Eurostat: Gdansk and Constanta, EU ports with highest quantity of manipulated goods in 2023

In 2023, Constanta Port had the second growth among European ports for the quantity of manipulated goods, acocrding to data released by Eurostat on Tuesday. Compared to 2022, the number of tons of manipulated goods in 2023 went up the most in the ports of Gdansk, Poland (26.3%) and Constanta, Romania (17%). At the opposite pole, the quantity of manipulated goods dropped in the ports of Amsterdam (minus 15.4%), Trieste and Zealand Seaports (minus 12.6%), Gotebord (minus 12.5%), Dunkerque (minus 12.4%) and Barcelona (minus 10.4%).   Due to the 2023 increase, Gdansk was included in top 5 of most important EU ports, while Constanta ranked 9th. Rotterdam, Antwerp- Bruges and Hamburg, kept their positions as the most important three ports in EU in 2023.   In total, 3.4 billion tons of goods were manipulated last year in EU ports, on the drop by 3.9% compared to 2022 (3.5 billion tons), but on the rise by 5% against 2013 (3.2 billion tons).   According to data released by Eurostat, the Netherlands remained in 2023 the largest sea transporter of goods in EU, as its habors manipulated 545 million tons of goods. Italy follows with 501 million tons and Spain with 472 million tons. In all these countries, the quantity of goods manipulated in ports dropped in 2023 compared to 2022, with 7.6%, 1.7% and 3.7%.   Romania ranks 13th, following Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Sweden, Poland, Finland, Denmark and Portugal. Romanian ports manipulated 69.25 million tons of goods in 2023, on the rise against 60.26 million tons in 2022.   Eurostat data also show that Constanta harbor is the most specialized port in EU for the manipulation of dry goods, when 60.6% of the 2023 quantity was made of dry goods.   In total, eight out of the largest 20 ports in EU are located in the Mediterranean Sea, seven are in the Northern Sea, three on the Atlantic coast, one in the Baltic Sea and one in the Black Sea – Constanta.