Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

In 2025, global maritime trade continues to navigate an environment marked by volatility, rerouted flows and uncertainty. Persistent geopolitical tensions and trade policy changes have altered shipping patterns, with many routes redirected away from traditional chokepoints. Maritime transport and trade face daunting challenges. Ships that once passed through the Red Sea in days now sail for weeks around the Cape of Good Hope. Freight rates are high and volatile. Port disruption is becoming chronic. Supply chain reliability and resilience are being put to the test. Longer routes have increased delays, costs and emissions, with developing countries hit hard by the disruptions and uncertainty. Deep transitions are also reshaping the sector. Technological, environmental and geoeconomic shifts are converging at a speed that requires rethinking how maritime transport operates. Alternative fuel vessels now represent over half of the ship tonnage of new orders, yet over 90% of the active fleet still runs on conventional fuels. Automation and digitalization promise efficiency but also heighten cyber risks. Maritime transport has weathered storms before. But never have so many transitions converged so quickly. The sector will adapt. The question is whether adaptation will be managed or chaotic, inclusive or divisive, sustainable or merely survivable. The Review of Maritime Transport 2025 provides the framework needed for informed action and sound policymaking to keep trade flowing in a turbulent world.

The Review of Maritime Transport 2025 was prepared by UNCTAD, under the overall guidance of Angel González Sanz and Torbjörn Fredriksson, Officers-in-Charge, Division on Technology and Logistics, UNCTAD, by a team comprising Regina Asariotis (coordination), Mark Assaf, Celine Bacrot, Hassiba Benamara, Liliane Flour, Poul Hansen, Argyro Kepesidi, Tomasz Kulaga, Luisa Rodríguez, Hidenobu Tokuda, Frida Youssef and Arouna Zorome. The report also benefited from internal review and feedback from across UNCTAD.

The performance of ports – key transport nodes that facilitate trade – is pivotal to the competitiveness of maritime transport chains. Efficient port operations reduce delays, lower transaction costs and enhance the seamless movement of goods across international borders.

Freight rate volatility is becoming the new normal across all shipping segments, driven by continued geopolitical tensions, shifting trade policy, regulatory developments, and persistent supply and demand imbalances. Considering trends discussed in chapters I and II, this chapter analyses freight rate developments in the container, dry bulk and tanker shipping segments from January 2024 to mid-2025.

In 2025, global maritime trade continues to navigate an environment marked by volatility, rerouted flows and uncertainty. Persistent geopolitical tensions and trade policy changes have altered shipping patterns, with many routes redirected away from traditional chokepoints.

The Survey of Economic and Social Developments in the Arab Region is an annual publication of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). Its publication is mandated by paragraph 173 of General Assembly resolution 35/56; paragraphs 2 to 4 of ESCWA resolution 270 (XXIV); and paragraphs 1 and 2 of ESCWA resolution 303 (XXVII). It contributes to efforts by member States to reform economic institutions and develop and implement policies based on principles of good governance in order to enable economic planning and policymaking in support of inclusive and sustainable development. This 2023–2024 edition analyses economic and social variables in the Arab region between January 2023 to June 2024, using them to draw conclusions on socioeconomic trends shaping the region’s development.

The 2023–2024 edition of the Survey of Economic and Social Developments in the Arab Region examines economic developments at global and regional levels. These developments have been influenced significantly by the ongoing war in Ukraine and the continuing uncertainties in the Arab region caused by the wars on Gaza and Lebanon. The global macroeconomic outlook for 2025 is moderately positive, with the post-COVID-19 recovery expected to continue, especially in Asia. The outlook for the Arab region is highly uncertain, and is overshadowed by challenges including wars, conflicts, political instability, socioeconomic challenges and natural disasters. Poverty is projected to decline slowly in the Arab region over the coming years, from a high post-pandemic level. The pursuit of gender equality in the region continues to encounter substantial challenges. In 2024, gender disparities in the Arab region were the highest in the world, with significant disparities in labour-force participation rates between men and women.