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Reflecting the “depth of the global economic recession,” as the Port of Long Beach puts it, 2008 container volume at the key California facility nosedived 11 percent to 6.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) compared with 2007’s total — the largest single-year decline in more than two decades.

The year culminated in an especially weak December, when volume tumbled 25.3 percent to 429,946 TEUs — the lowest monthly total since February 2005. December’s decline marked the 14th time in 15 months that container volume decreased.

“Imports of all products — such as clothing, toys and electronics goods made in Asia — were slow throughout 2008, but exports were strong through mid-summer as a weak dollar helped American exporters of raw materials,” port officials said in a prepared statement.

However, export volumes began to drop in 2008’s latter half, climaxing with a 23.6 percent decline in November and 34.2 percent fall in December. Imports finished the year by declining 26.9 percent in December vs. December 2007’s total.

At the Port of Los Angeles, container volume in 2008 totaled 7.8 million TEUs, down 6 percent compared with 2007’s volume. Total volume in December plummeted 15.2 percent to 561,033 TEUs.