The essence in a nutshell:

• The Container Throughput Index of RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute for Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) recorded a seasonally adjusted decrease in January from 122.4 (revised) to 120.2 points.
• The decrease is mostly due to European ports. The North Range Index, which summarises the development of major North Sea ports in continental Europe, dropped from 109.0 in December to 96.6 in January.
• In Chinese ports, container traffic remained stable. The China Index reached 133.3 in January after 134.2 in December. However, the index values always need cautious interpretation around Chinese New Year holidays.
• The RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index for the month of February 2023 will be published on March 30th, 2023.

Commenting on the development of the Container Throughput Index, RWI’s head of economic research Torsten Schmidt says: “The strong decrease of container traffic in the European ports at the start of the year is another signal that the economic development continues to deterioate in the first quarter, particularly in Germany.”

About the RWI/ISL- Container Throughput Index:

The RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index consists of container throughput data from 94 international ports gathered continuously by the ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor as part of its market observation. These ports account for approximately 64 percent of global container traffic. The current flash estimate for the Container Throughput Index is based on data from about 63 percent of the total index displayed here. As international trade is handled primarily by sea, reliable conclusions can be drawn here from container port throughput data. Furthermore, the index is a reliable early indicator of international trade of manufactured goods as well as global economic activity as most ports already report their activities within two weeks after the end of each month. The container throughput index is part of the statistics on foreign trade in the „Dashboard Deutschland“ of the Federal Statistical Office.

Data series for individual ports are available in the ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor.

Data Container Throughput Index and North Range Index

Graphic Container Throughput Index in printable resolution

RWI/ISL-Containerumschlag-Index: Nordrange

Graphic in printable resolution

Data for special evaluation excluding chinese ports