 Huanghua  China 287,160 287,160
18 Taizhou  China 282,430 255,130
19 Gwangyang  South Korea RT 276,040 268,130
20 Hong Kong China China MT 263,320 258,540

2012–2017

Rank Port Country 2017 kiloton[3] 2016 kiloton[4][5] 2015 kiloton[6][7] 2014 kiloton[8][9] 2013 kiloton[10][11] 2012 kiloton[12][13]
1 Ningbo-Zhoushan  China MT 1,077,110 922,092 889,000 873,470 810,000 744,000
2 Shanghai  China MT 705,630 647,446 646,514 678,376 696,985 644,659
3 Singapore  Singapore FT 626,170 593,297 575,846 581,268 560,888 538,012
4 Suzhou  China 607,740 573,760
5 Guangzhou  China MT 566,190 544,374 475,481 500,975 472,760 438,000
6 Tangshan  China 565,400 515,800
7 Port Hedland  Australia MT 512,330 484,510 452,940 446,922 488,000 288,443
8 Qingdao  China MT 506,990 443,978 476,216 465,055 450,111 407,340
9 Tianjin  China MT 502,840 428,098 440,430 445,780 477,399 477,000
10 Rotterdam  Netherlands MT 467,350 461,177 466,363 444,733 440,464 441,527
11 Dalian  China MT 451,050 318,413 320,658 337,366 320,843 303,000
12 Busan  South Korea RT 400,510 349,708 347,713 335,411 313,295 298,689
13 Yingkou  China 362,390 347,020
14 Rizhao  China 360,020 350,620
15 South Louisiana  United States MT 307,860 237,594 235,058 242,578 216,445 228,677
16 Gwangyang  South Korea RT 291,830 283,106 272,007 134,947 127,642 109,730
17 Yantai  China 285,600 265,360
18 Hong Kong China China MT 281,550 256,730 256,488 297,737 276,055 269,282
19 Zhanjiang  China 281,520 255,170
20 Huanghua  China 269,570 245,110

Rankings 2004–2011

Rank Port Country Measure 2011[14]
kiloton		 2010[15]
kiloton		 2009[16]
kiloton		 2008[17]
kiloton		 2007[18]
kiloton		 2006[19]
million tonnes		 2005[20]
kiloton		 2004[21]
kiloton
1 Shanghai  China MT 590,439 534,371 505,715 508,000 561,446 537.0 443,000 378,962
2 Singapore  Singapore FT 531,176 501,566 472,300 515,415 483,616 448.5 423,267 393,418
3 Tianjin  China MT 459,941 400,000 381,110 365,163 309,465 257.6 245,100 206,161
4 Rotterdam  Netherlands MT 434,551 429,926 386,957 421,136 401,181 378.4 376,600 352,563
5 Guangzhou  China MT 431,000 425,600 364,000 347,000 341,363 302.8 241,700 215,190
6 Qingdao  China MT 372,000 350,120 274,304 278,271 265,020 224.2 184,300 161,650
7 Ningbo  China MT 348,911 408,180 371,540 361,850 471,630 309.7 272,400 225,850
8 Qinhuangdao  China MT 284,600 276,815 243,850 252,000 245,964 204.9 167,500 150,320
9 Busan  South Korea RT 281,513 262,963 226,182 241,683 243,564 217.9 217,200 219,760
10 Hong Kong China China MT 277,444 267,815 242,967 259,402 245,433 238.2 230,139 220,879
11 Port Hedland  Australia MT 246,672 198,997 178,625 159,391 130,707 111.8 110,600 108,500
12 South Louisiana  United States MT 223,633 214,337 192,853 203,157 207,785 204.6 192,549 203,517
13 Houston  United States MT 215,731 206,055 191,729 192,473 196,014 201.5 192,023 183,419
14 Dalian  China MT 211,065 200,000 204,000 246,000 222,859 200.5 176,800 145,162
15 Shenzhen  China MT 205,475 204,860 211,000 187,045 199,190 176.0 153,900 135,246
16 Klang  Malaysia FT 193,726 168,588 137,615 152,348 135,514 122.0 109,700 99,911
17 Antwerp  Belgium MT 187,151 178,167 157,807 189,390 182,897 167.4 160,100 152,300
18 Nagoya  Japan FT 186,305 185,703 165,101 218,130 215,602 208.0 187,100 182,289
19 Dampier  Australia MT 171,844 165,025 N/A 140,823 133,949 126.0 110,100 87,92
20 Ulsan  South Korea RT 163,181 150,933 170,314 170,279 168,652 161.1 103,50 156,500

2005

Rank Port Country Measure Tons (000s)[20] +/- from 2004 % change from 2004
1 Shanghai  China MT 443,000 64,038 16.90
2 Singapore  Singapore FT 423,267 29,849 7.59
3 Rotterdam  Netherlands MT 376,600 24,037 6.82
4 Ningbo  China MT 272,400 46,550 20.61
5 Tianjin  China MT 245,100 38,939 18.89
6 Guangzhou  China MT 241,700 26,510 12.32
7 Hong Kong China China MT 230,139 9,260 4.19
8 Busan  South Korea RT 217,200 -2,560 -1.16
9 South Louisiana  United States MT 192,549 -10,968 -5.39
10 Houston  United States MT 192,023 8,604 4.69
11 Nagoya  Japan FT 187,100 4,811 2.64
12 Qingdao  China MT 184,300 22,650 14.01
13 Gwangyang  South Korea RT 177,500 11,625 7.01
14 Dalian  China MT 176,800 31,638 21.79
15 Qinhuangdao  China MT 167,500 17,180 11.43
16 Chiba  Japan FT 165,700 -3,554 -2.10
17 Antwerp  Belgium MT 160,100 7,773 5.10
18 Shenzhen  China MT 153,900 18,654 13.79
19 New York/New Jersey  United States MT 138,014 -314 -0.23
20 Kaohsiung  Taiwan MT 137,900 -14,568 -9.55
21 Yokohama  Japan FT 133,300 6,340 4.99
22 Hamburg  Germany MT 125,700 11,216 9.80
23 Incheon  South Korea RT 123,500 10,427 9.22
24 Novorossiysk  Russia MT 113,100 15,300 15.64
25 Port Hedland  Australia MT 110,600 2,100 1.94
26 Dampier  Australia MT 110,100 22,172 25.22
27 Klang  Malaysia FT 109,700 9,789 9.80
28 Ulsan  South Korea RT 103,500 -53,017 -33.87
29 Kitakyushu  Japan FT 101,700 -1,545 -1.50
30 Marseille  France MT 96,600 2,507 2.66
31 Osaka  Japan FT 93,100 -47 -0.05
32 Tubarão  Brazil MT 92,700 8,267 9.79
33 Port of Jebel Ali  United Arab Emirates MT 92,500 15,120 19.54
34 Tokyo  Japan FT 92,000 573 0.63
35 Kobe  Japan FT 91,200 5,539 6.47
36 Richards Bay  South Africa HT 86,600 1,646 1.94
37 Itaqui  Brazil MT 85,900 8,942 11.62
38 Newcastle  Australia MT 85,600 2,040 2.44
39 Hay Point  Australia MT 81,600 -3,959 -4.63
40 Vancouver  Canada MT 76,500 2,926 3.98
41 Huntington  United States MT 76,104 5,924 8.44
42 Le Havre  France MT 75,000 -1,175 -1.54
43 Amsterdam  Netherlands MT 74,900 1,724 2.36
44 Long Beach  United States MT 72,447 -237 -0.33
45 Santos  Brazil MT 71,900 4,291 6.35
46 Beaumont  United States MT 71,566 -11,677 -14.03
47 Corpus Christi, Texas  United States MT 70,441 -1,207 -1.68
48 Gladstone  Australia MT 67,200 4,052 6.42
49 Sepetiba  Brazil MT 67,100
50 Algeciras  Spain MT 63,500 2,206 3.60

2004

Rank Port Country Measure Tons (000s)[21] +/- from 2003 % change from 2003
1 Singapore  Singapore FT 393,418 45,724 13.15
2 Shanghai  China MT 378,962 62,752 19.85
3 Rotterdam  Netherlands MT 352,563 25,605 7.83
4 Ningbo  China MT 225,850 71,870 46.67
5 Hong Kong China China MT 220,879 13,267 6.39
6 Busan  South Korea RT 219,760 57,300 35.27
7 Guangzhou  China MT 215,190 47,470 28.30
8 Tianjin  China MT 206,161 44,341 27.40
9 South Louisiana  United States MT 203,517 23,024 12.76
10 Houston  United States MT 183,419 10,099 5.83
11 Nagoya  Japan FT 182,289 13,911 8.26
12 Chiba  Japan FT 169,254 254 0.15
13 Gwangyang  South Korea RT 165,875 786 0.48
14 Qingdao  China MT 161,650 20,750 14.73
15 Ulsan  South Korea RT 156,517 9,577 6.52
16 Kaohsiung  Republic of China MT 152,468 13,636 9.82
17 Antwerp  Belgium MT 152,327 9,452 6.62
18 Qinhuangdao  China MT 150,320 24,700 19.66
19 Dalian  China MT 145,162 19,142 15.19
20 New York/New Jersey  United States MT 138,328 5,890 4.45
21 Shenzhen  China MT 135,246 47,576 54.27
22 Yokohama  Japan FT 126,960 1,017 0.81
23 Hamburg  Germany MT 114,484 7,948 7.46
24 Incheon  South Korea RT 113,073 -17,945 -13.70
25 Port Hedland  Australia MT 108,500 18,701 20.83
26 Kitakyushu  Japan FT 103,245 14,355 16.15
27 Klang  Malaysia FT 99,911 11,023 12.40
28 Novorossiysk  Russia MT 97,800 12,300 14.32
29 Marseille  France MT 94,093 -1,452 -1.52
30 Osaka  Japan FT 93,147 3,460 3.86
31 Tokyo  Japan FT 91,427 2,952 3.34
32 Dampier  Australia MT 87,928 -952 -1.07
33 Kobe  Japan FT 85,661 6,902 8.76
34 Hay Point  Australia MT 85,559 8,013 10.33
35 Richards Bay  South Africa HT 84,954 -2,567 -2.93
36 Tubarão  Brazil MT 84,433 6,812 8.78
37 Newcastle  Australia MT 83,560 848 1.03
38 Beaumont  United States MT 83,243 3,773 4.75
39 Port of Jebel Ali  United Arab Emirates MT 77,380 13,754 21.62
40 Itaqui  Brazil MT 76,958 9,367 13.86
41 Le Havre  France MT 76,175 4,682 6.55
42 Vancouver  Canada MT 73,574 6,847 10.26
43 Amsterdam  Netherlands MT 73,176 7,715 11.79
44 Long Beach  United States MT 72,684 9,868 15.71
45 Corpus Christi, Texas  United States MT 71,648 1,543 2.20
46 New Orleans  United States MT 70,886 -5,230 -6.87
47 Huntington  United States MT 70,180 -303 -0.43
48 Santos  Brazil MT 67,609 7,532 12.54
49 Gladstone  Australia MT 63,148 3,487 5.84
50 Texas City  United States MT 61,987    

2003

Rank Port Country Measure Tons (000s) +/- from 2002 % change from 2002
1 Singapore  Singapore FT 347,694 12,538 3.74
2 Rotterdam  Netherlands MT 326,958 5,107 1.59
3 Shanghai  China MT 316,210 77,604 32.52
4 Hong Kong China China MT 207,612 15,102 7.84
5 South Louisiana  United States MT 180,493 -15,952 -8.12
6 Houston  United States MT 173,320 12,130 7.52
7 Chiba  Japan FT 169,000 10,071 6.34
8 Nagoya  Japan FT 168,378 10,358 6.55
9 Guangzhou  China MT 167,720 27,325 19.46
10 Gwangyang  South Korea RT 165,089 11,642 7.59
11 Busan  South Korea RT 162,460 18,688 13.00
12 Tianjin  China MT 161,820 32,820 25.44
13 Ningbo  China MT 153,980 3,980 2.65
14 Ulsan  South Korea RT 146,940 -1,472 -0.99
15 Antwerp  Belgium MT 142,875 11,246 8.54
16 Qingdao  China MT 140,900 20,900 17.42
17 Kaohsiung  Republic of China MT 138,832 9,418 7.28
18 New York/New Jersey  United States MT 132,438 10,335 8.46
19 Incheon  South Korea RT 131,018 -15,163 -10.37
20 Dalian  China MT 126,020 18,482 17.19
21 Yokohama  Japan FT 125,943 7,871 6.67
22 Qinhuangdao  China MT 125,620 4,468 3.69
23 Hamburg  Germany MT 106,536 8,264 8.41
24 Marseille  France MT 95,545 3,284 3.56
25 Port Hedland  Australia MT 89,799 8,041 9.84
26 Osaka  Japan FT 89,687 3,188 3.69
27 Kitakyushu  Japan FT 88,890 4,641 5.51
28 Klang  Malaysia FT 88,888 6,617 8.04
29 Dampier  Australia MT 88,880 -3,348 -3.63
30 Tokyo  Japan FT 88,475 5,530 6.67
31 Shenzhen  China MT 87,670 11,788 15.53
32 Richards Bay  South Africa HT 87,521 6,012 7.38
33 Novorossiysk  Russia MT 85,500 22,209 35.09
34 Newcastle  Australia MT 82,712 5,825 7.58
35 Beaumont  United States MT 79,470 1,480 1.90
36 Kobe  Japan FT 78,759 158 0.20
37 Tubarão  Brazil MT 77,621 1,756 2.31
38 Hay Point  Australia MT 77,546 2,874 3.85
39 New Orleans  United States MT 76,116 -1,047 -1.36
40 Le Havre  France MT 71,493 3,795 5.61
41 Huntington  United States MT 70,483 -3,107 -4.22
42 Corpus Christi, Texas  United States MT 70,105 4,743 7.26
43 Itaqui  Brazil MT 67,591 2,649 4.08
44 Vancouver  Canada MT 66,727 3,926 6.25
45 Amsterdam  Netherlands MT 65,461 -4,956 -7.04
46 Port of Jebel Ali  United Arab Emirates MT 63,626    
47 Long Beach  United States MT 62,816 1,201 1.95
48 Santos  Brazil MT 60,077 6,603 12.35
49 Gladstone  Australia MT 59,661 5,195 9.54
50 Algeciras  Spain MT 56,682    

2002

Rank Port Country Measure Tons (000s)
1 Singapore Singapore  Singapore MT 335,156
2 Netherlands Rotterdam  Netherlands MT 321,851
3 China Shanghai  China MT 238,606
4 United States South Louisiana  United States MT 196,445
5 Hong Kong Hong Kong China China MT 192,510
6 United States Houston  United States MT 161,190
7 Japan Chiba  Japan FT 158,929
8 Japan Nagoya  Japan FT 158,020
9 South Korea Gwangyang  South Korea RT 153,447
10 China Ningbo  China MT 150,000
11 South Korea Ulsan  South Korea RT 148,412
12 South Korea Incheon  South Korea RT 146,181
13 South Korea Busan  South Korea RT 143,772
14 China Guangzhou  China MT 140,395
15 Belgium Antwerp  Belgium MT 131,629
16 Taiwan Kaohsiung  Taiwan MT 129,414
17 China Tianjin  China MT 129,000
18 United States New York/New Jersey  United States MT 122,103
19 China Qinhuangdao  China MT 121,152
20 China Qingdao  China MT 120,000
21 Japan Yokohama  Japan FT 118,072
22 China Dalian  China MT 107,538
23 Germany Hamburg  Germany MT 98,272
24 France Marseille  France MT 92,261
25 Australia Dampier  Australia MT 92,228
26 Japan Osaka  Japan FT 86,499
27 Japan Kitakyushu  Japan FT 84,249
28 Japan Tokyo  Japan FT 82,945
29 Malaysia Klang  Malaysia FT 82,271
30 Australia Port Hedland  Australia MT 81,758
31 South Africa Richards Bay  South Africa MT 81,509
32 Japan Kobe  Japan FT 78,601
33 United States Beaumont  United States MT 77,990
34 United States New Orleans  United States MT 77,163
35 Australia Newcastle  Australia MT 76,887
36 China Shenzhen  China MT 75,882
37 Brazil Tubarão  Brazil MT 75,865
38 Australia Hay Point  Australia MT 74,672
39 United States Huntington  United States MT 73,590
40 Netherlands Amsterdam  Netherlands MT 70,417
41 France Le Havre  France MT 67,698
42 United States Corpus Christi  United States MT 65,362
43 Brazil Itaqui  Brazil MT 64,942
44 Russia Novorossiysk  Russia MT 63,291
45 Canada Vancouver  Canada MT 62,801
46 United States Long Beach  United States MT 61,615
47 United States Baton Rouge  United States MT 54,997
48 Australia Gladstone  Australia MT 54,466
49 United States Plaquemines  United States MT 53,661
50 Brazil Santos  Brazil MT 53,474

References and notes

  1. ^ "Global Port Development Annual Report (2019)" (PDF).
  2. ^ "Global Port Development Annual Report (2019)" (PDF).
  3. ^ "Global Port Development Annual Report (2017)".
  4. ^ AAPA World Port Rankings 2016
  5. ^ "Global Port Development Annual Report (2016)".
  6. ^ AAPA World Port Rankings 2015
  7. ^ "Global Port Development Annual Report (2015)".
  8. ^ AAPA World Port Rankings 2014
  9. ^ "Global Port Development Annual Report (2014)".
  10. ^ AAPA World Port Rankings 2013
  11. ^ "Global Port Development Annual Report (2013)".
  12. ^ AAPA World Port Rankings 2012
  13. ^ "Global Port Development Annual Report (2012)".
  14. ^ AAPA World Port Rankings 2011
  15. ^ AAPA World Port Rankings 2010
  16. ^ AAPA World Port Rankings 2009
  17. ^ AAPA World Port Rankings 2008
  18. ^ AAPA World Port Rankings 2007 Archived April 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ AAPA World Port Rankings 2006
  20. ^ a b AAPA World Port Rankings 2005 (archive link, was dead)
  21. ^ a b AAPA World Port Rankings 2004 (archive link, was dead)
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