MARITIME PROFILE: INDIA
GENERAL INFORMATION FOR 2023
Population GDP Merchandise trade¹
1 438.070 Millions 3 575 778 Millions current US$ 1 105 488 Millions current US$
Land area² GDP growth Transport services trade³
(p) 2 973 190 Km² 8.15 % (e) 246 495 Millions current US$
MARITIME KEY FIGURES FOR 2023
Coast/area ratio² Ship building⁴ Ship recycling⁴
5.8 m/km² 40 459 GT 2 465 566 GT
Fleet - National flag⁵ Fleet - National flag⁵ Fleet - Ownership⁶
18 129 Thousands DWT 1 854 ships 33 009 Thousands DWT
Container port throughput⁷ Number of seafarers⁸ Number of port calls⁹
22 208 000 TEU 113 474 -
WORLD SHARES FOR 2023
INDIA
INTERNATIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADE
Total merchandise trade
(millions of US$) 2005 2010 2015 2023 -4.8 %
Merchandise exports 99 616 226 351 267 951 431 559
Merchandise exports
Merchandise imports 142 870 350 233 394 131 673 929
growth rate in 2023
Merchandise trade balance -43 254 -123 881 -126 180 -242 370
Export structure by product group in 2023 Top 5 partners in 2023
(as % of total exports) (exports, millions of US$)
INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN TRANSPORT SERVICES
Services exports by main category¹⁰
(as % of total services) 2005 2010 2015 2023 -21.7 %
Transport 12.5 11.3 9.2 8.7
Transport services exports
Travel 14.4 12.4 13.4 9.5
growth rate in 2023
Other services 73.1 (e) 76.3 (e) 77.2 (e) 81.3
Total trade in transport services¹⁰
(millions of US$) 2005 2010 2015 2023
Transport services exports 6 537 13 275 14 319 29 371
Transport services imports (e) 33 009 (e) 46 705 (e) 52 257 (e) 90 817
Transport services trade balance (e) -26 472 (e) -33 430 (e) -37 938 (e) -61 447
NATIONAL FLEET
Carrying capacity by type of ship⁵
(Thousands DWT) 2005 2010 2015 2023 +7.1 %
Total fleet 12 347.0 14 969.6 15 617.4 18 128.6
Oil tankers 7 872.0 9 004.6 7 736.4 8 977.0 Fleet growth rate in 2023
Bulk carriers 3 318.0 4 109.4 4 940.2 4 691.5
General cargo 351.0 362.3 1 197.0 1 419.3
Container ships 131.0 328.1 321.8 720.9
Other types of ships 675.0 1 165.2 1 422.1 2 320.0
Fleet by type of ship⁵
(Number of ships)
INDIA
LINER SHIPPING CONNECTIVITY
Bilateral connectivity index - Top 10 partners in Q1 2006¹¹ Liner shipping connectivity index¹¹
Can only take values between 0 (minimum) and 1 (maximum) Average Q1 2023=100
PORT CALLS AND PERFORMANCE
Port calls, time spent in ports, vessel age and size in 2023⁹
Avg container
Avg cargo carrying
carrying capacity (TEU)
Number of Median time Avg age Avg size (GT) capacity (DWT) per container Maximum size
arrivals in port (days) of vessels of vessels per vessel ship (GT) of vessels
All ships - - - - - - -
Liquid bulk carriers - - - - - .. -
Liquefied petroleum gas carriers - - - - - .. -
Liquefied natural gas carriers - - - - - .. -
Dry bulk carriers - - - - - .. -
Dry breakbulk carriers - - - - - .. -
Roll-on/ roll-off ships - .. - - - .. -
Container ships - - - - .. - -
Passenger ships - .. - - .. .. -
Port liner shipping connectivity index - Top 5 ports in 2023¹¹
Average Q1 2023=100
INDIA
Source: Detailed data sources are available in the documentation of the corresponding tables in the Data Center
(https://unctadstat.unctad.org/datacentre/). A link to these tables is provided in each section of the profile.
Notes:
1 Sum of exports and imports.
2 Land area refers to the total area of a country excluding area under inland water bodies. It differs from the country area, that includes area
under inland water bodies, but excludes offshore territorial waters.
Coastline length based on data calculated in 2000 from the World Vector Shoreline database at 1:250,000 scale.
3 Sum of exports and imports. Statistics presented correspond to the 6th edition of the IMF Balance of Payments and International Investment
Position Manual, 2009 (BPM6, 2009).
4 Propelled seagoing merchant vessels of 100 GT and above. Source: Clarksons Research (https://www.clarksons.com/services/research/).
5 Propelled seagoing merchant vessels of 100 GT and above, on 1 January. Source: Clarksons Research
(https://www.clarksons.com/services/research/).
6 Propelled seagoing merchant vessels of 1000 GT and above, on 1 January. Source: Clarksons Research
(https://www.clarksons.com/services/research/).
7 UNCTAD Secretariat, derived from various sources including Dynamar B.V. Publications, terminal operators and port authorities.
8 Refers to year 2021. Source: BIMCO-ICS Manpower Report 2015 and BIMCO-ICS Seafarer Workforce Report, 2021 edition.
9 UNCTAD Secretariat, based on data provided by MarineTraffic (http://marinetraffic.com). Ships of 1000 GT and above.
10 Statistics presented correspond to the 6th edition of the IMF Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, 2009 (BPM6,
2009).
11 UNCTAD Secretariat, generated from data provided by MDS Transmodal (https://www.mdst.co.uk).
e Estimated.
p Estimated. Data refers to 2020.
Symbols for missing values:
0 Zero means that the amount is nil or negligible
.. No value reported or collected
_ Not applicable
... Not available, including no quotation
# Non-relevant calculation
- Not publishable
*** Negative accumulation of flows; Value included in regional and global totals
Abbreviations & acronyms:
DWT: Dead weight tons
LNG: Liquefied natural gas
LPG: Liquefied petroleum gas
GDP: Gross domestic product
GT: Gross tons
TEU: Twenty foot equivalent unit
Disclaimer:
The designations employed and the presentation of the material on the UNCTAD Data Hub do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the
part of the secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the
delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
Where the designations "economy" or "country or area" appear in texts or tables, they cover regions, countries, territories, cities or areas.
The designations "developing", "transition" and "developed" are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about
the stage reached by a particular economy in the development process.
UNCTAD strives for the highest level of accuracy and is committed to promptly correcting any errors on its part. It does not guarantee or make any
express or implied representations regarding the accuracy, reliability, correctness, fitness for use for a particular purpose, or otherwise, whatsoever, of
any of the tables in the UNCTAD Data Hub.
Generation date: 15 April 2025
