Spanish ports handled over 415 million tonnes of cargo in the first nine months of the year

•    Container traffic (TEUs) increased by 2% up to September, with a 7.5% rise in import-export flows, confirming the upward trend of this traffic and the key role of ports in Spain’s foreign trade.
•    Spanish ports exceeded 33 million passenger movements. 

Total traffic up to September shows a 1.7% decrease compared to the same period in 2024
Spanish ports handled over 415 million tonnes of cargo in the first nine months of the year

Container traffic (TEUs) increased by 2% up to September, with a 7.5% rise in import-export flows, confirming the upward trend of this traffic and the key role of ports in Spain’s foreign trade.

Spanish ports exceeded 33 million passenger movements.

22 October 2025 (Puertos del Estado). The ports of general interest handled 415,337,855 tonnes of cargo up to September 2025, representing a 1.7% decrease compared to the same period the previous year, according to provisional data. The traffic figures for the first nine months continue to reflect the sluggishness of global trade, but the decline is less pronounced than in previous months (-2.9% in May, -3.1% in June, and -2.3% in July and August), thanks to the resilience of conventional cargo and a more moderate contraction in bulk goods.

General cargo recorded a 0.2% decrease, reaching 210.6 million tonnes, with conventional cargo up 4.3% (67.2 million tonnes), while containerised cargo fell 2.2% (143.3 million tonnes) compared to the same period last year.

Container traffic (TEUs) grew by 2%, reaching 14 million units up to September. The downward trend in transhipment TEUs (-1.5%) since the beginning of the year has been less pronounced in recent months, while import-export TEUs continue to grow strongly (+7.5%) across Spanish ports.

Solid bulk traffic fell 5.3% year-on-year, totalling 60.3 million tonnes, while liquid bulk decreased 2% to 133.1 million tonnes, mainly due to reduced crude oil and petroleum product movements.

Ro-Ro traffic increased 3.3%, exceeding 56.5 million tonnes.

The number of merchant vessels calling at Spanish ports fell 2.2% compared to the first nine months of 2024, with a total of 124,528 vessels, while gross tonnage rose 0.4%.

Passenger traffic increased 4.5% year-on-year up to September, surpassing 33.3 million movements.