World Research Institute (WRI) · Logistics Index · Flagship · monthly
World Logistics Index

World

January 2026 · forecast February 2026
Expansion · first reading

World logistics activity opens at 50.5 (expansion) in its first published edition.

50.5455055
Expansion · first reading
Breadth
6 / 10
in expansion
Monthly change
—
Coverage
1 mo
vs 1-mo range
50.5–50.5
short history
3-mo average
50.5
0.0 vs avg
vs neutral
+0.5
Executive summary
  • Headline 50.5 — expansion · first reading.
  • Breadth — 6 of 10 sub-indexes in expansion, 2 at the no-change line (8 weighted + 2 diagnostic).
  • This is World's first published edition — month-on-month momentum begins with the next release.

Trajectory & forecast

1-month history
ActualForecast
vs last month
—
vs 3-mo avg
0.0
vs a year ago
—
needs 12mo
1-mo range
50.5–50.5

At 50.5, World sits 0.0 above its 1-month average of 50.5. The February 2026 forecast points to 50.5 (0.0 on the month).

Changes are computed from full-precision index values before rounding; readings shown at one decimal may not difference exactly. Trend classification uses the ±0.15 no-change band on unrounded values.

What's driving it — sub-index decomposition

Profile
Weighted contribution above 50 — what builds the 50.5
Business Volume+0.18
Warehousing+0.14
Transportation+0.09
Goods for Sale+0.07
Employment+0.01
Business Sentiment+0.00
Transport Capacity-0.02
Warehouse Capacity-0.04

Business Volume and Transportation carry the most weight in the composite.

Full sub-index detail

value · weight · vs prior
Business Volume0.2250.8—
Business Sentiment0.0850.0—
Transportation0.1850.5—
Transport Capacity0.1149.8—
Employment0.0550.2—
Logistics Cost0.0052.5—
Warehousing0.1451.0—
Warehouse Capacity0.0949.5—
Inventory0.0050.0—
Goods for Sale0.1350.5—

Macro context & peers

33 of 42 economies in expansion
World map · 42 tracked economies shaded by index
contractionexpansion· 50 = no changetrackednot tracked

World is benchmarked against 42 tracked economies. At 50.5 it sits below the global median of 51.0; 33 of 42 economies are in expansion this month.

Regional landscape · January 2026
Where this sits in the global distribution · 42 economies
45
50
55
World 50.5
Box = interquartile range · line = median (51.0) · whiskers = min–max · gold ticks = regions.
Logistics momentum relative to economic size

Dots are coloured by region; economies above the dashed 50 line are expanding. Small open economies often sit high-and-left — strong logistics reads relative to GDP — reflecting trade-entrepôt roles.

Regions league · tap a row for its report
Momentum across 0 economies · 0 rose · 0 fell this month
Top gainers
Top decliners
No economy fell materially this month.
Full ranking — all 42 economies
#EconomyLGIMoM
1United Arab Emirates54.1—
2Vietnam53.5—
3South Africa53.2—
4Singapore53.0—
5Saudi Arabia53.0—
6Taiwan52.8—
7India52.5—
8Malaysia52.5—
9Thailand52.2—
10Poland51.9—
11United States51.8—
12Philippines51.7—
13South Korea51.5—
14Denmark51.5—
15Indonesia51.5—
16Turkey51.4—
17Hong Kong51.2—
18Australia51.2—
19Ireland51.2—
20Norway51.1—
21Sweden51.0—
22Japan51.0—
23Mexico51.0—
24Switzerland50.8—
25Austria50.5—
26Spain50.5—
27Brazil50.5—
28Algeria50.4—
29United Kingdom50.2—
30Netherlands50.2—
31Morocco50.2—
32Italy50.2—
33Canada50.2—
34China50.0—
35Germany49.8—
36Argentina49.8—
37Belgium49.8—
38Nigeria49.7—
39Israel49.6—
40France49.5—
41Egypt49.2—
42Russia49.2—

How to read this report · methodology

Diffusion scale. 50 = no change vs the prior month. Above 50 signals expansion, below signals contraction; distance from 50 measures signal strength (53 is a firmer expansion than 50.5), while the month-on-month change measures the pace, not the level.

Headline. A weighted average of 10 sub-indexes — 8 weighted into the composite (weights at right) and 2 (Logistics Cost, Inventory) tracked as 0.00-weight diagnostics. Headline = 50 + the sum of weighted contributions, so the decomposition reconciles exactly.

Why track it. As a diffusion index it turns ahead of hard trade and output statistics, which lag one to two months; each edition publishes the latest completed month plus a forecast for the next, while official data is still weeks away.

Seasonality. Reported NSA (not seasonally adjusted). To strip calendar effects (Lunar New Year, mid-year lulls, Q4 peak shipping), watch the 3-month average rather than a single month-on-month move; year-on-year comparisons become available once 12 months of history accrue.

Coverage. 1 months of history for this series. The headline and percentile refer to the latest completed month; the forecast month is the forward projection published with the edition, always drawn dashed.

Aggregation. Regions and the World are GDP-weighted across 42 economies (US$107.01T, 2025 base) — larger economies carry proportionally more weight, so an aggregate reflects the economic scale of the activity it measures.

Sub-index weights
Business Volume0.22
Transportation0.18
Warehousing0.14
Goods for Sale0.13
Transport Capacity0.11
Warehouse Capacity0.09
Business Sentiment0.08
Employment0.05
Logistics Cost0.00diag
Inventory0.00diag
World Research Institute (WRI) computes and publishes the Logistics Index. 50 = no change vs the prior month. Each edition reports the latest completed month with a forward projection for the next. January 2026 edition, published February 2026. MethodologyCite — Source: World Logistics Index, World Research Institute (WRI), worldresearch.org (January 2026).