2023 total
164,215 merchant ship calls
First port · 2023
49,179 merchant ship calls
Series high, 2012–2025
170,944 merchant ship calls
Month with the highest figure
16,705 merchant ship calls
The 2023 balance
Spanish ports received 164,215 merchant ship calls in 2023, 4.5% more than in 2022 (7,116 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: 2023 was 3.9% below it and ranks 4th of the 14 years with data.
In the 2023 ranking, the ports moving up on 2022 are Cartagena (from 11th to 10th). The top three positions are unchanged.
Baleares ranks first among port authorities with 49,179 merchant ship calls in 2023 (5.3% more than in 2022). It is followed by Bahía de Algeciras (29,915 merchant ship calls) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (16,568 merchant ship calls). Together, the three account for 58.3% of the total.
The largest increases were recorded by Málaga (+21.4%), Vigo (+19.3%) and Almería (+9.0%); the steepest falls by Huelva (−2.7%). 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, 12,743 merchant ship calls, +1.1%), Ceuta (5th, 10,159 merchant ship calls, +0.4%), Barcelona (6th, 8,766 merchant ship calls, +0.6%), Valencia (7th, 7,575 merchant ship calls, +0.7%), Bilbao (8th, 2,740 merchant ship calls, +3.7%), Tarragona (9th, 2,424 merchant ship calls, +4.5%) and Cartagena (10th, 2,201 merchant ship calls, +4.5%).
At the bottom of the table are Avilés (775 merchant ship calls), Marín y Ría de Pontevedra (462 merchant ship calls) and Vilagarcía (380 merchant ship calls), out of a total of 28 port authorities with data.
The distribution is highly concentrated: the top five account for 72.2% of the total and 7 port authorities are enough to reach 80%, while the other 18 port authorities further down share the remaining 13.4%. 22 of the 28 port authorities with a comparison grew compared with 2022, 4 of them by double digits, and 6 fell.
Of the 12 months of 2023 with data, 12 are above the same month of 2022 and 0 below; over the last three months (October, November, December) the figure is up 1.3% on the same months of 2022; the largest year-on-year difference was in June (up 9.9%); the highest point in the series was August, at 16,705, and the lowest February, at 10,471.
Between 2012 and 2023 the figure went from 133,582 to 164,215, an increase of 22.9% over 11 years (+1.9% a year on average). The best year was 2019 (170,944) and the worst 2020 (117,829).
Top 10 · Ranking of port authorities · 2023
Month by month · 2023 vs 2022
Annual series, 2012–2023
Full table · 28 port authorities · 2023
| # | Port authorities | 2023 | Change on 2022 | 2022 | Share | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baleares | 49,179 | +5.3% | 46,719 | 29.9% | Port |
| 2 | Bahía de Algeciras | 29,915 | +9.0% | 27,451 | 18.2% | Port |
| 3 | Santa Cruz de Tenerife | 16,568 | +3.0% | 16,085 | 10.1% | Port |
| 4 | Las Palmas | 12,743 | +1.1% | 12,600 | 7.8% | Port |
| 5 | Ceuta | 10,159 | +0.4% | 10,119 | 6.2% | Port |
| 6 | Barcelona | 8,766 | +0.6% | 8,711 | 5.3% | Port |
| 7 | Valencia | 7,575 | +0.7% | 7,521 | 4.6% | Port |
| 8 | Bilbao | 2,740 | +3.7% | 2,642 | 1.7% | Port |
| 9 | Tarragona | 2,424 | +4.5% | 2,319 | 1.5% | Port |
| 10 | Cartagena | 2,201 | +4.5% | 2,106 | 1.3% | Port |
| 11 | Huelva | 2,112 | −2.7% | 2,170 | 1.3% | Port |
| 12 | Almería | 1,929 | +9.0% | 1,769 | 1.2% | Port |
| 13 | Vigo | 1,908 | +19.3% | 1,599 | 1.2% | Port |
| 14 | Málaga | 1,736 | +21.4% | 1,430 | 1.1% | Port |
| 15 | Bahía de Cádiz | 1,576 | +1.2% | 1,558 | 1.0% | Port |
| 16 | Santander | 1,561 | +6.1% | 1,471 | 1.0% | Port |
| 17 | Castellón | 1,277 | −16.4% | 1,527 | 0.8% | Port |
| 18 | Melilla | 1,266 | +5.8% | 1,197 | 0.8% | Port |
| 19 | Gijón | 1,178 | −5.6% | 1,248 | 0.7% | Port |
| 20 | A Coruña | 1,093 | −0.1% | 1,094 | 0.7% | Port |
| 21 | Motril | 1,039 | +61.6% | 643 | 0.6% | Port |
| 22 | Ferrol-San Cibrao | 956 | −11.4% | 1,079 | 0.6% | Port |
| 23 | Pasaia | 924 | +4.6% | 883 | 0.6% | Port |
| 24 | Sevilla | 900 | +0.6% | 895 | 0.5% | Port |
| 25 | Alicante | 873 | +30.5% | 669 | 0.5% | Port |
| 26 | Avilés | 775 | +0.5% | 771 | 0.5% | Port |
| 27 | Marín y Ría de Pontevedra | 462 | +8.5% | 426 | 0.3% | Port |
| 28 | Vilagarcía | 380 | −4.3% | 397 | 0.2% | 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 2023?
Baleares, with 49,179 merchant ship calls in 2023, 29.9% of the total.
What was the merchant ship calls figure for Spanish ports in 2023?
164,215 merchant ship calls in 2023, 4.5% more than in 2022.
Was 2023 a record year?
No: the high point of the 2012–2025 series is 2019, with 170,944 merchant ship calls; 2023 was 3.9% below it.
Source
Puertos del Estado. To explore the data in detail, use PortStats · ships by port or see the original source.