plate 211 · 2026 data

Liberia overtook Panama as the biggest flag by ship capacity

Merchant fleet by flag of registration, million deadweight tonnes, as at 1 January each year, 2005–2026.

Trade and money rewired
  1. 1. Mexico, not China, now sells America the most goods
  2. 2. China's ASEAN trade is now almost double its US trade
  3. 3. Central banks now hold more gold than Treasuries or euros
  4. 4. China now pays the world mostly in yuan
  5. 5. Migrants now send home four times all foreign aid
  6. 6. Tether now holds more US Treasuries than the UAE
  7. 7. Developing countries' interest bill has nearly tripled since 2010
  8. 8. America's duty-free parcels grew almost tenfold in nine years
  9. 9. Poles edge past the Japanese in income per person
  10. 10. In dollars, Nigeria's economy has more than halved since 2014
  11. 11. Argentina's monthly inflation fell from 25.5% to 1.9%
  12. 12. Guyana now produces more per person than America
  13. 13. Mexico's factories now outproduce Britain's and France's
  14. 14. Ukraine received four times the aid of any other country
  15. 15. The UAE sold more goods abroad than France in 2025
  16. 16. Singapore now draws twice as much foreign investment as China
  17. 17. The EU now buys more US gas than Russian gas
  18. 18. Malaysia again sells more to America than to China
  19. 19. 22 governments now owe more than a year's national output
  20. 20. Brazil mines 93% of the world's niobium
  21. 21. More Vietnamese now work in industry than on farms
  22. 22. Money sent home to Guatemala nearly quadrupled in ten years
  23. 23. In purchasing power, Russia's economy is now bigger than Japan's
  24. 24. Indonesia set to use more palm oil than it exports
  25. 25. Factories now make more of Cambodia's economy than China's
  26. 26. China now buys more from Brazil than from Germany
  27. 27. Kazakhstan now sells Russia more than Germany does
  28. 28. China fell to third among America's suppliers in 2025
  29. 29. Colombians abroad now send home more than foreigners invest
  30. 30. 72 countries now pay China more than it lends them
  31. 31. Pakistan rose to first place in Chinese energy finance
  32. 32. America overtook China as Taiwan's biggest export market
  33. 33. Mongolia's coal exports hit a record 90 million tonnes
  34. 34. Viet Nam's ports now handle more containers than Japan's
  35. 35. Money sent home now tops half of Tajikistan's economy
  36. 36. Liberia overtook Panama as the biggest flag by ship capacity
  37. 37. Pakistan passed India in tech's share of services exports
  38. 38. Mongolia leapt from 2% to 58% paying utilities by phone
  39. 39. Smaller currencies' share of world reserves has more than doubled
  40. 40. Nickel made Indonesia the world's fifth-biggest iron and steel exporter
447m

Deadweight tonnes of ships on Liberia's register at 1 January 2026, 5.3 times the 84 million of 2005.

2023

The year Liberia passed Panama, retaking a lead it last held in 1994; Panama has since slipped from 380 million to 350 million tonnes.

44%

Share of the world fleet's carrying capacity flagged in Liberia, Panama or the Marshall Islands: three small states register much of world shipping.

Source: UNCTAD, UNCTADstat Merchant fleet by flag of registration (data updated May 2026), 2026
the numbers & method
Liberia overtook Panama as the biggest flag by ship capacity. Source: UNCTAD, UNCTADstat Merchant fleet by flag of registration (data updated May 2026), 2026.
YearLiberia (m)Panama (m)Marshall Islands (m)Singapore (m)China (m)
200584195424130
200693211494933
2007105232545135
2008118253605637
2009126274686140
2010142289786245
20111683151076557
20121883321238063
20132003451419372
201420333815310779
201520233617811878
201620833319812377
201721734221612580
201822433623812891
201924433424612999
2020275329262140103
2021300345274136111
2022336351290132121
2023379367300135133
2024408380309141143
2025423372305152140
2026447350318186142

Claim types Fact · Interpretation

UNCTADstat dataset US.MerchantFleet, 'World fleet by flag of registration and ship type', version 10002, last updated 2026-05-28; total fleet, deadweight tons; seagoing propelled merchant ships of 100 GT and above, counted as at 1 January of each year (the 2026 point is the fleet on 1 January 2026). Every chart value re-read on the UNCTADstat data centre (US.MerchantFleet v10002, published 18 Jun 2026) and matching the progrss vault. Longer history (same dataset): Liberia was the biggest flag until 1994 (93.13m vs Panama 90.97m dwt); Panama led from 1995 to 2022, so 2023 is Liberia retaking first place. Million dwt: Liberia 2005 83.59, 2022 335.72, 2023 378.57, 2026 446.51; Panama 2005 195.29, 2022 350.90, 2023 366.72, 2024 380.36 (its peak), 2026 349.62; Marshall Islands 2026 317.67 (third); Singapore 2026 186.00; China 2026 142.00; world 2026 2,528.79. Derived by progrss: 446.51 ÷ 83.59 = 5.3×; Liberia's share of world dwt 9.2% (2005) to 17.7% (2026); Panama 21.5% to 13.8%; Liberia + Panama + Marshall Islands = 1,113.8 ÷ 2,528.79 = 44.0%. Measure matters: by gross tonnage Liberia passed Panama a year later (1 January 2024: 257.0m vs 246.7m GT); by number of ships Panama still leads (8,478 vs 5,846 in 2026). Flag of registration is where a ship is registered, not who owns it. The Marshall Islands line crosses Liberia's twice (2018, 2020); crossover marks are limited to Panama, the title's rival. The last clause of takeaway 3 is an interpretation. Licence: UNCTADstat terms of use, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO; data may be copied and redistributed citing UNCTAD as the source (commercial use allowed). Flag of registration says nothing about who runs the registry or owns the ships.

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