In 2023, cargo traffic in Russian ports reached a New all-time record continuing the long growth trend interrupted in the two-year period 2020-2021 only due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and not stopped even with the war against Ukraine that the Russian Federation unleashed in February 2022. The new all-time high was reached thanks to the record of dry goods handling, which in 2023 446.9 million tonnes, an increase of +10.4% on the previous year. The volume of liquid goods, with 436.9 million tonnes, was unchanged compared to the to 2022 is below the record of 464.3 million tonnes established in 2019.

If "benefits" can be identified from the conflict initiated by Russia against Ukraine, these can be the sharp increase in the traffic of agricultural products, with 70.6 million tons of grain handled from ports Russians in 2023, a volume that represents a 1.6-fold increase compared to the previous year, and with 36.7 million tonnes of mineral fertilizers, 1.5 times more than in 2022. In the dry goods sector, the containerized traffic, equal to 50.1 million tons (+10.5%) and rolling stock with 8.1 million tonnes (+22.8%), while coal traffic decreased (205.6 million tonnes, -0.4%), ferrous metals (21.3 million tonnes, -12.8%) and minerals (9.8 million tonnes, -23.0%).

In the liquid goods segment, the crude oil volumes amounted to 272.2 million tonnes (+6.3%) and those of petroleum products fell (121.5 million tonnes, -12.6%), liquefied gas (34.1 million tonnes) million tonnes, -3.2%) and food products (5.5 million tonnes, +21.6%).

The record for total freight traffic achieved in 2023 is was also determined by the new historical peak of traffic of exports amounted to 690.5 million tonnes (+3,4%). Imported goods, with 38.6 million tonnes, marked an increase of +6.6% over 2022, but their volume is almost ten tonnes less than the overall 2013 record. Goods in transit and those in transit cabotage totalled 65.2 million tonnes (+7.1%) and 89.5 million tonnes (+16.0%), volumes lower only than the records set in 2019 and 2018.

With regard to the traffic handled in the ports of the various regions of the Russian Federation, last year new records were set marked by the ports of the Sea of Azov-Black Sea basin and the ports in the Far East basin where traffic was equal to 291.4 million tonnes (+10.4%) and 238.1 million tonnes tonnes (+4.5%). There was also an increase in traffic from ports in the Caspian basin (7.8 million tonnes, +29.7%) and ports the Baltic Sea basin (248.6 million tonnes, +1.3%), while goods have dropped slightly in the ports of the Arctic basin (97.9 million tonnes, -0.7%).

The overall increase of +5.0% in traffic handled in the whole of 2023 it was mainly produced in the first two quarters of the year that recorded increases of +10.0% and +11.1% over the same periods in 2022. In the third trimester of 2023 traffic increased by +6.1% and in the quarter decreased by -6.2% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.