In the third quarter of 2025, container shipping connections linking Italy to other world economies increased.
This is evident from the analysis of the latest update of the Liner Shipping Connectivity Index – developed by Unctad with the contribution of the analysis company Mds Transmodal – which for the Peninsula ‘marks’ a value of 289.99 (2.2% higher than the previous quarter and 2.7% higher than the same period in 2024). This is a level close to that reached at the beginning of 2024 (287.62), before a phase of slight decline, and places Italy in 18th place in the world ranking. For comparison, it can be recalled that from 2006 to 2009, the first years of the index’s development, the position reached was 14th, thanks to values above 300.
It is worth noting that, looking only at the month of September, Italy’s score is even higher (reaching 292.29, after having marked 290.78 in August and 286.56 in July), thus indicating an ongoing increasing trend.
Broadening the view to the entire ranking, it is observed that, predictably, China is in first place as the country most connected by container shipping lines, followed by South Korea, Singapore, the United States and Malaysia.
The analysis of the trend of the Port Liner Shipping Connectivity Index, which measures the level of connection of individual ports, is also always interesting.
The port most ‘connected’ to other world ports by container shipping lines is still Genoa, which however slightly loses ground compared to the previous quarter (427.07 against 430.86), although it remains at levels higher than the third quarter of 2024 (411.65).
Also declining, among the major ports, is La Spezia (from 277.25 to 267.71), which however remains improved compared to a year earlier (262.3). In contrast, among the major ports, Gioia Tauro continues to grow steadily (to 328.06 from the previous 320; in Q3 2024 it was at 315.94) and so does Salerno, which marks 212.82 (from the previous 206.48 and from 184.39 in the third quarter of last year).
Other positive trends are also finally found among the less strictly connected ports. Firstly, Livorno improves (from 147.16 to 152.85), but it still remains below the levels of a year earlier (166.44). The ‘links’ of Venice are also growing (from 110.9 to 117.51; in Q3 2024 it marked 112.27) as well as, in the second row, those of Cagliari (which rises to 34.47 after having settled at 26 in all quarters following the second of 2024).
