Countries by Liner shipping connectivity index (maximum value in 2004 = 100)
China leads the 2021 liner shipping connectivity index with a score of 171.18, more than 270 times the score of last-placed Moldova at 0.64. South Korea (111.25) and Singapore (110.68) occupy the second and third positions, clustered tightly behind China. The range across 168 countries reflects deep structural differences in port infrastructure, trade volumes, and geographic positioning within global container shipping networks.
Ranking 2021
Analysis
The liner shipping connectivity index measures how well countries are connected to global shipping networks. According to UNCTAD, it is computed based on five components of the maritime transport sector: number of ships, their container-carrying capacity, maximum vessel size, number of services, and number of companies that deploy container ships in a country's ports. Scores are expressed as absolute values normalized so that the maximum value in 2004 equals 100, meaning scores above 100 indicate connectivity surpassing that 2004 benchmark. The dataset covers 168 countries for the reference year 2021. Coverage is strong: 167 of 168 countries (99.4%) have data from within the last seven years, 98.2% have data from 2021 specifically, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. The World Bank publishes this data under indicator code IS.SHP.GCNW.XQ, sourced from UNCTAD. Nineteen extreme outliers were identified at the 3-sigma threshold, and the overall range spans 0.64 to 171.18, a spread of over 26,800%.
China's score of 171.18 places it well above the 2004 maximum baseline of 100, underscoring its dominant position in global container shipping. South Korea (rank 2, 111.25), Singapore (rank 3, 110.68), and the United States (rank 4, 102.63) are the only other countries to exceed 100. Malaysia (rank 5, 98.68) and the Netherlands (rank 6, 90.74) lead the next tier. The top 10 includes Hong Kong SAR (rank 7, 90.56), Spain (rank 8, 90.47), the United Kingdom (rank 9, 90.00), and Belgium (rank 10, 86.96). High scores are concentrated among countries that host major transshipment hubs or serve as gateways for large regional trade volumes. Vietnam's position at rank 12 with a score of 77.47 is notable given that several larger economies rank below it.
The middle of the ranking reveals some counterintuitive placements. Morocco (rank 19, 69.30) scores higher than India (rank 26, 58.89), Japan (rank 17, 69.66) and Saudi Arabia (rank 18, 69.45), while Indonesia (rank 56, 32.71) ranks well below smaller economies such as Djibouti (rank 51, 34.13) and Jamaica (rank 54, 33.78). At the lower end, landlocked Paraguay (rank 162, 1.85) and Moldova (rank 168, 0.64) appear alongside small island territories such as Tuvalu (rank 164, 1.70) and Nauru (rank 165, 1.70). Aruba and Curacao share an identical score of 6.59 at joint rank 130, as do Grenada and St. Lucia at joint rank 140 with 5.61, and Dominica (rank 138, 5.89) sits just above them. North Korea (rank 167, 0.89) and Moldova (rank 168, 0.64) occupy the lowest two positions among all 168 countries with data.
This metric captures only container shipping connectivity as measured by the five UNCTAD components. It does not account for bulk cargo, inland waterway transport, air freight, or the quality and efficiency of port operations beyond vessel and service counts. Countries with significant non-containerized trade may appear underrepresented. Scores above 100 reflect improvement relative to the 2004 benchmark maximum, but that benchmark itself is not publicly decomposed in this dataset, making absolute comparisons across time dependent on the stability of the normalization. The presence of 19 extreme outliers, particularly China's score far above the next ranked country, indicates a highly skewed distribution. Territories and semi-autonomous regions such as Puerto Rico, Guam, French Polynesia, and New Caledonia are included alongside sovereign states, which affects how the ranking reflects national policy or economic capacity.
Methodology
Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators under indicator code IS.SHP.GCNW.XQ for the reference year 2021. The liner shipping connectivity index is computed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) based on five components of the maritime transport sector: number of ships, their container-carrying capacity, maximum vessel size, number of services, and number of companies that deploy container ships in a country's ports. Scores are absolute values normalized so that the maximum value in 2004 equals 100. The dataset covers 168 countries. Of these, 167 (99.4%) have data from within the last seven years, 165 (98.2%) have data specifically from 2021, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Nineteen extreme outliers were identified using a 3-sigma threshold. The average year-over-year change across the dataset is 10.1%. Scores range from 0.64 (Moldova) to 171.18 (China), a spread of approximately 26,839%. The metric covers only liner container shipping and excludes bulk cargo, inland transport, and non-containerized freight modes.