Bulk Carrier Fleet by Country (2026)

The bulk carrier fleet measures the dead weight tonnage of bulk carriers registered under a country's flag, expressed in thousands of tons. It reflects the scale of bulk carrier capacity registered under each country's flag, with open-registry economies dominating registration. The statistics are based on the UNCTADstat database. The dataset covers 196 countries and territories, and the table below lists 100 of them that record any bulk carrier tonnage in the period; their combined bulk carrier fleet stood at 1,067,175 thousand dwt in 2026.

Countries With the Largest Bulk Carrier Fleet in 2026

Liberia recorded the largest bulk carrier fleet in 2026 at 216,898 thousand dwt. Panama followed with 206,583, ahead of the Marshall Islands (156,819) and Hong Kong (94,785). China (78,036), Singapore (71,888), Malta (35,367), Japan (25,894), Cyprus (22,121), and the Bahamas (21,246) complete the top ten.

Bulk Carrier Fleet by Country (2026)

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#	Country	Country (Thousand dwt)
1	Panama PA	201,513
2	Liberia LR	133,941
3	Marshall Islands MH	130,352
4	Hong Kong HK	110,218
5	China CN	64,840
6	Singapore SG	55,572
7	Malta MT	44,849
8	Cyprus CY	21,065
9	Bahamas BS	20,586
10	Japan JP	18,391
11	Greece GR	18,290
12	Isle of Man IM	13,923
13	Portugal PT	7,269
14	Indonesia ID	6,946
15	Norway NO	6,170
16	South Korea KR	5,774
17	India IN	4,267
18	United Kingdom GB	4,262
19	Taiwan TW	4,243
20	Vietnam VN	3,381
21	Italy IT	3,184
22	Philippines PH	3,080
23	Bangladesh BD	2,528
24	Belgium BE	2,424
25	Cayman Islands KY	2083
26	Iran IR	2010
27	Barbados BB	1944
28	Türkiye TR	1697
29	Belize BZ	1652
30	Thailand TH	1120
31	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VC	920
32	Egypt EG	905
33	Switzerland CH	904
34	Antigua and Barbuda AG	846
35	Vanuatu VU	824
36	Croatia HR	794
37	Malaysia MY	784
38	Sierra Leone SL	729
39	Tuvalu TV	710
40	Qatar QA	626
41	Brazil BR	597
42	Canada CA	585
43	Cook Islands CK	571
44	Palau PW	490
45	Denmark DK	461
46	Gibraltar GI	409
47	Saudi Arabia SA	409
48	Russia RU	397
49	Venezuela VE	319
50	Pakistan PK	255
51	Finland FI	250
52	South Africa ZA	242
53	Netherlands NL	237
54	Sri Lanka LK	225
55	Ireland IE	223
56	North Korea KP	220
57	Saint Kitts and Nevis KN	197
58	United States US	189
59	Comoros KM	180
60	Luxembourg LU	174
61	Chile CL	165
62	Montenegro ME	140
63	Mexico MX	137
64	Moldova MD	136
65	Tanzania TZ	128
66	Mongolia MN	110
67	Kiribati KI	93
68	Cameroon CM	90
69	Bulgaria BG	67
70	Niue NU	62
71	Algeria DZ	53
72	Georgia GE	47
73	Lebanon LB	46
74	Australia AU	44
75	Gabon GA	43
76	Djibouti DJ	39
77	Ukraine UA	35
78	Myanmar MM	31
79	Argentina AR	29
80	Equatorial Guinea GQ	26
81	United Arab Emirates AE	23
82	Honduras HN	22
83	Eswatini SZ	19
84	Syria SY	19
85	Botswana BW	14
86	Togo TG	12
87	Spain ES	11
88	Jamaica JM	10
89	Bermuda BM	0
90	Curaçao CW	0
91	Ethiopia ET	0
92	Fiji FJ	0
93	Gambia GM	0
94	Germany DE	0
95	Guinea-Bissau GW	0
96	Guyana GY	0
97	Maldives MV	0
98	Nauru NR	0
99	San Marino SM	0
100	Sao Tome and Principe ST	0

The bulk carrier fleet is dominated by open-registry economies. Liberia alone accounts for about 20 percent of the tonnage in the table, and the top five countries together account for about 71 percent. Among the 100 countries listed, 14 record a bulk carrier fleet above 10,000 thousand dwt.

Bulk Carrier Fleet Around the World

In Asia, Hong Kong records the largest bulk carrier fleet at 94,785 thousand dwt through open-registry registration, followed by China (78,036), Singapore (71,888), Japan (25,894), and Indonesia (12,376). South Korea (6,976), India (5,086), Vietnam (2,936), and the Philippines (2,357) record smaller fleets.

In Europe, Malta (35,367) holds the largest bulk carrier fleet, followed by Cyprus (22,121), Portugal (13,544), and Greece (13,196). Belgium (9,015), Norway (5,677), the United Kingdom (3,606), and Türkiye (1,631) follow, while Italy records just 630 thousand dwt.

In the Americas, Panama (206,583) holds the largest bulk carrier fleet, while the Bahamas (21,246) is the next largest. Brazil (1,181), Canada (634), and Venezuela (601) follow, while the United States records just 211 thousand dwt.

In Africa, Liberia (216,898) dominates the global ranking; Egypt (985) and Comoros (446) are the next largest African registries, while most other African countries record no bulk carrier tonnage at all. In the Middle East, Iran (2,028) records the largest bulk carrier fleet, ahead of Saudi Arabia (985) and Qatar (321).

In Oceania, the Marshall Islands (156,819) holds the largest bulk carrier fleet through open-registry registration. Palau (1,621), Vanuatu (356), the Cook Islands (154), and Australia (44) are the other registries with bulk carrier tonnage, while New Zealand reports none.

Largest Changes in Bulk Carrier Fleet, 2021–2026

Liberia recorded the largest increase in the bulk carrier fleet between 2021 and 2026, rising from 133,941 to 216,898 thousand dwt (up 82,957). The Marshall Islands grew from 130,352 to 156,819 (up 26,467), Singapore from 55,572 to 71,888 (up 16,316), and China from 64,840 to 78,036 (up 13,196). Japan added 7,503, Belgium 6,591, and Portugal 6,275.

Hong Kong recorded the largest decline, down 15,433 to 94,785 thousand dwt, followed by Malta (down 9,482) and Greece (down 5,094). Italy declined by 2,554, and the Philippines by 723.

Bulk Carrier Fleet by Country (2026)

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#	Country	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
1	Panama	201,513	201,724	200,724	199,303	203,141	206,583
2	Liberia	133,941	151,748	174,396	189,359	204,199	216,898
3	Marshall Islands	130,352	141,833	147,956	156,641	154,785	156,819
4	Hong Kong	110,218	112,948	107,174	103,791	100,352	94,785
5	China	64,840	70,189	76,659	80,576	77,765	78,036
6	Singapore	55,572	55,846	57,537	61,568	67,154	71,888
7	Malta	44,849	41,852	36,964	33,316	36,327	35,367
8	Cyprus	21,065	20,371	19,529	21,086	22,191	22,121
9	Bahamas	20,586	21,175	21,334	21,536	21,442	21,246
10	Japan	18,391	18,877	21,099	22,140	23,447	25,894
11	Greece	18,290	17,478	15,795	15,060	13,735	13,196
12	Isle of Man	13,923	13,661	13,898	13,674	14,274	14,218
13	Portugal	7,269	7,799	8,063	8,694	11,842	13,544
14	Indonesia	6,946	7,287	7,605	9,900	11,363	12,376
15	Norway	6,170	5,883	6,212	6,289	6,010	5,677
16	South Korea	5,774	5,408	6,552	6,810	6,847	6,976
17	India	4,267	4,457	4,692	4,883	4,844	5,086
18	United Kingdom	4,262	3,569	3,243	3,370	3,679	3,606
19	Taiwan	4,243	3,735	2,949	2,542	2,519	2,500
20	Vietnam	3,381	3,323	3,438	3,385	3,351	2,936
21	Italy	3,184	1916	1695	712	630	630
22	Philippines	3,080	2,994	2,679	2,543	1873	2,357
23	Bangladesh	2,528	2,982	3,623	3,835	4,521	4,662
24	Belgium	2,424	2094	2083	2,442	3,310	9,015
25	Cayman Islands	2083	2041	2050	1998	1298	1188
26	Iran	2010	2010	2010	2010	2028	2028
27	Barbados	1944	2,514	3,431	4,599	6,456	7,250
28	Türkiye	1697	1666	1841	2013	1787	1631
29	Belize	1652	1566	1549	1724	1861	1572
30	Thailand	1120	1120	1192	1252	1127	1142
31	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	920	1077	1036	1071	1118	1000
32	Egypt	905	987	929	903	985	985
33	Switzerland	904	904	836	836	767	731
34	Antigua and Barbuda	846	921	875	835	814	1397
35	Vanuatu	824	614	553	553	339	356
36	Croatia	794	625	546	390	390	454
37	Malaysia	784	754	808	661	661	748
38	Sierra Leone	729	821	727	985	1265	1277
39	Tuvalu	710	705	578	381	413	458
40	Qatar	626	442	389	313	239	321
41	Brazil	597	597	814	814	814	1181
42	Canada	585	587	612	602	602	634
43	Cook Islands	571	603	585	421	238	154
44	Palau	490	806	1418	1868	1616	1621
45	Denmark	461	799	849	1218	1248	1457
46	Gibraltar	409	316	232	242	211	215
47	Saudi Arabia	409	490	732	859	985	985
48	Russia	397	359	463	723	723	784
49	Venezuela	319	233	233	233	233	601
50	Pakistan	255	255	255	255	255	255
51	Finland	250	250	250	223	111	111
52	South Africa	242	448	439	383	564	358
53	Netherlands	237	252	252	319	347	314
54	Sri Lanka	225	206	206	183	183	196
55	Ireland	223	223	223	223	223	223
56	North Korea	220	249	249	303	299	328
57	Saint Kitts and Nevis	197	280	775	851	2,560	3,129
58	United States	189	211	211	211	211	211
59	Comoros	180	230	410	459	492	446
60	Luxembourg	174	174	161	211	293	293
61	Chile	165	139	102	118	69	69
62	Montenegro	140	140	140	140	140	70
63	Mexico	137	211	114	239	165	152
64	Moldova	136	136	12	0	0	0
65	Tanzania	128	111	95	61	151	166
66	Mongolia	110	73	235	56	78	130
67	Kiribati	93	145	82	12	12	12
68	Cameroon	90	78	56	167	126	17
69	Bulgaria	67	55	38	38	38	17
70	Niue	62	80	98	70	70	18
71	Algeria	53	53	53	53	53	53
72	Georgia	47	0	0	0	0	0
73	Lebanon	46	46	46	46	46	46
74	Australia	44	44	44	44	44	44
75	Gabon	43	152	82	0	0	102
76	Djibouti	39	39	39	39	39	39
77	Ukraine	35	35	0	0	0	0
78	Myanmar	31	18	18	18	18	18
79	Argentina	29	29	29	29	29	29
80	Equatorial Guinea	26	26	26	26	26	26
81	United Arab Emirates	23	125	125	125	125	125
82	Honduras	22	0	0	0	0	0
83	Eswatini	-	-	-	-	19	0
84	Syria	19	19	19	19	0	0
85	Botswana	-	-	-	-	-	14
86	Togo	12	12	12	36	50	140
87	Spain	11	11	11	11	11	11
88	Jamaica	10	0	0	0	0	0
89	Bermuda	0	0	0	180	541	1078
90	Curaçao	0	0	0	0	106	203
91	Ethiopia	0	0	0	63	63	63
92	Fiji	0	0	0	24	0	0
93	Gambia	0	0	0	0	0	156
94	Germany	0	32	32	0	0	0
95	Guinea-Bissau	0	0	54	89	462	574
96	Guyana	0	28	0	0	0	0
97	Maldives	0	0	44	44	44	44
98	Nauru	0	0	0	0	12	12
99	San Marino	-	0	0	234	565	1087
100	Sao Tome and Principe	0	0	0	106	46	210

Methodology

The statistics are based on the UNCTADstat database, indicator Bulk carriers, which measures the dead weight tonnage of bulk carriers registered under each country's flag in thousand tons, as part of the merchant fleet statistics. Values refer to the beginning of each year. The main comparison uses 2026 data where available, and the latest available year for countries without a 2026 observation. Countries with no bulk carrier tonnage in any year of the period are excluded from the table. 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.