2022 total
157,099 merchant ship calls
First port · 2022
46,719 merchant ship calls
Series high, 2012–2025
170,944 merchant ship calls
Month with the highest figure
16,286 merchant ship calls
The 2022 balance
Spanish ports received 157,099 merchant ship calls in 2022, 13.1% more than in 2021 (18,210 merchant ship calls more). This is the year-end balance according to Puertos del Estado’s monthly statistics, with December data for the 28 port authorities.
The high point of the 2012–2025 series is 2019, with 170,944 merchant ship calls: 2022 was 8.1% below it and ranks 6th of the 14 years with data.
The top ten positions in the 2022 ranking are the same, and in the same order, as in 2021.
Baleares ranks first among port authorities with 46,719 merchant ship calls in 2022 (7.1% more than in 2021). It is followed by Bahía de Algeciras (27,451 merchant ship calls) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (16,085 merchant ship calls). Together, the three account for 57.5% of the total.
The largest increases were recorded by Bahía de Algeciras (+40.6%), Almería (+37.2%) and Ceuta (+30.0%); the steepest falls by Tarragona (−11.4%), Huelva (−4.2%) and Bilbao (−1.0%). The comparison is limited to port authorities that account for at least 1% of the total, so that an extreme swing at a small player does not distort the picture.
The rest of the top ten are Las Palmas (4th, 12,600 merchant ship calls, +6.7%), Ceuta (5th, 10,119 merchant ship calls, +30.0%), Barcelona (6th, 8,711 merchant ship calls, +15.9%), Valencia (7th, 7,521 merchant ship calls, +3.1%), Bilbao (8th, 2,642 merchant ship calls, −1.0%), Tarragona (9th, 2,319 merchant ship calls, −11.4%) and Huelva (10th, 2,170 merchant ship calls, −4.2%).
At the bottom of the table are Motril (643 merchant ship calls), Marín y Ría de Pontevedra (426 merchant ship calls) and Vilagarcía (397 merchant ship calls), out of a total of 28 port authorities with data.
The distribution is highly concentrated: the top five account for 71.9% of the total and 7 port authorities are enough to reach 80%, while the other 18 port authorities further down share the remaining 13.2%. 18 of the 28 port authorities with a comparison grew compared with 2021, 10 of them by double digits, and 10 fell.
Of the 12 months of 2022 with data, 12 are above the same month of 2021 and 0 below; over the last three months (October, November, December) the figure is up 9.5% on the same months of 2021; the largest year-on-year difference was in May (up 24.5%); the highest point in the series was August, at 16,286, and the lowest February, at 10,022.
Between 2012 and 2022 the figure went from 133,582 to 157,099, an increase of 17.6% over 10 years (+1.6% a year on average). The best year was 2019 (170,944) and the worst 2020 (117,829).
Top 10 · Ranking of port authorities · 2022
Month by month · 2022 vs 2021
Annual series, 2012–2022
Full table · 28 port authorities · 2022
| # | Port authorities | 2022 | Change on 2021 | 2021 | Share | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baleares | 46,719 | +7.1% | 43,635 | 29.7% | Port |
| 2 | Bahía de Algeciras | 27,451 | +40.6% | 19,519 | 17.5% | Port |
| 3 | Santa Cruz de Tenerife | 16,085 | +13.5% | 14,167 | 10.2% | Port |
| 4 | Las Palmas | 12,600 | +6.7% | 11,809 | 8.0% | Port |
| 5 | Ceuta | 10,119 | +30.0% | 7,783 | 6.4% | Port |
| 6 | Barcelona | 8,711 | +15.9% | 7,518 | 5.5% | Port |
| 7 | Valencia | 7,521 | +3.1% | 7,295 | 4.8% | Port |
| 8 | Bilbao | 2,642 | −1.0% | 2,669 | 1.7% | Port |
| 9 | Tarragona | 2,319 | −11.4% | 2,618 | 1.5% | Port |
| 10 | Huelva | 2,170 | −4.2% | 2,265 | 1.4% | Port |
| 11 | Cartagena | 2,106 | +1.3% | 2,078 | 1.3% | Port |
| 12 | Almería | 1,769 | +37.2% | 1,289 | 1.1% | Port |
| 13 | Vigo | 1,599 | +1.2% | 1,580 | 1.0% | Port |
| 14 | Bahía de Cádiz | 1,558 | +2.6% | 1,518 | 1.0% | Port |
| 15 | Castellón | 1,527 | −8.3% | 1,666 | 1.0% | Port |
| 16 | Santander | 1,471 | −5.8% | 1,561 | 0.9% | Port |
| 17 | Málaga | 1,430 | +24.9% | 1,145 | 0.9% | Port |
| 18 | Gijón | 1,248 | +5.2% | 1,186 | 0.8% | Port |
| 19 | Melilla | 1,197 | +26.3% | 948 | 0.8% | Port |
| 20 | A Coruña | 1,094 | +16.6% | 938 | 0.7% | Port |
| 21 | Ferrol-San Cibrao | 1,079 | +5.7% | 1,021 | 0.7% | Port |
| 22 | Sevilla | 895 | −6.3% | 955 | 0.6% | Port |
| 23 | Pasaia | 883 | −8.7% | 967 | 0.6% | Port |
| 24 | Avilés | 771 | −7.2% | 831 | 0.5% | Port |
| 25 | Alicante | 669 | +32.7% | 504 | 0.4% | Port |
| 26 | Motril | 643 | +14.0% | 564 | 0.4% | Port |
| 27 | Marín y Ría de Pontevedra | 426 | −6.0% | 453 | 0.3% | Port |
| 28 | Vilagarcía | 397 | −2.5% | 407 | 0.3% | Port |
What this indicator measures
Every month Puertos del Estado counts the merchant ships calling at each port authority: container ships, bulk carriers, tankers, ro-ro vessels, ferries and cruise ships. A call is one entry into port, so a scheduled ferry adds many calls a month. The number of calls measures a port’s service activity (pilotage, mooring, towage, stevedoring); ship size is measured separately, in gross tonnage (GT).
Frequently asked questions
Which was Spain’s first port by merchant ship calls in 2022?
Baleares, with 46,719 merchant ship calls in 2022, 29.7% of the total.
What was the merchant ship calls figure for Spanish ports in 2022?
157,099 merchant ship calls in 2022, 13.1% more than in 2021.
Was 2022 a record year?
No: the high point of the 2012–2025 series is 2019, with 170,944 merchant ship calls; 2022 was 8.1% below it.
Source
Puertos del Estado. To explore the data in detail, use PortStats · ships by port or see the original source.