RWI/ISL- Container Throughput Index

Container Throughput Index: The impact of the war in Iran is growing

29.05.2026

Global container throughput fell again in April. The ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is exacerbating the strain on world trade. Supply chains are coming under increasing pressure, transport costs are rising, and key port regions are losing momentum.

The essence in a nutshell:

Container throughput at international ports fell again in April 2026. Following a sharp decline in March, the Container Throughput Index – calculated by the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute for Maritime Economics and Logistics (ISL) – fell by 1 point from 142.2 (revised) to 141.2 index points. The noticeable upturn in container throughput at the start of the year has now been reversed.
The impact of the war in Iran is also being felt in northern European ports. The Nordrange Index, which is regarded as a leading indicator of economic development in the northern eurozone, particularly in Germany, fell from 120.0 points (revised) to 118.5 points.
The decline in container throughput at Chinese ports is particularly marked: following a sharp fall the previous month, the relevant index dropped again from a revised 161.0 points in March to 158.5 points in April. Disruptions to supply chains caused by the war in Iran and falling demand are likely to have contributed significantly to this decline.
The RWI/ISL Container Handling Index for May 2026 will be published on 29 June 2026.

Torsten Schmidt

RWI-Konjunkturchef

With the renewed decline in the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index, there are growing signs in Germany that the economic slump of recent years is set to continue. Handling volumes in northern European ports remain weak and there is no sign of a turnaround. This makes it all the more important to steer the German economy back onto a growth path through decisive reforms and to make us more resilient to external shocks such as the war in Iran.

About the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index:

The index includes data on container throughput collected on an ongoing basis by the ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor from 90 international ports, which account for around 64 percent of global container throughput. The current flash estimate for the container throughput index is based on data from 85 percent of the throughput represented in the index. Since international trade is mainly conducted by sea, container transshipments allow reliable conclusions to be drawn about world trade. Because many ports report on their activities just two weeks after the end of a month, the RWI/ISL Container Transshipment Index is a reliable early indicator of developments in international trade in manufactured goods and thus also of global economic activity.

The Container Throughput Index is part of the foreign trade statistics in the Federal Statistical Office’s „Dashboard Deutschland“

Data series for individual ports are available in the ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor

Further background information on the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index can be found at www.rwi-essen.de/containerindex