Suez Canal traffic collapse
Decline in Suez Canal activity following the December 2023 Red Sea attacks, % fall.
About this data
Sustained Houthi attacks from December 2023 drove ship transits down 39% and freight tonnage down 45%. Container shipping was hit hardest of all — weekly container-ship transits fell 67%, because container lines are the most schedule-sensitive and rerouted fastest.
Suez Canal traffic collapse
Decline in Suez Canal activity following the December 2023 Red Sea attacks, % fall.
Data table
| series | measure | source_ref | pct_decline | value_basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| suez_decline | Ship transits | unctad-chokepoints | 39 | Ships transiting the Suez Canal fell 39% following the Dec 2023 Red Sea attacks |
| suez_decline | Freight tonnage | unctad-chokepoints | 45 | Freight tonnage through Suez fell 45% |
| suez_decline | Weekly container transits | unctad-navigating | 67 | Weekly container-ship transits through Suez fell 67% |
| suez_decline | Daily transits vs peak (Oct 2024) | imf-red-sea | 57 | October 2024 daily Suez transits 57% below their previous peak, 55% lower than a year earlier |
Methodology & sources
Last updated: Aug 14, 2026Methodology
Two simultaneous disruptions with completely different causes, shown separately because they are not comparable. The Suez collapse is a SECURITY event — sustained attacks on shipping from December 2023 made the route unacceptably risky. The Panama restriction is a PHYSICAL one — drought lowered the lake feeding the lock system, so the canal could not supply water for a full transit schedule. The Suez figures are percentage declines against differing baselines (some against the pre-attack level, the October 2024 reading against the previous peak). Each bar’s value_basis states which. They should not be read as a single time series. Panama transit numbers are PERMITTED daily transits set by the Canal Authority, not observed traffic — a capacity ceiling rather than a count. The 18-per-day figure was a planned further reduction. CAVEAT: both situations have since partly eased. Panama transits rose 25% between October 2024 and January 2025 versus the year before. These charts capture the depth of the disruption, not current state. Re-verified 2026-08-10.
Sources
- IMF — Red Sea attacks disrupt global trade ↗ Public report
Comparisons are informative, not definitive. See each source for definitions and limits.