Saudi ports record 14.6% rise in container handling in 2023

King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam

Saudi ports reported a 14.6% increase in outbound and inbound container traffic in 2023, compared to 2022, according to the Maritime Transport Statistics Publication 2023 issued by the General Authority for Statistics.

The total inbound and outbound container traffic at Saudi ports exceeded five million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Inbound container traffic totaled 3.4 million TEUs, while outbound container traffic amounted to nearly 2.2 million TEUs.

The results indicated a 34% annual increase in ship traffic at the Kingdom's ports in 2023, reaching more than 19,000 ships.

King Fahad Industrial Port in Yanbu had the highest ship traffic, with 6,538 ships, followed by Jeddah Islamic Port with 4,411 ships, and King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam with 2,516 ships.

Meanwhile, the number of passengers at the Kingdom's ports increased by nearly 12% in 2023 to 1.13 million.

Jazan Port recorded the highest number of arriving and departing passengers, totaling 484,600, as shown in the table below:

Outbound cargo volumes amounted to 203.5 million tons for 2023, while inbound cargo volumes reached 105.2 million tons, the report said.

The Maritime Transport Statistics Publication is an annual publication that provides a comprehensive set of statistics, serving as a reliable base for studies and research in maritime transport. It details passenger traffic arriving and departing through Saudi ports, the volume of unloaded and loaded cargo at the Kingdom's ports, and ship traffic through these ports.