Container Ship Fleet by Country (2026)

The container ship fleet measures the dead weight tonnage of container ships registered under a country's flag, expressed in thousands of tons. It reflects the scale of container ship 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 195 of them report figures for 2026, with a combined container ship fleet of 388,387 thousand dwt.

Countries With the Largest Container Ship Fleet in 2026

Liberia recorded the largest container ship fleet in 2026 at 93,810 thousand dwt. Singapore followed with 64,418, ahead of Panama (41,545) and Hong Kong (34,288). Malta (33,738), China (17,633), Portugal (16,363), Denmark (15,763), the Marshall Islands (10,973), and South Korea (8,848) complete the top ten.

Container Ship Fleet by Country (2026)

Export

Excel (.xlsx) CSV Document PDF Document PNG Image

#	Country	Country (Thousand dwt)
1	Liberia LR	48,740
2	Panama PA	42,519
3	Hong Kong HK	39,489
4	Singapore SG	29,068
5	Malta MT	23,537
6	Denmark DK	16,487
7	Marshall Islands MH	13,764
8	China CN	11,211
9	Portugal PT	11,189
10	Germany DE	6,819
11	Cyprus CY	4,977
12	United Kingdom GB	3,835
13	France FR	3,129
14	United States US	3,040
15	South Korea KR	2,766
16	Indonesia ID	2,491
17	Japan JP	2,491
18	Taiwan TW	2,214
19	Antigua and Barbuda AG	1886
20	Iran IR	1751
21	Bahamas BS	1484
22	Türkiye TR	894
23	Brazil BR	789
24	India IN	645
25	Bermuda BM	584
26	Isle of Man IM	504
27	Italy IT	462
28	Vietnam VN	457
29	Greece GR	428
30	Netherlands NL	398
31	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines VC	372
32	Malaysia MY	371
33	Thailand TH	337
34	Belgium BE	332
35	Israel IL	310
36	Philippines PH	301
37	Gibraltar GI	287
38	Saint Kitts and Nevis KN	151
39	Egypt EG	149
40	Chile CL	127
41	Russia RU	122
42	Faroe Islands FO	95
43	Comoros KM	85
44	Morocco MA	85
45	Qatar QA	84
46	Palau PW	73
47	Bangladesh BD	66
48	Cayman Islands KY	66
49	United Arab Emirates AE	66
50	Togo TG	59
51	Tuvalu TV	51
52	Mongolia MN	49
53	Lithuania LT	46
54	Jamaica JM	45
55	Moldova MD	40
56	Sierra Leone SL	38
57	Algeria DZ	36
58	Cameroon CM	36
59	Papua New Guinea PG	36
60	North Korea KP	28
61	Tanzania TZ	25
62	Luxembourg LU	24
63	New Zealand NZ	23
64	Argentina AR	15
65	Canada CA	15
66	Vanuatu VU	15
67	Cambodia KH	14
68	Djibouti DJ	14
69	Finland FI	14
70	Paraguay PY	12
71	Dominican Republic DO	8
72	Tunisia TN	8
73	Cook Islands CK	6
74	Mexico MX	6
75	Belize BZ	5
76	Ecuador EC	5
77	Niue NU	5
78	Saudi Arabia SA	5
79	Norway NO	3
80	Tonga TO	3
81	Uruguay UY	3
82	Ukraine UA	2
83	Venezuela VE	2
84	Albania AL	0
85	Angola AO	0
86	Aruba AW	0
87	Australia AU	0
88	Austria AT	0
89	Azerbaijan AZ	0
90	Bahrain BH	0
91	Barbados BB	0
92	Belarus BY	0
93	Benin BJ	0
94	Bolivia BO	0
95	Bosnia and Herzegovina BA	0
96	Botswana BW	0
97	British Virgin Islands VG	0
98	Brunei BN	0
99	Bulgaria BG	0
100	Cape Verde CV	0
101	Colombia CO	0
102	Congo CG	0
103	Costa Rica CR	0
104	Croatia HR	0
105	Cuba CU	0
106	Curaçao CW	0
107	Czech Republic CZ	0
108	Dominica DM	0
109	DR Congo CD	0
110	El Salvador SV	0
111	Equatorial Guinea GQ	0
112	Eritrea ER	0
113	Estonia EE	0
114	Eswatini SZ	0
115	Ethiopia ET	0
116	Falkland Islands FK	0
117	Fiji FJ	0
118	French Polynesia PF	0
119	Gabon GA	0
120	Gambia GM	0
121	Georgia GE	0
122	Ghana GH	0
123	Greenland GL	0
124	Grenada GD	0
125	Guam GU	0
126	Guatemala GT	0
127	Guinea GN	0
128	Guinea-Bissau GW	0
129	Guyana GY	0
130	Haiti HT	0
131	Honduras HN	0
132	Hungary HU	0
133	Iceland IS	0
134	Iraq IQ	0
135	Ireland IE	0
136	Ivory Coast CI	0
137	Jordan JO	0
138	Kazakhstan KZ	0
139	Kenya KE	0
140	Kiribati KI	0
141	Kuwait KW	0
142	Laos LA	0
143	Latvia LV	0
144	Lebanon LB	0
145	Lesotho LS	0
146	Libya LY	0
147	Macau MO	0
148	Madagascar MG	0
149	Maldives MV	0
150	Mauritania MR	0
151	Mauritius MU	0
152	Micronesia FM	0
153	Monaco MC	0
154	Montenegro ME	0
155	Mozambique MZ	0
156	Myanmar MM	0
157	Namibia NA	0
158	Nauru NR	0
159	New Caledonia NC	0
160	Nicaragua NI	0
161	Niger NE	0
162	Nigeria NG	0
163	North Macedonia MK	0
164	Northern Mariana Islands MP	0
165	Oman OM	0
166	Pakistan PK	0
167	Peru PE	0
168	Poland PL	0
169	Puerto Rico PR	0
170	Réunion RE	0
171	Romania RO	0
172	Samoa WS	0
173	San Marino SM	0
174	Sao Tome and Principe ST	0
175	Senegal SN	0
176	Seychelles SC	0
177	Slovakia SK	0
178	Slovenia SI	0
179	Solomon Islands SB	0
180	Somalia SO	0
181	South Africa ZA	0
182	Spain ES	0
183	Sri Lanka LK	0
184	Sudan SD	0
185	Suriname SR	0
186	Sweden SE	0
187	Switzerland CH	0
188	Syria SY	0
189	Timor-Leste TL	0
190	Trinidad and Tobago TT	0
191	Turkmenistan TM	0
192	Turks and Caicos Islands TC	0
193	US Virgin Islands VI	0
194	Wallis and Futuna WF	0
195	Yemen YE	0
196	Zambia ZM	0

The container ship fleet is even more concentrated than the overall merchant fleet. Liberia alone accounts for about 24 percent of the container capacity in the dataset, and the top five countries together account for about 69 percent. Among the 195 countries and territories with 2026 data, 9 record a container fleet above 10,000 thousand dwt.

Container Ship Fleet Around the World

In Asia, Singapore (64,418 thousand dwt) records the largest container ship fleet thanks to open-registry registration, followed by China (17,633), South Korea (8,848), and Japan (3,982). Taiwan (2,703) and Indonesia (1,874) are smaller, while the Philippines (344) and Vietnam (606) record modest fleets.

In Europe, Malta (33,738) holds the largest container ship fleet, followed by Portugal (16,363) and Denmark (15,763). Germany (7,940), Cyprus (5,314), the United Kingdom (4,382), and France (4,303) are the next largest, while Greece (409) and Italy (781) record smaller fleets in this segment.

In the Americas, Panama (41,545) holds the largest container fleet, while the Bahamas (1,982), the United States (3,240), and Brazil (1,221) are smaller. In Africa, Liberia (93,810) dominates the global ranking, with most other African registries below 1,000. In the Middle East, Iran (1,623) records the largest container fleet.

In Oceania, the Marshall Islands (10,973) holds the largest container fleet through open-registry registration, while Australia reports no container ship tonnage and New Zealand has just 23 thousand dwt. Among open registries, Liberia, Singapore, and Malta have all grown rapidly over the period.

Largest Changes in Container Ship Fleet, 2021–2026

Liberia recorded the largest increase between 2021 and 2026, rising from 48,740 to 93,810 thousand dwt (up 45,070). Singapore grew from 29,068 to 64,418 (up 35,350), and Malta from 23,537 to 33,738 (up 10,201). China also expanded, adding 6,422, and South Korea added 6,082.

Hong Kong recorded the largest decline, down 5,201 to 34,288 thousand dwt, followed by the Marshall Islands (down 2,791) and Panama (down 974). Denmark declined by 724.

Container Ship Fleet by Country (2026)

Download

Excel (.xlsx) CSV PDF PNG

#	Country	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
1	Liberia	48,740	55,487	60,397	74,864	85,600	93,810
2	Panama	42,519	42,136	42,806	40,603	40,817	41,545
3	Hong Kong	39,489	40,094	39,892	43,076	48,481	34,288
4	Singapore	29,068	30,544	33,786	35,811	41,368	64,418
5	Malta	23,537	25,180	27,265	27,159	31,966	33,738
6	Denmark	16,487	15,801	15,319	15,117	15,627	15,763
7	Marshall Islands	13,764	14,275	13,030	12,018	11,866	10,973
8	China	11,211	11,364	13,653	16,591	16,903	17,633
9	Portugal	11,189	13,061	13,460	14,737	16,200	16,363
10	Germany	6,819	6,201	6,387	7,252	7,939	7,940
11	Cyprus	4,977	4,572	3,961	3,875	4,385	5,314
12	United Kingdom	3,835	4,258	4,401	4,600	4,284	4,382
13	France	3,129	3,629	3,925	3,944	4,114	4,303
14	United States	3,040	3,172	3,237	3,252	3,153	3,240
15	South Korea	2,766	3,244	4,113	6,263	7,238	8,848
16	Indonesia	2,491	2,100	2067	1815	1832	1874
17	Japan	2,491	2,708	3,114	3,194	3,284	3,982
18	Taiwan	2,214	2,302	2,760	2,721	2,685	2,703
19	Antigua and Barbuda	1886	1657	1621	1699	1692	1579
20	Iran	1751	1709	1620	1620	1620	1623
21	Bahamas	1484	1457	1478	1840	1902	1982
22	Türkiye	894	912	930	944	1019	1037
23	Brazil	789	819	819	994	1178	1221
24	India	645	732	721	723	723	928
25	Bermuda	584	690	744	628	628	628
26	Isle of Man	504	379	248	249	249	249
27	Italy	462	394	308	384	531	781
28	Vietnam	457	482	552	584	601	606
29	Greece	428	428	413	413	404	409
30	Netherlands	398	363	354	350	346	299
31	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	372	354	360	392	424	388
32	Malaysia	371	458	473	441	591	590
33	Thailand	337	340	473	538	575	592
34	Belgium	332	105	54	96	172	172
35	Israel	310	310	207	55	55	55
36	Philippines	301	290	290	290	355	344
37	Gibraltar	287	165	60	26	17	0
38	Saint Kitts and Nevis	151	174	238	221	304	212
39	Egypt	149	122	142	155	155	111
40	Chile	127	127	127	86	17	17
41	Russia	122	131	149	253	294	294
42	Faroe Islands	95	95	95	95	95	83
43	Comoros	85	82	82	65	93	436
44	Morocco	85	85	85	68	118	139
45	Qatar	84	84	84	110	110	110
46	Palau	73	31	49	74	136	141
47	Bangladesh	66	151	151	190	190	190
48	Cayman Islands	66	246	246	246	246	246
49	United Arab Emirates	66	66	66	79	79	79
50	Togo	59	68	50	64	52	50
51	Tuvalu	51	51	51	26	35	35
52	Mongolia	49	51	62	34	34	34
53	Lithuania	46	46	33	33	46	70
54	Jamaica	45	0	0	0	0	0
55	Moldova	40	6	0	0	0	0
56	Sierra Leone	38	26	38	54	484	519
57	Algeria	36	83	83	83	83	83
58	Cameroon	36	0	0	35	22	22
59	Papua New Guinea	36	36	31	31	31	31
60	North Korea	28	28	31	50	50	50
61	Tanzania	25	41	81	64	32	41
62	Luxembourg	24	24	24	0	22	43
63	New Zealand	23	23	40	40	23	23
64	Argentina	15	15	15	15	15	15
65	Canada	15	15	15	15	15	15
66	Vanuatu	15	20	18	18	18	6
67	Cambodia	14	11	11	0	0	0
68	Djibouti	14	14	14	14	14	14
69	Finland	14	14	0	0	12	0
70	Paraguay	12	8	8	8	8	8
71	Dominican Republic	8	0	0	0	0	0
72	Tunisia	8	8	8	8	8	8
73	Cook Islands	6	0	0	0	0	0
74	Mexico	6	6	0	0	0	0
75	Belize	5	0	19	42	48	37
76	Ecuador	5	5	5	5	5	0
77	Niue	5	8	8	3	29	42
78	Saudi Arabia	5	5	5	5	25	94
79	Norway	3	3	3	12	12	12
80	Tonga	3	0	0	0	0	0
81	Uruguay	3	3	3	3	0	0
82	Ukraine	2	2	2	2	2	2
83	Venezuela	2	0	0	0	0	0
84	Albania	0	0	0	0	0	0
85	Angola	0	0	0	0	0	0
86	Aruba	0	0	0	0	0	130
87	Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0
88	Austria	0	0	0	0	0	0
89	Azerbaijan	0	0	0	0	0	0
90	Bahrain	0	0	0	0	0	0
91	Barbados	0	7	0	88	58	89
92	Belarus	0	0	0	0	0	0
93	Benin	0	0	0	0	0	0
94	Bolivia	0	0	0	0	0	0
95	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-	-	-	0	0	0
96	Botswana	-	-	-	-	-	0
97	British Virgin Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0
98	Brunei	0	0	0	0	0	0
99	Bulgaria	0	0	0	0	0	0
100	Cape Verde	0	0	0	0	0	0
101	Colombia	0	0	0	0	0	0
102	Congo	0	0	0	0	0	0
103	Costa Rica	0	0	0	0	0	0
104	Croatia	0	0	0	0	0	0
105	Cuba	0	0	0	0	0	0
106	Curaçao	0	0	0	0	0	0
107	Czech Republic	-	-	-	0	0	0
108	Dominica	0	8	8	8	0	6
109	DR Congo	0	0	0	0	0	0
110	El Salvador	0	0	0	0	0	0
111	Equatorial Guinea	0	0	0	0	0	0
112	Eritrea	0	0	0	0	0	0
113	Estonia	0	0	0	9	9	9
114	Eswatini	-	-	-	-	0	0
115	Ethiopia	0	0	0	0	0	0
116	Falkland Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0
117	Fiji	0	0	0	0	0	0
118	French Polynesia	0	0	0	0	0	0
119	Gabon	0	0	0	0	5	5
120	Gambia	0	0	0	0	5	5
121	Georgia	0	0	0	0	0	0
122	Ghana	0	0	0	0	0	0
123	Greenland	0	0	0	0	0	0
124	Grenada	0	0	0	0	0	0
125	Guam	0	0	0	0	0	0
126	Guatemala	0	0	0	0	0	0
127	Guinea	0	0	0	0	0	0
128	Guinea-Bissau	0	0	0	0	0	40
129	Guyana	0	0	0	0	0	78
130	Haiti	0	0	0	0	0	0
131	Honduras	0	0	0	55	50	27
132	Hungary	0	0	-	-	-	-
133	Iceland	0	0	0	0	0	0
134	Iraq	0	0	0	0	0	0
135	Ireland	0	0	0	0	0	0
136	Ivory Coast	0	0	0	0	0	0
137	Jordan	0	0	0	0	0	0
138	Kazakhstan	0	0	0	0	0	0
139	Kenya	0	0	0	0	0	0
140	Kiribati	0	0	0	0	0	0
141	Kuwait	0	0	0	0	0	0
142	Laos	0	0	0	0	0	0
143	Latvia	0	19	19	28	28	39
144	Lebanon	0	0	4	4	0	0
145	Lesotho	-	-	0	0	0	0
146	Libya	0	0	0	0	0	0
147	Macau	0	0	0	0	0	0
148	Madagascar	0	0	0	0	0	0
149	Maldives	0	0	0	2	2	2
150	Mauritania	0	0	0	0	0	0
151	Mauritius	0	0	0	0	0	0
152	Micronesia	0	0	0	0	0	0
153	Monaco	0	0	0	0	0	0
154	Montenegro	0	0	0	0	0	0
155	Mozambique	0	0	0	0	0	0
156	Myanmar	0	0	0	0	0	0
157	Namibia	0	0	0	0	0	0
158	Nauru	0	0	0	0	0	0
159	New Caledonia	0	0	0	0	0	0
160	Nicaragua	0	0	0	0	0	0
161	Niger	0	0	0	0	0	0
162	Nigeria	0	0	0	0	13	13
163	North Macedonia	-	-	-	0	0	0
164	Northern Mariana Islands	-	-	0	0	0	0
165	Oman	0	0	0	0	0	0
166	Pakistan	0	0	0	0	0	0
167	Peru	0	0	0	0	0	0
168	Poland	0	0	0	0	0	0
169	Puerto Rico	0	0	0	0	0	0
170	Réunion	0	0	0	0	0	0
171	Romania	0	0	0	0	0	0
172	Samoa	0	0	0	0	0	0
173	San Marino	-	0	0	0	16	23
174	Sao Tome and Principe	0	0	0	0	0	9
175	Senegal	0	0	0	0	0	0
176	Seychelles	0	0	0	0	0	0
177	Slovakia	-	-	-	0	0	0
178	Slovenia	0	0	0	0	0	0
179	Solomon Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0
180	Somalia	0	0	0	0	0	0
181	South Africa	0	0	0	0	0	0
182	Spain	0	0	0	0	0	0
183	Sri Lanka	0	0	0	0	0	0
184	Sudan	0	0	0	0	0	0
185	Suriname	0	0	0	0	0	0
186	Sweden	0	0	0	0	0	0
187	Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0	0
188	Syria	0	0	86	0	0	0
189	Timor-Leste	0	0	0	0	0	0
190	Trinidad and Tobago	0	0	0	0	0	0
191	Turkmenistan	0	0	0	0	0	0
192	Turks and Caicos Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0
193	US Virgin Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0
194	Wallis and Futuna	0	0	0	0	0	0
195	Yemen	0	0	0	0	0	0
196	Zambia	0	0	0	0	0	0

Methodology

The statistics are based on the UNCTADstat database, indicator Container ships, which measures the dead weight tonnage of container ships 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. 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.