Piraeus Rises to 4th Position on Europe’s Top Container Ports List

Photo source: Piraeus Port Authority

The port of Piraeus advanced one position from last year among the top 15 container management ports in Europe, which handled a total of 72.5 million TEUs in 2023, according to PortEconomics.eu, a leading source of port performance and economic data.

PortEconomics co-director Theo Notteboom compiled a table showing the EU container port landscape in 2023, while providing a comprehensive overview of the trends, challenges, and notable developments within the sector in 2023.

According to the table, Piraeus rose to 4th position last year, up from 5th in 2022. Managed by COSCO Shipping, the port’s container terminal has an annual capacity of 1,100,000 TEUs (cargo unit measurement).

The Greek port showed a growth rate of 2 percent in the year 2022-2023 with container traffic reaching 5,100 units.

“Among the top 15 ports, only Gioia Tauro, Piraeus and Sines handled more containers in 2023 compared to 2022,” Theo Notteboom highlighted, adding that a high sea-sea transshipment incidence characterizes these three ports.

Additionally, Piraeus along with Gdansk, and Sines recorded the biggest traffic gains in the period 2007-2023, while Valencia performed the best among the more long-established container ports.

Slight traffic decline at the top three European ports

Rotterdam Port. Photo source: Rotterdam Port Authority

The top three European ports in terms of container management was Rotterdam, Antwerp-Bruges and Hamburg, which remain by far the largest container ports in the region.

However, the figures show that all three ports recorded a traffic decline of around 7 percent in 2023, following a TEU drop of over 5 percent in 2022.

Overall, the top 15 EU ports combined handled 72.5 million TEU in 2023, a decrease of 5.3 percent compared to 2022. This contrasts with a 4.2 percent decline in 2022 and a 5 percent increase in 2021.

Notteboom attributed these decreases to the economic and geopolitical situation, which has impacted container volumes handled.