Last updated: 22 October 2026

Almost everything traded around the world travels in a steel box built to a handful of standard sizes. Whether you are moving abroad, shipping stock, buying a container for storage or simply curious about the ships that carry them, here are the shipping container sizes you need to know.

Standard shipping container dimensions

Exact internal measurements and weights vary slightly by manufacturer. Always check the data plate on the door.

In feet

• 20ft: 20′ long × 8′ wide × 8’6″ high
• 40ft: 40′ long × 8′ wide × 8’6″ high
• 40ft high cube: 40′ long × 8′ wide × 9’6″ high

Door openings

The door opening is a little smaller than the inside: around 2.34m wide × 2.28m high on standard boxes, and about 2.58m high on high cubes. Check this before you load tall furniture or machinery.

How many pallets fit in a container?

Which container size do I need?

• 20ft: a 2–3 bedroom home, about 1,000 cu ft, or heavy dense cargo. It is the most common size for international removals.
• 40ft: a 3–5 bedroom home, a car plus furniture, or bulky light goods.
• 40ft high cube: tall items, or extra cube for light cargo. Popular for container homes and offices.
• Specialist containers: reefers (refrigerated), open tops, flat racks and tank containers for special cargo.

Read our international removals guide to see how container size affects your moving costs.

What is a TEU?

TEU stands for twenty-foot equivalent unit. It is the standard measure of container volume and ship capacity. A 20ft container is 1 TEU, and a 40ft container is 2 TEU (also called an FEU). When you read that a ship carries 24,000 TEU, that means space for about 24,000 twenty-foot boxes.

Container ship sizes

Want the full picture? Read how big is a container ship? y the biggest ships in the world.

Frequently asked questions