Demand for green logistics is rising, with 75% of shippers looking for environment-friendly options when exporting to high-income countries, the World Bank’s ‘2023 Logistics Performance Index’ (LPI) report, a measure of countries’ ability to move goods across borders with speed and reliability, shows.

The latest iteration of the report comes after three years of unprecedented supply chain disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic, when delivery times soared, the bank points out.

The LPI, which covers 139 countries, measures the ease of establishing reliable supply chain connections and the structural factors that make it possible, such as the quality of logistics services, trade- and transport-related infrastructure, and border controls.

On average across all potential trade routes, 44 days elapse from the time a container enters the port of the exporting country until it leaves the destination port, with a standard deviation of 10.5 days. That span represents 60% of the time it takes to trade goods internationally.

According to LPI 2023, end-to-end supply chain digitalisation, especially in emerging economies, is allowing countries to shorten port delays by up to 70% compared to those in developed countries.

“Logistics are the lifeblood of international trade, and trade in turn is a powerful force for economic growth and poverty reduction. The LPI helps developing countries identify where improvements can be made to boost competitiveness,” says World Bank Trade, Investment and Competitiveness global director Mona Haddad.

 “While most time is spent in shipping, the biggest delays occur at seaports, airports and multimodal facilities. Policies targeting these facilities can help improve reliability,” says the World Bank Group Macroeconomics, Trade & Investment Global Practice senior economist Christina Wiederer, who co-authored the report.

Such policies include improving clearance processes and investing in infrastructure, adopting digital technologies, and incentivising environmentally sustainable logistics by shifting to less carbon-intensive freight modes and more energy-efficient warehousing.