Scenery of port cranes by the Martwa Wisla river at sunset, Gdansk. Poland. Gdańsk has officially become the EU’s fifth-largest port.
Credit: Shutterstock, Patryk Kosmider
Gdańsk is growing and is increasingly being recognised as a major hub in Europe. The busy Polish port has sailed past Spain’s Algeciras and France’s HAROPA to become the fifth-busiest in the EU. With only Amsterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp-Bruges, and Rotterdam ahead of it, Gdańsk’s growth is making quite a splash in global maritime logistics.
According to the latest Eurostat data for 2023, the port handled 26% more cargo than the previous year, amounting to a huge 69.78 million tonnes. This remarkable growth reflects a 177% rise since 2014, a boost fueled by significant investments in infrastructure and the Baltic Sea’s increasing role as a vital transit hub for energy supplies and global logistics.
In the race for the biggest ports in Europe, Gdańsk has been on a roll. Back in 2021, it became the EU’s largest port on the Baltic Sea, overtaking Lithuania’s Klaipėda, and today it holds the second spot in the region, only behind Russia’s Ust-Luga.
Gdańsk’s journey from growth spurt to record profits
Poland’s port sector is sailing smoothly with record-breaking financial and operational results. National data shows that the country’s ports achieved a 26% year-on-year increase in net profit, bringing the total to over 551.7 million zloty (€129.3 million). In addition, the number of containers handled across Poland’s ports rose by 9.3%, totalling 3.27 million TEUs in 2024.
The Baltic Sea is more crucial than ever for Europe.
The port of Gdańsk’s growing importance isn’t just about cargo. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Baltic Sea has become an increasingly vital strategic route for energy supplies, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US and Qatar, alongside humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. As a result, Gdańsk saw the EU’s second-highest growth in cargo in 2022, and it’s only picking up steam.
Poland isn’t stopping with Gdańsk.
The government has earmarked a record 2 billion zloty (€469 million) in its 2025 budget for maritime investments. Among the big projects is a new deep-water container terminal in Świnoujście, set to be completed by 2028, which will solidify the Szczecin-Świnoujście seaport complex as one of the most modern in Europe.
Gdańsk also has a grain terminal expansion in the works. Once completed, this upgrade will quintuple storage capacity and increase annual reloading capacity from 700,000 tonnes to nearly 3 million tonnes. In addition, a floating LNG terminal is being developed, alongside the deepening of the Elbląg waterway to transform it into a fully functional seaport by mid-2026.
While the growth of Polish ports is undeniably impressive, not everyone is on board. Plans to develop a deepwater container port within a protected nature reserve on the Baltic coast have raised concerns. Locals, as well as critics in Germany, worry about the environmental impact of the new developments. Supporters, however, argue that the economic benefits are too good to pass up.
Get more news from around Poland.
Read more news in English from around Europe.
