In 2020, Rotterdam was the world's tenth-largest container port in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) handled.

It consists of the city centre's historic harbour area, including Delfshaven; the Maashaven/Rijnhaven/Feijenoord complex; the harbours around Nieuw-Mathenesse; Waalhaven; Vondelingenplaat; Eemhaven; Botlek; Europoort, situated along the Calandkanaal, Nieuwe Waterweg and Scheur (the latter two being continuations of the Nieuwe Maas); and the reclaimed Maasvlakte area, which projects into the North Sea.

Rotterdam consists of five distinct port areas and three distribution parks that facilitate the needs of a hinterland with over 500,000,000 consumers throughout the continent of Europe.

The Nieuwe Waterweg, designed by Pieter Caland, was to be partly dug, then to further deepen the canal bed by the natural flow of the water.

Rotterdam's harbour territory has been enlarged by the construction of the Europoort (gate to Europe) complex along the mouth of the Nieuwe Waterweg.

In the past five years the industrialised skyline has been changed by the addition of large numbers of wind turbines taking advantage of the exposed coastal conditions.

The harbour functions as an important transit point for transport of bulk and other goods between the European continent and other parts of the world.

[7] This made it one of only two available mooring locations for one of the largest bulk cargo ships in the world, the iron ore bulk carrier MS Berge Stahl when it is fully loaded, along with the Terminal of Ponta da Madeira in Brazil,[8] until the opening of a new deep-water iron ore wharf at Caofeidian in China in 2011.

Much of the container loading and stacking in the port is handled by autonomous robotic cranes and computer controlled chariots.

The newer Euromax terminal implements an evolution of this design that eliminates the use of straddle carriers for the land-side operations.

Today the Oude Haven is a well-known and busy nightlife area with cafes and restaurants with terraces on the water, close to the famous Kubuswoningen, the Witte Huis and the adjacent Mariniersmuseum.

The most important project in this development is the Kop van Zuid - an area on the south bank of the Nieuwe Maas, directly opposite the city center.

In 1993 the Hotel New York, former office building of the Holland America Lines (Nederlandsch Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij), opened.

The Posthumalaan will then become a city boulevard with high residential towers and the Wilhelminaplein and Rijnhaven underground stations will be renovated.

In the meantime, the Floating Office Rotterdam (FOR)[13] opened in September 2021 on the Antoine Platekade and accommodates the Global Center on Adaptation.