The port system is a key element to the economic development of a region. In this sense, the performance evaluation is fundamental to the monitoring and improving the activities of above mentioned sector. Data Envelopment Analysis - DEA is a method, based on mathematical programming, which analyses, with agreement to a set of inputs and outputs of a process, the relative efficiency of a group of decision making units. The objective of this work was create a model to evaluate the performance of the ports in Northeast of Brazil, adopting a model oriented to inputs. It was considered two inputs (length of the pier and admissible depth) and one output (cargo handling, in weight or number of containers). This model was applied to the 22 ports of the above mentioned region. These ports were classified for type of cargo. The analysis made possible to observe that the majority of ports located in the Northeast of Brazil uses inefficiently its infrastructures. The determination of the relative efficiencies of these ports allows observe that its have capacity to handling a major quantity of goods with the same inputs. As conclusions, one can observe that DEA is a feasible and useful technique to the analysis, management and planning in the port sector, aiding the decision making process.