Container throughput sinks to 12.99M TEUs in 2025 amidst sustained downward trend

Seaborne container throughput dropped to 8.97 million TEUs in 2025.

Hong Kong's port container throughput reached 12.99 million twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) in 2025, reflecting a sustained downward trend, falling at an average annual rate of 4.6% since 2016.

Seaborne container throughput dropped to 8.97 million TEUs in 2025 from 13.56 million TEUs in 2016, whilst river container throughput fell to 4.02 million TEUs from 6.25 million TEUs.

River containers held a marginally reduced share of total throughput, edging down to 31.0% from 31.5%.

Laden container volumes saw the steepest decline, falling to 10.28 million TEUs in 2025 from 16.98 million TEUs in 2016 at an average annual rate of 5.4%.

Empty container volumes, by contrast, remained stable — decreasing only slightly to 2.72 million TEUs from 2.83 million TEUs.

Trade with the Chinese Mainland continues to anchor port activity, accounting for 47.8% of laden container throughput.

Of that, roughly 66.9% was tied to the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. On the inward side, 51.4% of laden containers originated from the Mainland, with Guangzhou and Shenzhen as the leading load ports.

For outward movements, 43.7% were discharged in the Mainland, again dominated by PRD ports.

By cargo type, manufactured goods remained the top commodity at 33.3% of laden throughput, followed by machinery and transport equipment at 20.4%, and food, beverages, and tobacco at 16.0% — all recording average annual declines since 2016.