“Resilient” economies boosted MENA ports’ performance: Despite the post-pandemic boom in the global container port sector petering out in 2022, MENA’s ports continue to post strong volumes on the back of “resilient” economies, according to maritime data platform Lloyd’s List’s ranking of One Hundred Ports 2023. The annual ranking lists the world’s top 100 container ports based on yearly throughput figures.

12 regional ports made the cut: The UAE’s Dubai and Abu Dhabi ports, KSA’s Dammam, Jeddah, and King Abdullah ports, Oman’s Salalah port, Egypt’s Port Said port, Morocco’s Tanger Med port, and Turkey’s Ambarli, Kocaeli, Mersin, and Tekirdag ports all made it into Lloyd’s ranking of the world’s busiest ports in terms of throughput volumes. Last year’s ranking featured 10 MENA ports.

The top performing ports: Dubai’s port is still the first regionally in terms of throughput, retaining its 2022 rank of 11th worldwide. Morocco’s Tanger Med port followed at 24, while Jeddah Islamic Port ranked at 41, falling one spot from last year’s ranking. Oman’s Salalah Port climbed one spot to settle at 44.

Abu Dhabi showed the biggest gains when compared to 2022, jumping 10 spots from 57 to 47, with the results highlighting the effects of significant investments at the port recently. King Abdullah’s port showed the second largest positive improvement in rankings, climbing from 74 last year to 71 in 2023.

On the downside: Egypt’s Port Said fell five spots to 48th in the world, and Salalah Port in Oman fell one spot to settle at 44.

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