Denmark is the fifth largest shipping country in the world, surpassing the United States.

Denmark has surpassed the United States in raising its ranking again as the world's largest shipping country, ranking fifth in the world.

According to the latest data, Greece ranks first in terms of tonnage of merchant ships flying its flag, making it the world's largest shipping country with 300.4 billion tonnage. Singapore, China and Japan came second, third and fourth in the world.

Statistics show that Denmark has 83.8 million tonnes of merchant ships in 2018, and Denmark ranks fifth over the United States. Only a year and a half ago, Denmark surpassed Germany to become the sixth largest shipping country in the world.

Danish shipping industry has developed rapidly, with exports of 188 billion Danish kronor ($28.4 billion) in 2018. The shipping industry has become one of Denmark's largest export industries.

Anne H. Steffensen, CEO of the Danish Shipowners Association, said that the significant increase in the number of ships operated by Danish shipping companies marked the effectiveness of Denmark's shipping strategy.

It is reported that Denmark is trying to increase the attractiveness of ship registration and plans to develop digital shipping registration by the end of 2020.

UNCTAD released the Liner Transport Interoperability Index (LSCI) for 2019, which shows that China is still the most closely connected country in the world. Since 2006, China's LSCI index has increased by 51%.

According to the index, five of the world's top 10 interconnected economies in 2019 are located in Asia, with Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Malaysia ranking in the top five, scoring more than 100 points.

On the other hand, there has been little improvement in small island developing States, whose trade in shipping goods is still problematic and has had a knock-on economic impact.

LSCI covers 178 countries, showing the trend of maritime interconnection from 2006 to 2019. It is based on data from global container ship deployment and is published annually.

Components of the index include the number of companies providing shipping services, the number of services, the number of ships docked each month, the total capacity of containers deployed and the maximum size of ships. This year, in collaboration with MDS Transmodal, UNCTAD expanded time series to cover more countries. The 2019 index also includes a new component that covers countries accessible without transshipment. Studies show that the lack of direct linkages is associated with a 42% decline in the value of bilateral exports.