New UN data: China widens lead in liner-shipping connectivity
China pressed its dominance in shipping connectivity while country-level gains and losses became increasingly uneven in the third quarter, a UN report finds. The post New UN data: China widens lead in liner-shipping connectivity appeared first on FreightWaves .
Unveiled UN figures for September 2026 reveal China's significant expansion in its lead over competitors in liner-shipping connectivity, with its index soaring to 1,347.6. This is more than double the scores of second and third-placed South Korea and Singapore, which were recorded at 633.0 and 626.7 respectively. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) index assesses a nation's integration into container-shipping networks through various metrics including vessel calls, port capacity, carrier and service availability, the largest ship size, and the number of countries reached via direct services.
UNCTAD's latest data underscores Asia's dominant position in the liner shipping sector, led by China. Eight other Asian economies—South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, India, Hong Kong, and Taiwan—ranked among the world's top 15 best-connected economies. UNCTAD's report underscores Asia's continuing central role in the liner shipping industry.
China's advantage in connectivity has persisted since 2023 and has further increased through September, the UN agency reported. Despite modest declines in monthly scores, South Korea and Singapore retained high connectivity scores, and both surpassed their levels from a year ago. The United States and Malaysia occupied the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, with slight increases from August.
However, their scores remain below September 2025 levels, indicating an improvement in the short term, but not a full recovery compared to the previous year. In terms of regional performance, the United States led North America, Spain led Europe, Egypt led Africa, and Panama emerged as the top performer in Latin America and the Caribbean.
China and Panama showed improvements from the previous year, while the United States, Spain, and Egypt maintained their leadership positions despite slight declines in their scores. Smaller markets experienced more significant percentage swings in connectivity, with Venezuela recording the largest increase at 91.4%, followed by Saint Pierre and Miquelon at 89.3%, and Syria at 79.7%.
The Persian Gulf region saw notable declines, with Qatar recording the steepest drop of 65.3%, followed by Bahrain at 60.6%, and Iraq at 56%. UNCTAD noted that connectivity losses outnumbered gains in the third quarter, indicating uneven changes across national shipping networks. The data do not necessarily reflect comparable absolute changes across markets, as percentage movements can be more pronounced for countries starting from a lower baseline of connectivity.
The strongest bilateral liner-shipping relationships in the first quarter of 2026 were concentrated among nearby trading economies, particularly in Asia. China's connections with South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia ranked among the five strongest globally. The UNCTAD agency highlighted that China-related connections in Asia have strengthened over the past two decades and now surpass many other bilateral corridors.
Two European short-sea links—United Kingdom-Belgium and United Kingdom-Netherlands—also remained among the top five global bilateral connections.
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