The World Bank Group said in a press release that global port performance continues to vary widely across regions. Citing the Container Port Performance Index (CPPI), the World Bank Group noted a decline in port performance between 2020 and 2024 and listed the Red Sea crisis, operational constraints at the Panama Canal, and pandemic-related aftershocks as contributing factors.
The press release stated that East Asian ports were the top performers in 2024 and that South Asian ports also demonstrated a strong recovery. Meanwhile, North American and European ports maintained stable performance levels comparable to those of 2023.
Progress was not limited to high-income economies only. The press release also stated that several ports in developing countries, including Dakar in Senegal, Jawaharlal Nehru in India, Mersin in Turkey, Port Said in Egypt, and Posorja in Ecuador, have achieved significant improvements in both scores and rankings over the past five years.
As Port Technology International reported, port performance in the Middle Eastern and North African region has been affected by the Red Sea Crisis. In the report, Port Technology International also highlighted that ports in Sub-Saharan Africa continue to face persistent structural challenges. The CPPI report similarly showed that the Red Sea crisis continues to strain port performance, as seen in Durban and Cape Town, South Africa, resulting in reduced productivity and prolonged vessel waiting times.
Additionally, the CPPI report pointed out that a majority of the top-ranked ports are leading export and transshipment hubs. It also said that ports in regions with more exports than imports tend to have higher CPPIs than importing regions. The data revealed that ten of the twenty highest-ranked ports are located in China.
The CPPI is a global benchmark report jointly developed by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence. The report measures the efficiency of container ports worldwide. This fifth edition includes 403 global container ports and analyzes over 175,000 vessel calls and 247 million container moves.
Source: World Bank Group, Port Technology International, Container Port Performance Index