Average Age of Merchant Fleet by Country (2026)
The average age of the merchant fleet measures the mean age, in years, of the commercial ships registered under a country's flag. It reflects how new or old a national fleet is on average and is a useful indicator of fleet renewal and investment. The statistics are based on the UNCTADstat database. The dataset covers 196 countries and territories, and 195 of them report figures for 2026.
Turks and Caicos Islands recorded the oldest merchant fleet in 2026 at an average of 80 years. Northern Mariana Islands followed with 65 years, ahead of Belarus and Guam (both 56). Somalia and Honduras recorded 53 years each, followed by Moldova (50), Nicaragua (50), Zambia (49), and Suriname (49). Among the 195 countries and territories with 2026 data, 11 operate a fleet younger than 15 years on average, while 34 record an average fleet age of 40 years or more. The youngest large registries include Singapore (11), the Marshall Islands (12), Liberia (13), Hong Kong (14), and Malta (14). In Asia, the youngest fleets include Singapore (11 years), Hong Kong (14), and China (15). Large national fleets in Asia are older, from Japan (20) and India (21) to South Korea (27) and Iran (30). In Europe, Malta (14), Cyprus (18), Portugal (16), Denmark (22), the United Kingdom (22), and France (23) operate comparatively young fleets, while Italy (30), Russia (32), Germany (34), Poland (38), and Ukraine (44) record older average ages. Greece records an average fleet age of 27 years. In the Americas, the United States fleet averages 35 years and Canada 39, while Brazil (22) and the Bahamas (18) are younger. In Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa all record 29 years. In Oceania, Australia records 25 years and New Zealand 28, while Wallis and Futuna operates one of the youngest fleets in the dataset at 9 years. Among the largest registries, Panama (19), the Bahamas (18), and Indonesia (19) keep their fleets relatively young, while the United States (35) and Germany (34) record older average ages. Moldova recorded the largest increase in average fleet age between 2021 and 2026, rising from 38 to 50 years. The British Virgin Islands rose from 21 to 30 years, and Zambia from 41 to 49. At the other end, the strongest drops in average age were recorded by the US Virgin Islands, down from 43 to 19 years, and Sao Tome and Principe, down from 45 to 27. Wallis and Futuna fell from 23 to 9 years, while Aruba, Haiti, and Niger each declined by about 13 years. The statistics are based on the UNCTADstat database, indicator Average age of vessels, which measures the mean age of registered merchant ships in years. The main comparison uses 2026 data where available, and the latest available year for countries without a 2026 observation. In the table, a zero reflects a nil or negligible fleet, while an empty cell means that no value was reported; the two are never mixed up in the calculations.Countries With the Oldest Merchant Fleet in 2026
Average Age of Merchant Fleet by Country (2026)
Year
1
1
2026
2
8
2022
3
9
2026
4
11
2026
5
11
2026
6
12
2026
7
12
2026
8
13
2026
9
13
2026
10
14
2026
11
14
2026
12
14
2026
13
15
2026
14
15
2026
15
15
2026
16
15
2026
17
15
2026
18
15
2026
19
15
2026
20
16
2026
21
16
2026
22
17
2026
23
17
2026
24
17
2026
25
18
2026
26
18
2026
27
18
2026
28
19
2026
29
19
2026
30
19
2026
31
19
2026
32
20
2026
33
20
2026
34
20
2026
35
20
2026
36
20
2026
37
20
2026
38
20
2026
39
21
2026
40
21
2026
41
21
2026
42
21
2026
43
22
2026
44
22
2026
45
22
2026
46
22
2026
47
22
2026
48
22
2026
49
22
2026
50
22
2026
51
22
2026
52
22
2026
53
22
2026
54
23
2026
55
23
2026
56
23
2026
57
24
2026
58
24
2026
59
25
2026
60
25
2026
61
25
2026
62
25
2026
63
25
2026
64
25
2026
65
26
2026
66
26
2026
67
26
2026
68
26
2026
69
26
2026
70
26
2026
71
26
2026
72
26
2026
73
27
2026
74
27
2026
75
27
2026
76
27
2026
77
27
2026
78
27
2026
79
27
2026
80
27
2026
81
27
2026
82
27
2026
83
27
2026
84
27
2026
85
27
2026
86
27
2026
87
28
2026
88
28
2026
89
28
2026
90
28
2026
91
28
2026
92
28
2026
93
28
2026
94
28
2026
95
28
2026
96
28
2026
97
28
2026
98
28
2026
99
28
2026
100
28
2026
101
28
2026
102
28
2026
103
28
2026
104
29
2026
105
29
2026
106
29
2026
107
29
2026
108
29
2026
109
29
2026
110
29
2026
111
30
2026
112
30
2026
113
30
2026
114
30
2026
115
30
2026
116
30
2026
117
30
2026
118
30
2026
119
30
2026
120
31
2026
121
31
2026
122
31
2026
123
32
2026
124
32
2026
125
32
2026
126
32
2026
127
32
2026
128
32
2026
129
32
2026
130
33
2026
131
33
2026
132
34
2026
133
34
2026
134
34
2026
135
34
2026
136
34
2026
137
34
2026
138
34
2026
139
34
2026
140
34
2026
141
35
2026
142
35
2026
143
35
2026
144
35
2026
145
35
2026
146
36
2026
147
36
2026
148
36
2026
149
36
2026
150
36
2026
151
36
2026
152
37
2026
153
37
2026
154
37
2026
155
38
2026
156
38
2026
157
38
2026
158
38
2026
159
38
2026
160
38
2026
161
38
2026
162
39
2026
163
40
2026
164
40
2026
165
40
2026
166
40
2026
167
41
2026
168
41
2026
169
41
2026
170
42
2026
171
42
2026
172
42
2026
173
42
2026
174
42
2026
175
43
2026
176
43
2026
177
43
2026
178
44
2026
179
44
2026
180
44
2026
181
45
2026
182
47
2026
183
47
2026
184
47
2026
185
48
2026
186
49
2026
187
49
2026
188
49
2026
189
50
2026
190
50
2026
191
53
2026
192
53
2026
193
56
2026
194
56
2026
195
65
2026
196
80
2026
Fleet Age Around the World
Largest Changes in Fleet Age, 2021–2026
Average Age of Merchant Fleet by Country (2026)
#
1
-
-
-
1
2
1
2
7
8
-
-
-
-
3
9
10
10
11
11
12
4
-
-
10
11
12
15
5
11
12
12
13
13
14
6
11
11
11
12
12
13
7
11
12
12
13
13
13
8
11
11
11
11
11
11
9
12
13
14
15
16
17
10
12
13
13
14
14
15
11
12
13
13
14
14
14
12
13
13
14
15
15
15
13
13
14
15
16
16
17
14
13
14
16
18
20
20
15
14
14
15
15
16
15
16
14
14
15
16
17
17
17
14
14
13
13
14
15
18
14
15
9
10
11
12
19
15
16
17
18
19
20
20
15
12
12
13
14
15
21
15
16
16
17
17
18
22
16
17
18
18
19
20
23
16
16
16
17
17
18
24
16
16
17
17
17
18
25
16
17
19
19
21
19
26
17
17
16
16
17
15
27
17
17
17
17
16
16
28
17
18
19
20
21
21
29
18
19
20
20
21
22
30
18
15
15
13
17
23
31
18
18
19
19
19
20
32
18
19
19
19
19
19
33
18
18
17
17
18
16
34
19
19
20
20
19
20
35
19
20
20
21
21
22
36
19
20
20
20
21
23
37
19
19
20
20
21
21
38
19
19
20
19
19
19
39
19
20
21
23
24
26
40
19
19
19
19
20
20
41
20
20
21
21
22
24
42
20
20
21
21
22
22
43
20
21
21
19
20
22
44
20
21
22
22
22
22
45
21
21
22
23
27
30
46
21
20
21
21
21
22
47
21
7
8
9
10
11
48
21
27
23
22
21
22
49
21
22
24
23
24
25
50
21
22
23
23
24
25
51
21
21
22
22
22
21
52
22
22
21
21
22
22
53
22
23
23
24
25
26
54
22
24
25
25
27
27
55
23
23
22
22
21
20
56
23
5
6
7
8
9
57
24
25
25
25
25
25
58
24
26
28
29
30
31
59
24
24
25
26
27
27
60
24
25
25
23
23
23
61
24
24
25
26
27
27
62
24
26
27
27
27
27
63
24
25
26
27
27
28
64
24
23
25
25
26
26
65
24
24
25
26
26
28
66
24
25
25
25
26
27
67
25
26
27
28
29
30
68
25
27
28
29
29
28
69
25
26
26
26
26
27
70
25
26
25
25
26
24
71
25
26
27
27
28
29
72
25
26
27
27
28
29
73
25
25
25
25
25
26
74
25
27
28
27
27
28
75
25
26
26
26
28
27
76
25
25
25
26
26
27
77
26
25
26
27
28
29
78
26
27
27
28
29
30
79
26
25
26
27
26
29
80
26
26
27
28
29
30
81
26
26
27
27
27
27
82
26
27
28
28
28
28
83
26
27
26
26
27
28
84
26
26
26
25
26
27
85
26
27
27
26
27
28
86
26
26
26
25
25
25
87
27
26
27
27
27
28
88
27
28
28
26
27
28
89
27
27
28
28
27
26
90
27
26
26
23
23
26
91
27
29
33
33
30
26
92
27
28
28
28
29
26
93
27
18
9
10
11
14
94
27
28
29
29
30
29
95
28
25
30
18
19
22
96
-
-
-
-
-
28
97
-
-
-
-
28
30
98
28
29
28
29
23
22
99
28
29
29
29
30
30
100
28
28
28
29
29
30
101
28
28
28
27
27
27
102
28
29
30
31
32
33
103
28
25
26
27
27
28
104
28
29
29
29
28
28
105
29
29
28
28
29
31
106
29
31
32
32
30
31
107
29
30
30
32
32
35
108
29
27
28
29
29
28
109
29
30
32
33
33
34
110
29
30
31
30
21
22
111
29
30
29
27
27
28
112
29
29
28
28
28
28
113
29
30
31
31
32
32
114
30
29
29
27
29
32
115
30
31
32
34
35
33
116
30
29
29
29
29
29
117
30
29
30
30
29
29
118
30
31
31
30
29
30
119
30
29
30
31
31
32
120
30
31
31
31
32
32
121
31
31
32
33
33
34
122
31
32
32
32
33
34
123
31
31
32
32
32
34
124
31
29
30
31
32
32
125
31
32
33
34
34
35
126
32
33
34
34
35
35
127
32
33
34
33
35
32
128
32
33
34
34
34
34
129
32
31
31
25
26
27
130
32
31
31
31
31
30
131
32
16
17
18
18
21
132
32
33
32
32
33
34
133
-
-
-
32
33
34
134
32
33
34
34
34
35
135
32
33
34
35
36
36
136
33
32
34
35
37
38
137
33
34
34
33
34
35
138
33
34
34
34
35
36
139
33
35
35
36
37
37
140
33
34
36
35
35
36
141
34
35
35
36
37
38
142
34
35
34
35
36
40
143
34
34
35
36
36
36
144
34
35
36
37
36
38
145
35
36
37
38
39
40
146
35
35
36
36
33
32
147
35
18
19
20
23
25
148
35
35
36
36
36
37
149
35
38
37
38
39
40
150
35
36
37
36
37
38
151
35
34
34
33
33
34
152
-
36
37
20
27
28
153
36
37
38
39
40
41
154
36
37
38
39
40
41
155
37
37
39
38
38
38
156
37
38
39
35
37
37
157
37
40
41
36
37
38
158
37
37
39
25
26
27
159
38
39
40
31
32
25
160
38
38
38
38
39
39
161
38
40
39
40
42
42
162
38
39
40
41
42
43
163
38
39
43
48
49
50
164
38
39
38
37
42
40
165
39
38
38
37
38
38
166
39
40
38
39
40
41
167
39
40
41
41
42
44
168
40
40
42
41
42
42
169
40
40
41
41
42
43
170
40
40
41
42
42
43
171
40
39
39
40
41
42
172
41
41
40
40
41
42
173
41
42
43
44
45
34
174
41
42
44
36
36
36
175
41
41
44
44
44
45
176
41
40
41
40
40
36
177
41
42
46
47
48
49
178
42
43
44
42
43
44
179
43
44
45
35
18
19
180
44
45
36
33
27
28
181
-
-
-
45
46
47
182
45
46
47
47
48
49
183
45
43
42
37
32
27
184
46
47
46
47
48
49
185
46
46
47
48
48
48
186
47
48
49
51
52
53
187
50
51
52
52
43
44
188
50
51
51
52
51
53
189
50
51
52
53
54
50
190
51
52
53
54
55
56
191
51
52
53
54
55
56
192
53
45
49
49
42
42
193
-
-
-
53
52
47
194
60
61
59
60
61
47
195
-
-
62
63
64
65
196
75
76
77
78
79
80
Methodology
Frequently Asked Questions
Which country has the oldest merchant fleet?
Turks and Caicos Islands recorded the oldest merchant fleet in 2026 at an average of 80 years, followed by Northern Mariana Islands (65) and Belarus and Guam (both 56).
How many countries are included in the dataset?
The dataset covers 196 countries and territories, and 195 of them report figures for 2026.
What does this indicator measure?
It measures the average age of the merchant ships registered under each country's flag, expressed in years, reflecting fleet renewal and investment.
Which country has the youngest merchant fleet?
Czech Republic recorded the youngest fleet at 1 year in 2026, and among the largest registries Singapore (11), the Marshall Islands (12), and Liberia (13) were the youngest.
Why is the latest year 2026?
The average age of vessels indicator in UNCTAD data reports values as of the beginning of each year, and 2026 is the latest available reference point in the source data.
Data Disclaimer: Projected data (future years) are estimates based on mathematical models. Actual values may differ. Learn about our methodology →
Sources
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Updated: 09.08.2026https://unctadstat.unctad.org/datacentre/dataviewer/US.MerchantFleet
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