How Much Cargo Goes Through the Panama Canal? 2026 Data

The Panama Canal moved 262.3 million long tons of cargo during fiscal 2025

The Panama Canal Authority’s 2025 annual report records 13,404 transits in fiscal 2025, the 12 months to 30 September 2025, carrying 262.3 million long tons of cargo. The authority, known by its Spanish initials as ACP, headlines the same traffic as 489.2 million PC/UMS tons, about 1.34 million a day and 15.6% more than in the drought year before. Cargo weight rose faster, by 24.7%, as bulk carriers came back.

Most of it is American trade. ACP’s country table puts 69.9% of the cargo on voyages that began or ended in the United States, and in January 2025 the Federal Maritime Commission’s chairman told a Senate committee that more than 40% of US container traffic, about $270 billion of goods annually, passes through the waterway. Fiscal 2026 ran ahead of 2025 through June, with 389.96 million PC/UMS tons, even as a new El Niño forced cuts to drafts and daily slots in August and September 2026.

Long tons, PC/UMS tons and transits: how the canal counts cargo

ACP reports the same traffic in 3 units, and the figure a page quotes depends on which of its tables the writer opened. The US government adds a fourth view, measured from the US side.

Measure	What it counts	Fiscal 2025	Published in
Transits	Each passage of a ship from one ocean to the other	13,404	ACP annual report, transits by market segment
PC/UMS tons	The canal’s volume unit for cargo, summed over every transit	489.2 million	ACP annual report and quarterly releases
Long tons of cargo	Weight of the goods on board, by commodity and by country	262.3 million	ACP annual report, commodity and country tables
Share of US container traffic	US containers routed through the canal	More than 40%, about $270 billion of goods annually	FMC testimony, January 2025

ACP’s fiscal year runs from October to September, so its “2025” closed on 30 September 2025, and a calendar-year total would straddle 2 of its years. Transits count crossings rather than ships. A vessel on a regular liner service between Asia and the US East Coast is counted every time it passes, so the 13,404 transits come from far fewer hulls, a small slice of the world’s merchant fleet.

Panama Canal cargo by year, 2019 to 2026

Tonnage peaked at 518.8 million PC/UMS tons in fiscal 2022, held at 511.1 million in 2023, then fell to 423.1 million in the drought year of 2024. The 489.2 million of fiscal 2025 is still 5.7% below the peak. Revenue rose every year regardless, from $3.213 billion in fiscal 2019 to $5.705 billion in 2025, a compound 10.0% a year against 0.7% a year for tonnage, by ACP’s own calculation.

Panama Canal tonnage by fiscal year (million PC/UMS tons)

• 2019469.6M
• 2020475.2M
• 2021516.7M
• 2022518.8M
• 2023511.1M
• 2024423.1M
• 2025489.2M

Source: Panama Canal Authority, Annual Report 2025, Graph 10

Fiscal year	Transits	Cargo, million long tons	Million PC/UMS tons	Revenue
2023	14,080	285.8	511.1	$4.968 billion
2024	11,240	210.3	423.1	$4.986 billion
2025	13,404	262.3	489.2	$5.705 billion
2026, October to June	10,726	Not published	389.96	$4.802 billion

The 2024 drop hit every measure: transits fell 20.2%, PC/UMS tonnage 17.2% and cargo weight 26.4%. Revenue still edged up 0.4%, which the 2024 annual report puts down to extra slot auctions and the new toll structure introduced in January 2024.

The first 9 months of fiscal 2026 carried on the recovery. ACP’s July 2026 market update reported 10,726 transits from October to June, up 5.2% from 10,191, and 389.96 million PC/UMS tons, up 7.2% from 363.66 million. Revenue for the period reached $4,802 million, up 17%, and net income $3,614 million, up 19%, with container ships and LPG carriers leading the growth.

Drought and El Niño limits on canal traffic, 2023 to 2026

The locks run on fresh water from Gatún Lake, so rainfall sets how many ships can cross and how deep they can sit. In 2023 the lake dropped lower than at any time since at least 1965, and ACP limited traffic to 24 crossings a day from 7 November 2023, down from a typical 34 to 36, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Some ships took longer routes east through the Suez Canal or around the Cape of Good Hope instead.

ACP’s 2024 report calls fiscal 2024’s inflows the driest in its 1898 to 2024 record. Gatún averaged 81.98 feet that year, and ACP kept the Neopanamax draft limit at 44 feet or more. In June 2024 ACP announced that slots would return to 35 a day from August, 10 at the Neopanamax locks and 25 at the Panamax locks. Fiscal 2025 then ran with no draft restrictions at all: Gatún averaged 87.03 feet, rainfall came in 8.3% above average, and ships could load to the full 50 feet at the Neopanamax locks and 39.5 feet at the Panamax locks.

Dry years are getting more frequent. ACP’s hydrological records show inflow deficits of 30% or more about every 4 years over the past decade, against every 20 to 25 years before. In the FMC testimony, the chairman cited projections that without a new water supply the canal’s capacity could fall by as much as 50% by 2050.

The 2026 restrictions follow that pattern. ACP has run water-saving measures since December 2025, and in July 2026 it rated a severe El Niño as 81% likely, up from 25% in April.

Date	Measure	ACP notice
December 2025	Water-saving measures begin ahead of the 2026 dry season	5 August 2026 release
2 September 2026	Neopanamax draft limit cut to 48.0 feet (first set for 26 August)	20 August 2026 release
3 September 2026	Daily slots set at 9 Neopanamax and 25 Panamax	20 August 2026 release
15 September 2026	Panamax slots cut to 23, for 32 a day in all	20 August 2026 release
28 September 2026	Neopanamax draft limit raised to 49.0 feet	28 September 2026 release
1 October 2026	Planned cut to 47.5 feet postponed	4 September 2026 release
15 October 2026	Neopanamax slots raised to 10, for 33 a day in all	28 September 2026 release
3 January to 3 April 2027	Dry-season slot program: 270 Neopanamax and 288 Panamax slots sold by sealed bid in November	5 October 2026 release

The latest change was a loosening: close to average rain let ACP raise the draft and add a Neopanamax slot at the end of September, though it warned that ships arriving without a reservation may face indefinite delays. ACP’s fiscal 2027 budget plans for 10,750 transits and 457.3 million PC/UMS tons under a strong El Niño scenario, 19.8% fewer transits and 6.5% less tonnage than in fiscal 2025.

Panama Canal transits by ship type

Container ships made more transits than any other type in fiscal 2025, 2,893 or 21.6% of the total, ahead of tankers at 2,662 and dry bulk carriers at 2,230.

Ship type	Fiscal 2023	Fiscal 2024	Fiscal 2025
Container	2,787	2,773	2,893
Tankers, including chemical tankers	2,695	2,230	2,662
Dry bulk	2,649	1,278	2,230
LPG carriers	1,757	1,561	1,805
Vehicle carriers and RoRo	813	783	871
Refrigerated	546	436	516
General cargo	526	287	463
Passenger	251	205	214
LNG carriers	326	115	61
Others	1,730	1,572	1,689
Total	14,080	11,240	13,404

Dry bulk swung hardest. Its transits halved in the drought year and then rose by 952 in fiscal 2025, adding 27.3 million PC/UMS tons, an 83% gain. Container ships barely moved through the whole episode, from 2,787 transits to 2,773 and back up to 2,893, and their tonnage grew 13.1 million PC/UMS tons, or 6.7%, in fiscal 2025. Working back from those 2 numbers, container ships carried about 209 million PC/UMS tons, roughly 43% of the canal’s total.

LNG went the other way. LNG carrier transits fell from 326 in fiscal 2023 to 61 in fiscal 2025, which ACP’s fiscal 2025 results release blamed mainly on international freight market costs. LPG carriers, the other gas segment, grew to 1,805 transits and added 11.5 million PC/UMS tons, up 19.3%.

Panama Canal transits by ship type, fiscal 2025

• Container2,893
• Tankers2,662
• Dry bulk2,230
• LPG carriers1,805
• Others1,689
• Vehicle carriers and RoRo871
• Refrigerated516
• General cargo463
• Passenger214
• LNG carriers61

Source: Panama Canal Authority, Annual Report 2025, Graph 6

Panama Canal cargo by commodity

By weight, petroleum products lead: 76.5 million long tons in fiscal 2025, 29.2% of the canal’s cargo. Container cargo follows at 68.1 million long tons (26.0%) and grain at 24.7 million (9.4%). Fuel, chemicals and crude oil together come to 97.3 million long tons, 37.1% of the total, which makes the canal a mixed-cargo route rather than an oil artery like the Strait of Hormuz.

Commodity, million long tons	Fiscal 2023	Fiscal 2024	Fiscal 2025
Petroleum products	86.3	70.5	76.5
Container cargo	63.0	62.8	68.1
Grain	35.8	13.3	24.7
Chemicals and petroleum chemicals	17.2	12.5	16.0
Manufactures of iron and steel	8.9	6.1	9.9
Nitrates, phosphates and potash	9.4	6.1	9.5
Ores and metals	10.9	5.7	9.5
Coal and coke	13.8	3.3	8.7
Autos, trucks, accessories and parts	6.0	5.2	5.7
Crude petroleum	3.4	2.6	4.7
Lumber and products	2.3	1.9	1.8
Canned and refrigerated foods	0.4	0.4	0.4
Others	28.3	20.0	26.7
Total	285.8	210.3	262.3

Container cargo is the steadiest line in the table, flat through the drought at about 63 million long tons and up 8.5% in fiscal 2025. Bulk commodities took the hit. Soybeans fell from 15.5 million long tons in fiscal 2023 to 2.2 million in fiscal 2024 and recovered only to 5.6 million in 2025, and coal fell from 13.8 million to 3.3 million before climbing back to 8.7 million. The 2025 annual report prints these series under shifted row labels, so the table follows the labels in the 2024 report, matched row by row on the fiscal 2023 and 2024 values.

Panama Canal cargo by commodity, fiscal 2025 (million long tons)

• Petroleum products76.5M
• Container cargo68.1M
• Grain24.7M
• Chemicals and petroleum chemicals16M
• Iron and steel manufactures9.9M
• Nitrates, phosphates and potash9.5M
• Ores and metals9.5M
• Coal and coke8.7M

Source: Panama Canal Authority, annual reports 2025 (Table 4) and 2024 (Table 3)

Neopanamax vs Panamax locks: tonnage by lock

Ships cross through either the older Panamax locks or the larger Neopanamax locks, whose main users are container ships, LPG carriers and LNG carriers. In fiscal 2025 the Neopanamax locks handled 3,342 transits, 24.9% of the total, but 253.6 million PC/UMS tons, 52% of the tonnage. That is about 75,900 PC/UMS tons per transit against 23,400 at the Panamax locks, 3.2 times as much per ship.

Fiscal year	Neopanamax locks, million PC/UMS tons	Panamax locks, million PC/UMS tons	Neopanamax share
2020	244.6	230.6	51%
2021	284.2	232.6	55%
2022	275.1	243.7	53%
2023	274.4	236.7	54%
2024	227.2	195.8	54%
2025	253.6	235.5	52%

The Neopanamax locks have carried more than half the canal’s tonnage in every year since 2020. That is also where draft limits bite: every foot taken off the 50-foot maximum means less cargo on the largest ships, and the FMC chairman listed lighter loading among the 2024 drought measures alongside fewer slots and barred vessel classes. The 10,062 Panamax transits of fiscal 2025 carried the other 235.5 million PC/UMS tons at a maximum draft of 39.5 feet.

How much Panama Canal cargo is US trade

The United States accounted for 183.4 million long tons of canal cargo in fiscal 2025, 69.9% of the total, mainly through East Coast and Gulf ports, according to ACP. Exports dominate: 116.5 million long tons left US ports through the canal, against 66.9 million arriving, and a further 1.9 million moved between US ports on opposite coasts. In fiscal 2024 the US total was 157.1 million long tons, 74.7% of that year’s cargo.

Country, fiscal 2025	Origin, million long tons	Destination, million long tons	Total, million long tons
United States	116.5	66.9	183.4
China	28.5	25.0	53.5
Japan	6.4	28.2	34.5
Chile	12.2	11.2	23.4
South Korea	11.6	10.5	22.1
Peru	9.2	12.4	21.6
Mexico	7.8	12.7	20.6
Colombia	8.1	9.6	17.8
Ecuador	5.7	9.8	15.5
Canada	10.1	2.6	12.8

Each ton counts once for the country where it was loaded and once for the country where it was unloaded, so the totals across all countries add up to far more than the canal’s 262.3 million. China, in second place, accounts for less than a third of the US tonnage. ACP’s trade routes page names the US East Coast to the Far East as by far the busiest route through the canal, with Europe to the West Coast of the US and Canada second, and puts the saving for a coal ship from the US East Coast to Japan at about 3,000 miles against the shortest all-water alternative.

Panama Canal tolls and revenue per transit

ACP took in $5.705 billion in fiscal 2025, up 14.4%. Tolls made up $4,007.9 million of it, 70.3%, after rising 26.1% on the year, and net profit reached $4.093 billion. ACP paid $2.965 billion to Panama’s treasury in direct contributions. Spread across 13,404 transits, the canal earned about $425,600 per transit, about $299,000 of it in tolls. That average mixes Neopanamax ships carrying about 75,900 PC/UMS tons per transit with Panamax ships averaging 23,400.

Scarce slots carry a price of their own. Under the long-term slot allocation program for Neopanamax ships, ACP billed 900 slots between 5 January and 30 September 2025 for $251 million, an average of $278,000 a slot on top of tolls. For fiscal 2027 the published tolls stay unchanged, and ACP’s budget projects $5,555 million of revenue on its reduced traffic forecast.

What canal capacity means for a brand importing through the East Coast

Start with routing. The canal sits on the all-water path from Asia to the US East Coast, the route ACP ranks first by tonnage. Goods landed at Los Angeles or Long Beach and moved east by rail or truck never touch it. When the forwarder picks the service, the brand may not know which way its containers sail, so the first job is to ask, per lane, whether a booking runs through Panama, through Suez or via the West Coast.

That makes port choice part of 3PL choice. When we weigh 3PL warehouses around Savannah against a building near the Southern California ports, the East Coast site removes the cross-country rail or truck leg for goods sold east of the Mississippi but puts the canal, or the longer Suez route, on the ocean leg. A brand with steady East Coast demand can split the difference: land most stock at the East Coast warehouse and keep a West Coast fallback lane for the dry-season months.

Plan inventory around the dry season. ACP’s own 2027 slot program covers 3 January to 3 April, and its budget for fiscal 2027, the year that began on 1 October 2026, assumes 19.8% fewer transits than fiscal 2025. A brand selling 1,500 units a week that adds 2 weeks of cover for arrivals in that window holds 3,000 more units; at 250 units a pallet that is 12 extra pallet positions at the 3PL for about 3 months, a cost to quote now rather than discover on the first storage invoice.

Watch the draft, not just the slot count. Container ships get at least 5 Neopanamax booking slots per booking date under ACP’s August 2026 booking rules, and the largest container ships get priority when Neopanamax slots are allocated, so the big liner services keep crossing. What tightens is the load: at a 48-foot or 49-foot limit, the deepest-laden ships must carry less than they could at 50 feet, so space on those sailings shrinks and late bookings feel it first.

Look for cost changes in the freight rate rather than the canal’s price list. Tolls are frozen for fiscal 2027, but auction and long-term slots, which averaged $278,000 each in 2025, are how the canal prices scarcity, and those costs sit with the carriers that buy them.