RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index: Global trade comes to a standstill at the end of the year
The most important facts in brief:
- The seasonally adjusted Container Throughput Index of the RWI - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) fell to 131.2 points in December compared to 133.6 points (revised) in the previous month.
- The North Range Index, which provides an indication of economic development in the northern eurozone and Germany, fell from 114.0 (revised) to 113.0 points in December compared to the previous month.
- In the Chinese ports, container throughput fell from 143.8 points (revised) in the previous month to 141.4 points.
- The RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index for January 2025 will be published on 27 February 2025.
Commenting on the development of the Container Throughput Index, RWI head of economic research Torsten Schmidt says: ‘Container throughput will come to a standstill at the end of 2024. The new US government's announcement that it will use tariffs as an important economic policy tool has put a significant damper on the outlook for this year.’
Editor's note: An error in the calculation of the index resulted in incorrect values in an earlier version of the press release. The overall statement and headline of the press release remain unchanged. The downward trend for the overall index and the North Range Index remains unchanged. The index for China has now also fallen, whereas in the original press release the value had risen.
We apologise for the error.
The index is based on data on container throughput in 92 international ports, which account for around 64 per cent of global container throughput, collected on an ongoing basis as part of the ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor. The current flash estimate for the Container Throughput Index is based on data from around 68 per cent of the throughput shown in the index. As most international trade is handled by sea, container throughput allows reliable conclusions to be drawn about global trade. As many ports report on their activities just two weeks after the end of a month, the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index is a reliable early indicator of the development of international trade in processed goods and therefore also of global economic activity. The Container Throughput Index is part of the statistics on foreign trade in the „Dashboard Deutschland“ of the Federal Statistical Office. It is also used by many international bodies such as UNCTAD and is included in the ‘Shipping/Port Data’ section of the WTO's Global Trade Data Portal
Data series for individual ports are available in the ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor
Further background information on the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index can be found at www.rwi-essen.de/containerindex.
Your contacts for this:
Prof. Dr. Torsten Schmidt, Phone: +49 (201) 8149-287, torsten.schmidt@rwi-essen.de
Alexander Bartel (Communication), Phone: +49 (201) 8149-354, alexander.bartel@rwi-essen.de
Data RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index
Graphic in printable resolution
RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index: North Range
