How Much Cargo Goes Through the Suez Canal?

The Suez Canal runs at about half its 2023 record — and the missing ships are the container ships

In its last normal year, the Suez Canal was the busiest it had ever been. 26,434 vessels carrying nearly 1.57 billion net tons transited in calendar 2023, an all-time record and a 10.8% jump over 2022, according to Suez Canal Authority figures. That flow represented about 22% of the world's seaborne container trade and roughly 12–15% of global trade overall, per UNCTAD.

Then Houthi attacks in the Red Sea rerouted the container fleet around Africa, and the canal has run at half-speed since. 2025 closed at 12,758 transits — 48% of the 2023 peak — carrying 522.1 million net tons, per the SCA's 2025 annual report. The headline hides the real story: ship counts halved, but tonnage fell by two-thirds, because the ships that vanished were the biggest ones. Container ship transits were still down 86% versus 2023 in Q4 2025 (BIMCO), while product tankers had nearly returned to normal.

• 26,434 vessels and ~1.57 billion net tons transited in calendar 2023 — the all-time record (SCA via Informare).
• 22% of global seaborne container trade moved through the canal in 2023, and container ships made up 43% of the gross tonnage crossing it (UNCTAD, February 2024).
• 12,758 transits, 522.1 million net tons, and 464.4 million tons of cargo in 2025 — essentially flat against 2024 and less than half the record (SCA 2025 annual report).
• Container transits down 86%, bulk carriers down 55%, crude tankers down 32%, product tankers down 19% in Q4 2025 versus 2023 (BIMCO via Splash247).
• Roughly 100 vessels were attacked or hijacked between November 2023 and the final attack on September 29, 2025; the Houthis announced a stand-down on November 11, 2025 (Lloyd's List via Splash247).
• FY 2025/26 toll revenue came in at $4.67 billion, up 23% year over year — against a $9.4 billion record in FY 2022/23 (SCA via Egyptian Streets).
• April 2026 produced $419 million in tolls — the canal's best month since early 2024, up 27% year over year; the SCA forecasts 15,500 ships in FY 2026/27, a 20% increase (Al Manassa, July 2026).
• The Cape of Good Hope detour adds roughly 10–15 days and ~3,000 nautical miles per Asia–Europe voyage, burning 25–40% more fuel — industry estimates put the extra fuel bill for an ultra-large container ship at $1.2–2 million per voyage (Zencargo; Middle East Insider).

Half the ships, a third of the tonnage

The cleanest way to see what the Red Sea crisis did to the world's most important trade shortcut is to put the record year and the current one side by side. Note the asymmetry: transits fell 52%, tonnage fell 67%. The gap between those two numbers is the container fleet: the largest vessels on the water, still mostly sailing around Africa.

Cargo tonnage tells the same story from a third angle. The SCA reported 464.4 million tons of cargo crossing in 2025. Back-solving from the authority's stated 64.4% cargo decline in 2024, the 2023 baseline was roughly 1.3 billion tons of cargo. In other words, about two of every three cargo tons that used the canal in 2023 now go around Africa or don't move at all. That is a 3PL Insider derivation, and we show the arithmetic in the methodology section below.

Nobody counts Suez cargo the same way

Ask four authorities how much cargo goes through the Suez Canal and you get four different answers. None of them is wrong. They count different things, over different calendars.

Tankers now dominate a canal the container lines built their networks around

Before the crisis, container ships were the canal's economic core: 23% of transits but 43% of gross tonnage — the big boxes paid the big tolls. In 2025's mix, tankers led with 39% of transits, bulk carriers took 27%, and container ships just 15% (SCA 2025 annual report). The recovery, so far, is being led by exactly the cargo most ecommerce operators don't ship.

Source: SCA 2025 annual report; segment declines vs 2023 from BIMCO. The LNG and car-carrier surges are growth against a collapsed 2024 base, not a return to 2023 volumes.

Two years at half-speed, then a wobbly turn

The collapse was fast: by February 2024, container tonnage crossing the canal had fallen 82% (UNCTAD). The recovery has been slow and jagged. 229 vessels returned to the canal in October 2025, the best month since the crisis began (gCaptain). Maersk put its first ship through in nearly two years on December 19, 2025, and war-risk premiums fell to 0.2% of hull value. CMA CGM restarted Suez services in January 2026 (Splash247). Then the Strait of Hormuz closure re-priced regional war risk, and carriers paused transits during the March 2026 spike. April swung back hard: $419 million in tolls, the best month since early 2024 (Al Manassa).

Sources: SCA, UNCTAD, Splash247, Al Manassa, Egyptian Streets.

What the detour actually costs

Every ship that skips Suez pays the Cape of Good Hope tax: roughly 10–15 extra days and ~3,000 additional nautical miles on an Asia–Europe rotation, with 25–40% more fuel burned. Industry estimates put the added fuel bill for an ultra-large container ship at $1.2–2 million per voyage (Zencargo; Middle East Insider). Stretch that across the fleet and the diversions absorbed about 6% of global container capacity. That's one reason freight rates spiked in 2024, and one reason a full Suez return will release a wave of capacity back into the market. Container-ship emissions rose roughly 46% in 2024 on the longer routing (Zencargo).

Common questions about Suez Canal cargo

How much cargo goes through the Suez Canal per year?

In the last normal year, 2023, the canal carried nearly 1.57 billion net tons across 26,434 transits (SCA). In 2025, two years into the Red Sea crisis, it carried 522.1 million net tons and 464.4 million tons of cargo across 12,758 transits — about a third of record tonnage.

What percentage of global trade goes through the Suez Canal?

Pre-crisis, roughly 12–15% of global trade and about 22% of global seaborne container trade transited the canal (UNCTAD, 2023 baseline). Those shares dropped sharply during the crisis as container traffic rerouted around Africa.

How many ships pass through the Suez Canal per day?

About 72 per day on average in record 2023; about 35 per day in 2025. IMF PortWatch's 7-day moving average of daily transit calls hasn't touched its pre-crisis level of 60 since December 31, 2023.

Why did Suez Canal traffic collapse in 2024?

Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb strait — roughly 100 vessels attacked or hijacked between November 2023 and September 2025 — pushed carriers to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope. The canal itself never closed; the approach to it became uninsurable at acceptable rates.

Has Suez Canal traffic recovered in 2026?

Partially. FY 2025/26 revenue rose 23% to $4.67 billion, April 2026 was the best month since early 2024, and the SCA forecasts 15,500 ships in FY 2026/27 — but traffic is still roughly half the 2023 record, and container ships remain the slowest segment to return.

How much longer is the route around the Cape of Good Hope?

Roughly 3,000 additional nautical miles and 10–15 extra days on an Asia–Europe voyage, with 25–40% more fuel burned. Industry estimates put the extra fuel cost for the largest container ships at $1.2–2 million per voyage.

How much money does the Suez Canal make?

Record toll revenue was $9.4 billion in FY 2022/23. The crisis cut that to $3.9 billion by FY 2024/25; FY 2025/26 recovered to $4.67 billion, and the SCA targets roughly $10 billion by FY 2027/28.

What the number actually tells you

If you need one citable figure, use the record: 26,434 transits and nearly 1.57 billion net tons in 2023. That's what the canal carries when the Red Sea is safe, and it's the denominator every recovery statistic gets measured against. If you need the current figure, use the SCA's 2025 report: 12,758 transits, 522.1 million net tons, 464.4 million tons of cargo — and date-stamp it, because 2026's monthlies are moving.

The sharper takeaway for anyone who ships goods: the Suez story is a container story wearing a canal costume. Tankers came back fast. The box ships — the vessels that carry ecommerce inventory, retail replenishment, and everything a 3PL actually touches — are still down 86% against the record. Their return will be decided in carrier boardrooms pricing war risk, not in Egypt. When they do come back, roughly 6% of global container capacity comes back with them, and Asia–Europe transit times compress by two weeks. If you're tracking the recovery, track container transits; the headline count flatters the mix.

This article is part of our chokepoint series alongside the Strait of Hormuz, where a 2026 closure showed what happens when a waterway shuts completely rather than merely re-pricing.

How we built this

Transit and tonnage figures come from the Suez Canal Authority's annual navigation reports (calendar years) and SCA statements reported by Egyptian and maritime trade press (fiscal years, July–June); we label the calendar every time because the two get conflated constantly — including, in 2026 coverage, over which fiscal year owns the $9.4 billion record (we attribute it to FY 2022/23, the better-corroborated reading, and flag the discrepancy). Segment declines come from BIMCO's deadweight-capacity analysis, which we prefer to raw transit counts because it captures ship size. Trade-share baselines come from UNCTAD's February 2024 chokepoint report. The ~1.3 billion tons of 2023 cargo is a 3PL Insider derivation: SCA reported 457.8 million cargo tons in 2024 as a 64.4% decline, implying a ~1.286 billion-ton 2023 baseline (457.8M ÷ 0.356), consistent with the 2025 report's 464.4 million tons at a similar depressed level. Cape-reroute cost ranges are industry estimates, not audited figures, and are attributed as such. All figures are dated in the text; recovery-era numbers are snapshots.

• Suez Canal Authority — 2025 vs 2024 annual navigation report (PDF) (2026)
• SCA 2023 record statistics via Informare (January 2024)
• UNCTAD — Navigating Troubled Waters: impact of Red Sea, Black Sea and Panama Canal disruptions (PDF) (February 2024)
• BIMCO segment analysis via Splash247 — Suez traffic still 60% down 100 days after last Houthi attack (January 2026)
• gCaptain — Suez Canal traffic stalls at 60% below normal (January 2026)
• gCaptain — Suez Canal reports biggest recovery in vessel traffic since Red Sea crisis began (November 2025)
• Egyptian Streets — Suez Canal revenue rises 23 percent in the 2025/2026 fiscal year (June 2026)
• Al Manassa — Suez Canal forecasts 20% rise in ship traffic (July 2026)
• Ecofin Agency — Suez Canal expands services as traffic recovers (December 2025)
• Zencargo — Red Sea reopening 2026 (January 2026)
• Good Judgment Open — IMF PortWatch Suez 60/day threshold (2025)
• The Middle East Insider — How the Suez Canal works in 2026 (May 2026)