Tangier Med Port Experiences Great Success

The port of Tangier Med, located in northern Morocco, has recorded the largest growth in the world in the last 10 years in terms of its connectivity globally. This comes over 12 years after the port was opened in 2007.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) notes that the port's geographic location as well as growing investment from the private sector is leading to the port's great success.

The connectivity index represents the port’s connectivity with the rest of the world. It is calculated based on the yearly traffic, using both merchandise goods as well as passengers that goes through the port.

Tangier Med handled more than half of all Moroccan exports in 2018 and is now by far the biggest container port on the African continent, shipping more containers than either Port Said or Durban in 2018. This comes after a €3.5 billion investment to expand the port in 2007.

Tangier Med Port covers 1,000 hectares. It includes Tangier Med I and II Ports, boasting a capacity of over 9 million containers per year, as well as a passenger port. Morocco's main ports handled a combined 138 Mt of cargo in 2018 while Tangier Med's passenger port alone handled over 2.8 million passengers.

There are now direct services from Tangier Med to 186 ports in 77 countries worldwide and it has established itself as a transhipment port for West Africa.

Despite Tangier Med's quick and impressive growth, UNCTAD still ranked Piraeus, Valencia, Algeciras, and Barcelona as the most connected ports in the Mediterranean Basin.