From the covid-19 pandemic, the lack of space & equipment, the freight rates surge, the year 2020 was definitely a disruptive year. Nevertheless, against all odds, the annual volume of the world's top 20 container ports continued to grow, however, more sluggish than in 2019. According to the data shared by World Shipping Council, many ports faced lower throughput growth rates in 2020 compared to 2019 growth rates. The overall performance of the Chinese port output situation remains very positive due to the early prevention and control of Covid-19 pandemic in China (which has 7 ports in the world's top 10)  and the rapid resumption of the country's production, which prompted a rebound in import and export volumes and boosted port activities. In the list of the top 20 container ports, Chinese ports occupy 45% of the total volume.

Due to differences in the response to the pandemic and the severity of COVID-19 in each area, there are only some slight changes in the rankings for 2020. The rankings remain very similar to 2019. Most Chinese ports show an upward trend in volume. Shanghai Port maintained a relatively stable trend to stay in the first place. The Hong Kong Port experienced a growth rate of 8.8% which is the highest in the Top 20 container ports and move up to Rank 8.

In the second half of 2020, the volume handled by many ports started to gradually increase despite the lack of containers. Compared to 346.75 million TEU handled in 2019, these top 20 container cargo handled almost 358.18 million TEU in 2020 (source: SISI). The total throughput growth of the top 20 global container ports increased 3.2% in 2020.

Beyond the top 20, it is also interesting to note the increase in Vietnam's container port volumes, which rose by 8.5% in 2020 and a record start to the year for the country's ports, which are up 21% in the first half of 2021, on a year-on-year basis (source: Seatrade-Maritime).

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