Actualités • Sectors & markets
Singapore named top container port in new global ranking
PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
Source: Annabelle Liang, 28/11/2025, The Straits Times
Singapore has been named the world's leading container port in a new ranking published by classification society DNV and consultancy Menon Economics. This independent assessment, covering 160 ports, places Singapore ahead of Shanghai, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Busan and Rotterdam. The Port of Singapore, which includes the PSA Singapore and Jurong Port terminals, ranks highest on all key indicators in the ranking.
The ranking assesses ports according to five pillars: governance, institutional capacity and investment; connectivity and customer value; productivity; sustainability; and overall impact, measuring economic contribution and regional importance. According to the authors, Singapore's performance is based on a very high level of infrastructure, transparent governance and effective connectivity supporting major shipping routes.
In February 2025, the port reached the milestone of 10 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) handled and is expected to reach 65 million TEUs per year when the automated port of Tuas is fully operational in the 2040s. The latter incorporates automation, artificial intelligence, digitalization, automated cranes, autonomous vehicles and 5G systems designed to optimize efficiency and safety.
The benchmark survey brought together 41 experts from eight cities, mainly in southern China, Taiwan and Singapore. Even excluding opinions based in Singapore, the ranking remains unchanged. In 2024, Singapore's terminals handled 622.67 million tons of cargo and 40.9 million TEUs, while PSA International was named the world's best container terminal operator for the seventh time.
Shanghai, ranked second, handled a world record 51.5 million TEUs in 2024, supported by its strategic location and deep-water terminals. Ningbo-Zhoushan, ranked third, benefits from improvements such as automated terminals and enhanced rail links. Chinese ports account for more than 40% of global traffic, which reached 931.8 million TEUs in 2024.
