The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reported its volumes for the month of December 2022, as well as for the full year 2022.
Passenger levels at the agency’s airports in December 2022 were 96 percent of pre-COVID December 2019 levels. Traffic levels at the bridges and tunnels in December 2022 were similar to pre-pandemic December 2019 volume. PATH’s total ridership in December 2022 reached 57 percent of its December 2019 total ridership. The Port of New York and New Jersey finished the year with the highest cargo activity in its history with 27 percent growth over pre-pandemic 2019.
In addition to the release of its December 2022 monthly data, the Port Authority also released its annual total volumes by line department for 2022 and has included month-to-month data comparisons below of December 2022 to November 2022 to provide further insight into facility use trends.
Compared to November, December 2022 cargo activity at the seaport fell 15.2 percent as production overseas declined in response to slower demand.
For the first time in its history, the Port of New York and New Jersey moved a record total of nearly 9.5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) throughout the year. In 2022, the seaport handled a total of 9,493,664 TEUs, an increase of 27 percent from pre-pandemic 2019 annual totals. Throughout the year, the port managed a 26-month-long streak of monthly record cargo high activity and became the nation’s busiest container port during the peak months of the holiday shipping season.
In December 2022 as well as for the full year 2022, the New York-New Jersey seaport was the nation’s second-busiest container port. In December, the port handled 613,011 TEUs, which was an increase of 3.6 percent compared to December 2019. Monthly cargo volume fell 15.2 percent compared to November 2022, when the seaport handled 723,069 TEUs.