Rotterdam Is Europe's Largest Port by Far

Rotterdam had the world’s largest port from 1962 until 2002, before it was overtaken by Singapore and Shanghai. However, it is still Europe’s busiest port by some distance, handling almost 400 million tonnes of cargo in 2012. Despite the impressive volume, the growth rate deteriorated slightly on 2011.

Antwerp comes second with 164.5 million tonnes, a 2.4 percent decline on 2011. Hamburg, Germany’s busiest port, rounds off Europe’s top three with 113.5 million tonnes. Like Rotterdam and Antwerp, it too saw a slight decline on 2011.