Guide · Dimensions and units

What Is a TEU?

Yuri Kan Updated 18 October 2026

TEU means twenty-foot equivalent unit — the capacity of one 20 ft container, 6.058 m (19′10½″) long and 33.2 m³ (1,172 ft³) inside: the length per ISO 668, the volume per all 18 sheets. A 40 ft container counts as 2 TEU, a 45 ft as 2.25 TEU, and ship or port capacity is always quoted in TEU: the largest vessels carry over 24,000.

TEU stands for twenty-foot equivalent unit: the volume of one standard 20 ft container, used as the universal unit of count in container shipping. A 40 ft container is 2 TEU; a ship rated at 24,000 TEU can carry the equivalent of 24,000 twenty-foot boxes.

The unit deliberately ignores height — a 40 ft high cube and a standard 40 ft are both 2 TEU — and weight. It is a slot count, not a cargo measure.

Three bars of unit blocks, one block per twenty-foot length: a 20′ container counts as 1 TEU. — How TEU is countedThree bars of unit blocks, one block per twenty-foot length: a 20′ container counts as 1 TEU, a 40′ as 2 TEU and a 45′ as 2.25 TEU.A 24,000 TEU vessel = 12,000 forty-foot boxesOpen image: How TEU is counted

How TEU is counted
Container	TEU
20 ft container	1
40 ft container	2
45 ft high cube container	2.25

TEU values by container

FEU (forty-foot equivalent unit) also circulates in freight pricing: 1 FEU = 2 TEU. The 45 ft container is conventionally counted as 2.25 TEU in statistics, although on board it occupies a 40 ft slot with overhang.

Beside each figure, its evidence: ISO set by the standard · ✓ 16 sheets that agree, counted · range the sheets disagree · 1 sheet one source. A mark opens the sheets behind the figure.

TEU by container size
	20 ft container	40 ft container	45 ft high cube container
ISO type code	22G1	42G1	L5G1
External dimensions — Length	6.058 m 20 ft container · Outside length 6,058 mm Set by the standard Every reading and where it is printed 19′10½″	12.192 m 40 ft container · Outside length 12,192 mm Set by the standard Every reading and where it is printed 40′	13.716 m 45 ft high cube container · Outside length 13,716 mm Set by the standard Every reading and where it is printed 45′
External dimensions — Width	2.438 m 20 ft container · Outside width 2,438 mm Set by the standard Every reading and where it is printed 8′	2.438 m 40 ft container · Outside width 2,438 mm Set by the standard Every reading and where it is printed 8′	2.438 m 45 ft high cube container · Outside width 2,438 mm Set by the standard Every reading and where it is printed 8′
External dimensions — Height	2.591 m 20 ft container · Outside height 2,591 mm Set by the standard Every reading and where it is printed 8′6″	2.591 m 40 ft container · Outside height 2,591 mm Set by the standard Every reading and where it is printed 8′6″	2.896 m 45 ft high cube container · Outside height 2,896 mm Set by the standard Every reading and where it is printed 9′6″
Internal dimensions — Length	5.898 m 20 ft container · Inside length 5,898 mm Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 19′4″	12.032 m 40 ft container · Inside length 12,032 mm Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 39′5½″	13.556 m 45 ft high cube container · Inside length 13,556 mm Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 44′5½″
Internal dimensions — Width	2.352 m 20 ft container · Inside width 2,352 mm Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 7′8½″	2.352 m 40 ft container · Inside width 2,352 mm Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 7′8½″	2.352 m 45 ft high cube container · Inside width 2,352 mm Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 7′8½″
Internal dimensions — Height	2.393 m 20 ft container · Inside height 2,393 mm Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 7′10″	2.393 m 40 ft container · Inside height 2,393 mm Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 7′10″	2.698 m 45 ft high cube container · Inside height 2,698 mm Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 8′10″
Tare weight	2,230 kg 20 ft container · Tare 2,230 kg Sheets disagree Every reading and where it is printed 4,916 lb	3,700 kg 40 ft container · Tare 3,700 kg Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 8,157 lb	4,650 kg 45 ft high cube container · Tare 4,650 kg Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 10,251 lb
Max gross weight	30,480 kg 20 ft container · Max gross 30,480 kg Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 67,197 lb	32,500 kg 40 ft container · Max gross 32,500 kg Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 71,650 lb	32,500 kg 45 ft high cube container · Max gross 32,500 kg Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 71,650 lb
Max payload	28,250 kg 20 ft container · Payload 28,250 kg Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 62,281 lb	28,800 kg 40 ft container · Payload 28,800 kg Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 63,493 lb	27,850 kg 45 ft high cube container · Payload 27,850 kg Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 61,399 lb
Capacity (volume)	33.2 m³ 20 ft container · Volume 33.2 m³ Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 1,172 ft³	67.7 m³ 40 ft container · Volume 67.7 m³ Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 2,391 ft³	86.0 m³ 45 ft high cube container · Volume 86.0 m³ Confirmed Every reading and where it is printed 3,037 ft³
EUR pallets	11	25	27
TEU	1	2	2.25

Checked 19 October 2026: outside sizes set by ISO 668, read in IS 6566:2001, GOST R 51876-2008 and GOST R 53350-2009; every other figure against 27 published sheets of 19 lines, lessors and makers. A sheet agrees within ±5 mm, or ±2 % for a mass and ±1 % for a volume; a maximum gross is a rating and must be the same. Every figure and its sources

Data: ISO 668 (1995 text, read in IS 6566:2001) · CMA CGM Equipment Guide · Evergreen Container Specifications · Hapag-Lloyd Container Specifications · Maersk Container Specifications · ONE Container Specifications · Singamas product range · COSCO, Crowley, HMM, Matson, MSC, OOCL, Seaco, SeaCube, Textainer, TOTE, Triton, Yang Ming, ZIM

Where TEU shows up

Vessel capacity (the largest ships exceed 24,000 TEU), port throughput (Shanghai handled more than 55 million TEU in 2025, as its port operator SIPG reported), fleet statistics and freight indices are all quoted in TEU. When a carrier quotes “per TEU” pricing, a 40 ft box simply costs twice the 20 ft rate.

TEU conversion by container size
Container	TEU
10 ft	0.5
20 ft	1
40 ft	2
40 ft high cube	2
45 ft high cube	2.25

A short history of the TEU

In 1956 trucking entrepreneur Malcom McLean sailed the converted tanker Ideal X from Newark to Houston with 58 containers on deck — the voyage conventionally counted as the birth of container shipping. His boxes were 35 ft long, the standard truck-trailer length of the day (as Port Houston’s account of the voyage gives it), and other early operators chose other lengths; nothing interlocked.

ISO standardisation between 1968 and 1970 settled the fleet on 10, 20 and 40 ft modules with common corner castings. The 20 ft box became the unit of count because it was the largest size every ship, crane and chassis of the era could handle — and because 40 ft slots divide into it cleanly. The name “twenty-foot equivalent unit” followed the standard, not the other way round.

Frequently asked questions

How many TEU is a 40 ft container?

Two — a 40 ft container, standard or high cube, equals 2 TEU. It is also called 1 FEU (forty-foot equivalent unit).

Is TEU a measure of weight?

No — TEU counts container slots by length only, so a 20 ft box is 1 TEU whatever it weighs. Weight is limited separately by each container’s max gross rating and by ship, road and rail rules.

How much cargo is 1 TEU?

One TEU is one 20 ft container: 33.2 m³ (1,172 ft³) of volume and up to 28,250 kg (62,281 lb) of payload, as most published line and maker sheets print them. A slot counts the same whatever is in it, so a TEU is a capacity, not an amount of cargo.

Why is a 45 ft container 2.25 TEU?

By arithmetic: 45 ÷ 20 = 2.25. Statistics count it that way even though on board it physically occupies a 40 ft slot with a 2.5 ft (762 mm) overhang at each end, carried in dedicated positions.

What does 24,000 TEU mean?

A vessel rated 24,000 TEU can carry the equivalent of 24,000 twenty-foot containers — in practice roughly 12,000 forty-footers, since a 40 ft box counts as 2 TEU. The figure describes the largest ships afloat: MSC Irina and her sisters are rated 24,346 TEU nominal, as Adani Ports’ release on her first call at Vizhinjam (9 June 2025) gives it; MSC prints the same figure for MSC Michel Cappellini, named in July 2023.

What is the difference between a container and a TEU?

A container is a physical box; a TEU is a unit of count. One 20 ft container equals 1 TEU and one 40 ft equals 2 TEU, so a ship carrying 10,000 physical boxes may be loaded with 18,000 TEU if most are forties. Capacities, port statistics and freight indices quote TEU precisely because box sizes mix.