Mombasa: Mombasa port has achieved a record year in 2025 with further growth expected in 2026 driving significant economic growth. Total cargo throughput at the Port of Mombasa has hit a record 45.45 million metric tonnes in 2025 compared to 40.99 million tonnes handled in 2024, reflecting a notable upward trend. This represents a substantial increase of 4.46 million tonnes for freight and cargo, equivalent to a 10.9 percent increase.
According to Kenya News Agency, this marks a significant growth in regional trade, which calls for capacity expansion to meet the growing trade demands for entry and exit cargo volume. The port of Mombasa has made remarkable strides, ending the year 2025 on an impressive note, recording far-reaching achievements in cargo traffic that have surpassed the previous year. It is one of the largest and busiest Ports in the East and Central African region, providing direct connectivity to over 80 Ports worldwide. The port authority attributed the overall performance to ongoing reforms aimed at promoting imports and exports, as well as ongoing infrastructure upgrades, modernisation, digitalisation of procedures, and support from the national government.
Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director Capt. William Ruto disclosed that significant growth was also recorded in the total container traffic during the same period, with the port handling 2.11 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEUs), against 2.00 million TEUs in 2024. This represents a growth rate of 109,797 TEUs or 5.5 percent. Capt. Ruto said overall import and export volumes performed exceptionally, with import cargo volumes scaling up to a total of 36 million metric tonnes compared to 30 million metric tonnes in 2024, an equivalent of 20.1 percent growth.
Exports also picked up to a modest 5.03 million tonnes, jumping up from 4.96 million tonnes handled in 2024, representing an increase of 64,000 metric tonnes or 1.3 percent. The top KPA official also said market share strengthened notably in the domestic segment, expanding from 53.1 percent to 55.4 percent. Corresponding cargo volumes increased by a robust 16.1 percent, equivalent to 3.50 million tonnes.
Equally, transit cargo has continued to post steady growth with an impressive performance, from 13.29 million tonnes to 15.88 million tonnes in 2024, translating to 2.59 million metric tonnes or 19.5 percent. All major transit markets delivered significant improvement during the period under review, with Uganda growing at 25.2 percent, the Democratic Republic of Congo by an impressive 16.5 percent, Rwanda by 22.8 percent, and Tanzania by 11.0 percent. The KPA MD said this achievement reaffirms Mombasa’s position as the most reliable and most preferred trade corridor in the region.
Ruto said transshipment traffic closed the year attaining 385,656 TEUs, down from 496,034 TEUs recorded in 2024, a decline of 22.3 percent. MD Ruto also revealed that the port of Lamu, Kisumu port, Inland Container Depots (ICDs) Nairobi and Naivasha equally registered strong performance, reflecting an overall growth trajectory across the port facilities. He said the port of Lamu has shown major promise with an impressive total cargo throughput of 799,161 metric tonnes against 74,380 metric tonnes recorded the previous year, mainly driven by containerised cargo.
The KPA MD noted that the Lamu seaport is steadily emerging as a key maritime gateway, attracting a growing number of vessels and building confidence among international shipping lines. At the same time, 55,687 TEUs of total container traffic were realised during the period. The MD said since its revamping, Kisumu port has also sustained impressive growth, pointing to the immense potential of lake ports in the region. In Kisumu, cargo volumes recorded 496,516 metric tonnes compared to 295,516 metric tonnes in 2024. This represents a 55.0 percent growth or 163,085 metric tonnes.
At the same time, vessel calls at the Port of Mombasa during the year 2025 increased drastically, reaching a total of 1955 compared to the 1873 vessels that docked at the port in 2024, equivalent to 4.4 percent. Ruto said KPA is heavily investing in sustainable infrastructural development to expand its capacity, with various port initiatives currently being implemented. He highlighted port capacity expansion with the ongoing rehabilitation of berth 19B and planned construction of berths 23 and 24 that will increase Mombasa’s capacity by 1.4 million TEUS.