Where Data Tells the Story
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By January 2025, the global shipping fleet is heavily concentrated. The top three ship-owning nations by capacity, Greece, China, and Japan, account for over 40 percent of the world fleet by deadweight tonnage. Measured by vessel count, these three nations control nearly one-third of the global fleet. The combined share of the top 10 ship-owning countries reaches 67.3 percent of global fleet capacity.
While Greece is the top ship-owning nation by capacity alone (16.4 percent), combining the shares of China and Hong Kong, China, moves China up to the first position globally, commanding 20.2 percent of the capacity. Following these leaders are Japan and Singapore, which are the third and fourth leading global fleet owners, accounting for 9.9 percent and 6.3 percent of global capacity, respectively. Other European ship-owning nations on the top 10 list include Germany with a share of 3.0 percent and the United Kingdom with 2.4 percent.
Much of the capacity owned by these top 10 ship-owning countries is registered under foreign flags. This practice is common, with the notable exception of Hong Kong, China, where foreign-flagged ship capacity accounts for less than half of the beneficially owned fleet.