Liberia overtook Panama as the biggest flag by ship capacity

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.