RWI/ISL- Container Throughput Index

RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index: China stabilizes global trade

03.11.2025

The Container Throughput Index of the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) fell slightly in September, according to the latest flash estimate, reaching a seasonally adjusted 136.7 points compared to the previous month. Without the significant increase in container throughput at Chinese ports, the overall index would have declined much more sharply. The differing developments likely reflect the reactions of trading partners to U.S. tariff policies. In Europe, container throughput is already normalizing after having risen markedly in the wake of the agreement with the U.S., while in China, it is only now beginning to recover in response to the same agreement.

The essence in a nutshell:

The Container Throughput Index of the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) fell slightly in September (seasonally adjusted) to 136.7 points, compared to 137.3 points (revised) in the previous month.
The North Range Index, which provides indications of economic activity in the northern euro area and Germany, recorded another noticeable decline—from 117.0 points (revised) to 115.3 points in September.
Container throughput at Chinese ports rose significantly—from 151.7 points (revised) in the previous month to 153.3 points.
The RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index for October 2025 will be published on November 27, 2025.

Torsten Schmidt

RWI-Konjunkturchef

U.S. trade policy continues to shape global container throughput. Companies are responding to announcements from the U.S. administration with short-term adjustments to their exports to the United States. There is still no sign of an end to the longer-term adjustments to the new role of the U.S. in the global economy, not least because most agreements have not yet been fully settled. How strongly this ongoing tension will ultimately weaken global trade cannot yet be quantified.

About the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index:

The index is based on data on container throughput in 90 international ports, which account for around 64 per cent of global container throughput, collected on an ongoing basis as part of the ISL Monthly Container Port Monitor. The current flash estimate for the Container Throughput Index is based on data from around 92 per cent of the throughput shown in the index. As most international trade is handled by sea, container throughput allows reliable conclusions to be drawn about global trade. As many ports report on their activities just two weeks after the end of a month, the RWI/ISL Container Throughput Index is a reliable early indicator of the development of international trade in processed goods and therefore also of global economic activity. The Container Throughput Index is part of the statistics on foreign trade in the „Dashboard Deutschland“ of the Federal Statistical Office. It is also used by many international bodies such as UNCTAD and is included in the ‘Shipping/Port Data’ section of the WTO's Global Trade Data Portal

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.