The Port of Hamburg can look back on a positive year in 2025. With a total throughput of 114.6 million tonnes, Germany’s largest seaport recorded a year-on-year increase of 2.6 percent. The significant upturn in the container segment was a key factor in this development.
A total of 8.3 million TEU were handled at the Port of Hamburg in 2025, which is equivalent to growth of 7.3 percent. Container throughput according to tonnage rose by 4.6 percent. Each quarter was significantly higher than the same quarter in the previous year: Q1: +6.3% | Q2: +12.4% | Q3: +6.7% | Q4: +3.9%
The upward trend in the container segment was driven in particular by traffic with China (+6.5%), Malaysia (+84.3%) and India (+49.2%).
The Northern Europe trade lane (Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden) – an important contributor to transshipment transport – also showed a positive trend and recorded growth of 21.2 percent.
Container throughput with the USA developed in the opposite direction. Among other factors, sweeping US tariffs led to a significant decline of 25.6 percent in 2025.
At 32.4 million tonnes, throughput in the bulk goods segment experienced a year-on-year decline of 1.7 percent. While throughput of liquid bulk rose slightly by 0.7 percent, the figures for dry bulk fell by 2.7 percent. Grain throughput dropped by 45.8 percent due to lower exports. Throughput of fertilisers (-5.6%) and ores (-4.3%) also experienced a downturn.
In contrast, there was a significant increase in the throughput of building materials (+19.5%), other dry goods (+17.1%) and chemicals (+16.3%). The quarterly trend is indicative of a volatile year: Q1: +0.4% | Q2: -6.6% | Q3: +4.1% | Q4: -4.6%
Friedrich Stuhrmann, chief commercial officer at HPA, said: “We can look back on a successful year in 2025 at the Port of Hamburg. As Germany’s largest seaport, we were able to continue our positive development and record noticeable growth momentum, especially in the container segment. The continuous increase across all quarters underscores the location’s strong competitiveness and the vigorous demand in international goods traffic.”
