Valued at between $2.6 and $5.1 trillion, the ocean economy supports billions of livelihoods and carries more than 80% of global trade by volume. However, its continued expansion will increasingly intersect with natural ecosystems and local communities.
The global port infrastructure market is forecast to grow by nearly 70%, from $164.5 billion in 2023 to $278.3 billion by 2032.
Asia-Pacific dominates the market, capturing an impressive 45% share. This dominance can be attributed to the presence of major global manufacturing hubs, and ports in developing Asian economies handled 60% of global container port traffic in 2024.
India alone in just 10 years has almost doubled the number of containers passing through its ports, and its strategic Sagarmala project, dating back to the beginning of this growth, provides a strong foundation to support continued expansion of the port ecosystem.
So how can we leverage these trade hubs to become key enablers of the “blue economy”?
How global risks like climate change impact ports
As highlighted in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2026, long-term risks to Earth systems, society and the economy are dominated by the impact of climate change, with extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, and critical change to Earth systems ranked among the most severe.[…]