World Bank Group · Container Import Dwell Time
Container import dwell time by country
How many days does an imported container wait in port before it leaves?
Of the 156 countries compared in 2024, Gibraltar had the lowest reading, 1.0, and Haiti had the highest reading, 21.6. In the middle country the figure was 4.4.
Part ofMobility & Trade
Container import dwell time · 2024
Key statistic · Mobility & Trade
Lowest of 156Gibraltar
1.0012024 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 156 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Entropy1963 · CC0, greyscale
2Photo: kulimpapat derivative work: Inkey · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
3Photo: P. Miller, (Pdmiller) · CC0, greyscale
Lowest on each continent
02Every measured country
Container import dwell time on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 7.0–21.6
- 5.1–6.9
- 3.6–5.0
- 2.7–3.5
- 1.0–2.6
- No reading in 2024
- Oceania
3.0
the middle country, of 13 measured · 21 members
Northern Mariana Islands1.2
Vanuatu7.0Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Europe
3.3
the middle country, of 28 measured · 49 members
Gibraltar1.0
Iceland5.0Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Asia
4.0
the middle country, of 35 measured · 52 members
Brunei1.1
Syria12.8Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Americas
5.2
the middle country, of 42 measured · 48 members
Montserrat1.2
Haiti21.6Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Africa
7.5
the middle country, of 38 measured · 55 members
Libya2.1
Sudan18.1Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Every region
21 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Northern Europe
2.9
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Ireland2.4Iceland5.0Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Melanesia
3.2
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Papua New Guinea2.9Vanuatu7.0Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- South-eastern Asia
3.2
the middle country, of 10 measured · 11 members
Brunei1.1
Myanmar10.2Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Southern Europe
3.3
the middle country, of 10 measured · 17 members
Gibraltar1.0
Spain4.4Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Asia
4.0
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
Macau1.4
Japan5.6Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Western Asia
4.6
the middle country, of 14 measured · 19 members
Cyprus2.0Syria12.8Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- South America
4.8
the middle country, of 10 measured · 12 members
Uruguay1.5
Guyana8.1Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Caribbean
5.0
the middle country, of 22 measured · 24 members
Montserrat1.2Haiti21.6Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Central America
5.8
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Panama4.9
Honduras7.7Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Southern Asia
6.1
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
India3.0
Maldives7.0Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Western Africa
6.6
the middle country, of 13 measured · 16 members
Liberia3.2
Nigeria12.4Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Eastern Africa
8.0
the middle country, of 10 measured · 19 members
Kenya2.8
Eritrea14.8Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Northern Africa
9.3
the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members
Libya2.1Sudan18.1Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Middle Africa
9.4
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Angola3.6
DR Congo16.0Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand1.8
Australia1.9Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Eastern Europe
4 of 10 measured — too few for a middle: Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Ukraine.
Ukraine2.2
Bulgaria4.9Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Micronesia
2 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Guam, Northern Mariana Islands.
Northern Mariana Islands1.2
Guam2.3Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
United States3.4
Canada3.6Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
4 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: American Samoa, French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga.
Tonga1.9
American Samoa6.8Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
- Southern Africa
2 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Namibia, South Africa.
South Africa2.2
Namibia4.8Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Western Europe
4 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands.
Germany2.8
France3.7Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
03The whole field at once
The spread
156 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 4.4; a quarter are above 6.2, and a quarter below 3.0. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 156 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way World Bank Group’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. The figure is the median container, so a few boxes held for months do not move it; the mean and the spread beside it show how uneven the wait is. Small island ports with little traffic can look fast, and a figure resting on a few dozen containers is less certain than one resting on thousands.
Showing 25 of 156 countries
Values for 2024. The change column compares 2024 with 2023 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052023 → 2024
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after155 countries were measured in both 2023 and 2024. The field changed from 155 to 156 countries, so a place can move for reasons that have nothing to do with the country itself.
06Across every edition
Container import dwell time in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
23.2
Median days a full import container waits in port
Lowest reading on record
Reached 2 times by 2 countries — shared, so no holder is named
1.0
Median days a full import container waits in port
Biggest improvement between editions
−3.9
22.0 → 18.1
Biggest decline between editions
+3.9
6.2 → 10.1
Most improved since first measured
−3.9
22.0 → 18.1
07The measure
About container import dwell time
Container import dwell time is how many days a full shipping container typically sits in the port where it arrives before it leaves by truck or train — the time taken by port handling, customs and other border checks together. The World Bank measures it from the tracking records of real container journeys, rather than by asking people what they think.
What the number is: Median days a full import container waits in port.
What it does not measure
It covers the time in the port of arrival only — not the sea voyage, inland transport or what the delay costs — and it follows containers carried by one large shipping line, so ports that line seldom uses rest on fewer journeys.
08Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
A key statistic for Mobility & Trade
“How long an imported container waits in port before it moves on — a measured, not surveyed, reading of how efficiently ports, customs and carriers let goods cross a border.”
- Edition used
- 2024 (data 2024)
- Countries
- 156
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
Moves with
Where container import dwell time is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 120 countries in commonρ 0.59
- Learning PovertyWorld Bank Group and UNESCO Institute for Statistics · 82 countries in commonρ 0.56
- Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 131 countries in commonρ 0.54
Moves against
Where container import dwell time is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Minimum Proficiency in Mathematics, End of PrimaryUIS · 86 countries in commonρ −0.64
- Global Innovation IndexWorld Intellectual Property Organization · 102 countries in commonρ −0.60
- Account Ownership Among WomenWorld Bank Group · 102 countries in commonρ −0.58
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 277 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
09Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
More from World Bank Group
10Questions
Container import dwell time: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest container import dwell time?
Gibraltar, at 1.0, among the 156 countries compared in 2024.
Which country has the highest container import dwell time?
Haiti, at 21.6, among the 156 countries compared in 2024.
How many countries does the Container Import Dwell Time cover?
156 in 2024. The number measured varies from 155 to 156 between editions.
What is the world average container import dwell time?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 156 compared in 2024, the figure was 4.4.
Is this World Bank Group’s own ranking?
No. World Bank Group publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Container Import Dwell Time published?
This site holds 2 editions, describing 2023 to 2024.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Bank Group, under CC BY 4.0. From World Bank Data360 (Logistics Performance Indicators 2.0, 2025 report), published to one decimal of a day. The number of container journeys behind each figure is the Bank's own note. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
11Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Container Import Dwell Time — World Bank Group
From World Bank Data360 (Logistics Performance Indicators 2.0, 2025 report), published to one decimal of a day. The number of container journeys behind each figure is the Bank's own note.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year 2024
Cite the source as: World Bank. Logistics Performance Indicators (LPI 2.0) 2025. Washington, DC: World Bank Group. https://lpi.worldbank.org/
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Gibraltar — Entropy1963, CC0
- Brunei — kulimpapat derivative work: Inkey, CC BY 2.0
- Northern Mariana Islands — P. Miller, (Pdmiller), CC0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Container import dwell time by country: Container Import Dwell Time, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/container-import-dwell-time