Saudi ports record 9% rise in container handling in 2024

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Saudi Arabia’s seaborne cargo volumes rose to more than 331 million tons in 2024, according to data issued by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT).

Outbound shipments reached about 222.4 million tons, up 9% year-on-year (YoY), while inbound volumes grew 4% to nearly 108.9 million tons.

King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu led Saudi ports in exports, accounting for 51% of the total, or 114 million tons. Meanwhile, King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam topped in imports at 38 million tons, representing 35% of the total inbound cargo.

The following table shows details of cargo volumes at Saudi ports in 2024: 

Total cargo handled through Saudi ports exceeded 334 million tons, according to the data.

King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu accounted for the largest share at 40%, while King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam ranked first in handling standard containers with a 51% share. Liquid bulk cargo topped the list of goods handled, with volumes surpassing 177 million tons. 

The number of vessels arriving at Saudi ports reached 8,693 in 2024. Jeddah Islamic Port received the largest share with 3,805 vessels, followed by King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam with 1,980 vessels, and NEOM Port with 951 vessels.

The report also showed that total container throughput exceeded 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), including 1.3 million outbound containers and more than 1.2 million inbound containers.

As for passenger traffic, the total number of arrivals and departures through Saudi ports reached about 913,000 in 2024, down 20% from 2023. Jazan Port ranked first with more than 485,000 passengers, as shown below:

The Maritime Transport Statistics Publication is an annual publication that provides a comprehensive set of statistics, serving as a reliable base for studies and research in maritime transport. It details passenger traffic arriving and departing through Saudi ports, the volume of unloaded and loaded cargo at the Kingdom's ports, and ship traffic through these ports.