HomeStatisticsFreight Transport 2025

Freight Transport 2025

5.1 Transport of goods, performance by mode in EU 27, 1995-2023 (billion tkm)

Road Rail Inland Water- ways Pipe- lines Sea Air Total
1995 1 127 375 122 104 671 1 2400
1996 1 136 379 120 108 680 1 2423
1997 1 182 394 128 108 699 2 2513
1998 1 242 377 131 115 722 2 2588
1999 1 294 367 129 113 743 2 2648
2000 1 344 388 134 116 770 2 2753
2001 1 389 369 132 122 782 2 2797
2002 1 439 368 132 119 794 2 2854
2003 1 441 376 123 121 807 2 2870
2004 1 588 390 137 123 836 2 3075
2005 1 588 395 139 127 844 2 3094
2006 1 639 416 138 126 843 2 3164
2007 1 698 431 145 118 843 2 3237
2008 1 676 422 147 115 841 2 3203
2009 1 515 344 133 112 770 2 2875
2010 1 558 375 155 111 832 2 3033
2011 1 542 401 142 108 850 2 3045
2012 1 482 392 150 105 838 2 2969
2013 1 516 389 153 102 851 2 3013
2014 1 527 396 151 101 875 2 3052
2015 1 562 403 147 104 876 2 3 094
2016 1 620 427 147 105 913 2 3 214
2017 1 707 426 147 104 922 2 3 309
2018 1 707 432 131 104 979 2 3 356
2019 1 765 425 140 101 980 2 3 412
2020 1 745 384 132 92 929 2 3 283
2021 1 862 415 136 89 956 2 3 460
2022 1 866 413 122 94 983 2 3 480
2023 1 807 396 116 91 1 021 2 3 433
1995 -2023 60.4% 4.5% -4.5% -12.8% 52.1% 54.1% 43.0%
2000 -2023 34.5% 2.0% -12.9% -21.8% 32.6% 25.8% 24.7%
2022-2023 -3.2% -4.3% -4.6% -3.4% 3.9% -5.0% -1.4%


Source: EC

Road: national and international haulage by vehicles registered in the EU-27 until 2004, from 2005 onwards, the activity is performed by European drivers within the EU territory.
Air and Sea: only domestic and intra-EU-27 transport; estimates for air and for sea based on Eurostat data. The time series for maritime activity from 1995 to 2004 and for aviation activity from 1995 to 2007 have been recalibrated by DG MOVE in line with the new EU-27 figures to avoid break in series.

5.2 Goods transport by mode in EU 27, 2023 (% of billion tkm)

Source: EC
Notes:
Air and Sea: only domestic and intra-EU-27 transport; estimates for air and for sea based on Eurostat data. The time series for maritime activity from 1995 to 2004 and for aviation activity from 1995 to 2007 have been recalibrated by DG MOVE in line with the new EU-27 figures to avoid break in series.
Road: national and international haulage by vehicles registered in the EU-27 until 2004, from 2005 onwards the activity performed by European drivers within the EU territory.

5.3 Freight transport modal split in EU 27, 2000-2023 (% of tkm)

Road Rail Inland waterways Pipelines Sea Air
2000 48.8 14.1 4.9 4.2 28.0 0.1
2001 49.7 13.2 4.7 4.4 27.9 0.1
2002 50.4 12.9 4.6 4.2 27.8 0.1
2003 50.2 13.1 4.3 4.2 28.1 0.1
2004 51.6 12.7 4.4 4.0 27.2 0.1
2005 51.3 12.8 4.5 4.1 27.3 0.1
2006 51.8 13.2 4.4 4.0 26.6 0.1
2007 52.4 13.3 4.5 3.7 26.0 0.1
2008 52.3 13.2 4.6 3.6 26.3 0.1
2009 52.7 12.0 4.6 3.9 26.8 0.1
2010 51.4 12.4 5.1 3.7 27.4 0.1
2011 50.6 13.2 4.7 3.6 27.9 0.1
2012 49.9 13.2 5.0 3.5 28.2 0.1
2013 50.3 12.9 5.1 3.4 28.2 0.1
2014 50.0 13.0 4.9 3.3 28.7 0.1
2015 50.5 13.0 4.8 3.4 28.3 0.1
2016 50.4 13.3 4.6 3.3 28.4 0.1
2017 51.6 12.9 4.4 3.1 27.9 0.1
2018 50.9 12.9 3.9 3.1 29.2 0.1
2019 51.7 12.4 4.1 3.0 28.7 0.1
2020 53.2 11.7 4.0 2.8 28.3 0.1
2021 53.8 12.0 3.9 2.6 27.6 0.1
2022 53.6 11.9 3.5 2.7 28.2 0.1
2023 52.6 11.5 3.4 2.6 29.7 0.1

Notes:
Road: national and international haulage by vehicles registered in the EU-27 until 2004, from 2005 onwards the activity performed by European drivers within the EU territory.

5.4 Inland transport modal split in EU 27, 2023 (% of tkm)

Source: EC

5.5 Performance of inland freight transport by mode in EU countries, 2023 (billion tkm)

Road (*) Railways Inland Waterways (**) Pipelines (Oil) (***)
EU-27 1857.2 395.8 116.4 90.5
BE 32.2 11.9 7.0 1.6
BG 33.1 4.6 4.3 0.8
CZ 64.8 15.0 0.0 2.1
DK 16.4 1.9 – 0.8
DE 286.4 129.1 41.5 17.3
EE 4.2 0.8 – –
IE 12.6 0.1 – –
EL 20.0 0.2 – 0.0
ES 263.4 10.0 – 9.3
FR 169.2 29.4 5.9 10.2
HR 14.3 3.1 0.5 1.7
IT 145.2 22.7 0.0 9.3
CY 1.0 – – –
LV 13.2 5.2 – 0.0
LT 63.1 6.3 0.0 0.1
LU 7.0 0.2 0.2 –
HU 33.4 10.5 1.3 2.8
MT 0.3 – – –
NL 62.6 6.5 41.6 8.6
AT 25.4 20.2 1.2 7.6
PL 377.9 61.1 0.0 12.3
PT 26.8 2.3 – 0.5
RO 65.2 12.9 11.9 1.0
SI 22.5 4.6 – –
SK 26.4 7.5 0.6 4.3
FI 28.3 7.9 0.2 –
SE 42.4 22.0 0.1 –

(*) National and international haulage by vehicles registered in the reporting country (including cross-trade and cabotage). Only haulage of heavy goods vehicles (usually > 3,5 tonnes load capacity)
(**) For FI only shipborne transport (i.e. no floating) IT, LT, FI and UK: data include only national traffic BG, HR and RO: data include transit traffic from 2009 (and partially in 2008) HR: data include transit traffic from 2008 onward
(***) Data are not harmonised and therefore not fully comparable; in most countries, only pipelines longer than 40km are included. DE: only crude oil (i.e. no refined petroleum products) DK: crude oil including water

5.6 Performance by mode for inland freight transport in EU 27, 1995-2023 (billion tkm)

Source: ΕC

5.7 Total road freight transport in EU countries, 2024 (1.000 tonnes and million tkm)

Thousand
tonnes		 Million tkm
BE 260,601 32,090
BG 148,097 26,969
CZ 442,756 70,346
DK 177,924 16,666
DE 2,778,260 280,840
EE 29,834 4,363
IE 164,238 13,528
EL 258,836 20,574
ES 1,644,275 271,588
FR 1,548,138 174,015
HR 93,831 14,325
IT 1,110,492 152,678
CY 41,994 1096
LV 78,095 14,906
LT 137,887 66,245
LU 45,729 6,364
HU 176,932 34,231
NL 641,695 62,883
AT 366,651 25,315
PL 1,528,435 368,314
PT 115,856 23,043
RO 322,610 67,357
SI 100,363 21,857
SK 149,121 30,562
FI 232,262 27,603
SE 425,421 40,938
TOTAL 13,020,334 1,868,697

Source: Eurostat
no data for MT

5.8 Transport of dangerous goods* in EU countries, 2016-2024 (million tkm)

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
BE 4070 3,838 3,003 3,591 3,221 2,991 2,579 2,244 2,046
BG 469 591 400 240 907 869 1,515 968 1,477
CZ 2224 1,895 1,516 1,611 2,081 2,153 2,376 2,294 2,253
DK 699 621 734 728 832 874 819 1,047 926
DE 12725 12,934 12,835 12,793 11,758 11,771 11,818 12,067 12,049
EE 145 208 215 211 126 154 210 191 168
IE 306 146 102 112 77 80 : : :
EL 714 1,451 1,178 1,127 882 949 876 701 904
ES 11538 12,735 13,210 12,710 11,609 12,502 11,503 11,604 11,775
FR 9747 9,737 9,059 8,287 9,089 8,747 8,731 9,600 9,733
HR 531 582 713 820 707 751 665 712 437
IT 6635 7,918 8,439 9,293 9,215 7,986 4,458 : 8,122
CY 165 193 146 79 87 80 92 72 54
LV 335 282 296 272 311 354 371 291 292
LT 591 593 582 629 445 591 484 683 608
LU 431 426 491 495 386 305 199 341 244
HU 1315 1,273 1,204 1,017 1,150 1,186 949 1,115 1,109
NL 1181 1,296 1,467 1,496 1,375 1,371 1,195 1,350 1,337
AT 1010 1,033 968 995 912 955 1,051 1,018 1,024
PL 8444 8,785 7,386 9,441 8,255 9,247 7,701 10,000 9,052
PT 983 1,035 665 750 649 731 670 353 396
RO 2326 2,490 1,944 1,936 1,711 2,260 2,546 2,283 2,467
SI 857 890 1,062 1,068 1,248 1,405 1,195 1,086 1,163
SK 398 496 384 300 462 451 300 121 572
FI 2201 1,888 1,945 2,294 2,189 2,045 3,224 2,056 2,311
SE 1794 1,983 1,585 1,431 1,676 1,818 1,913 1,486 2,108
EU 27 71,835 75,321 71,527 73,726 71,357 72,628 67,455 67,455 67,455

 

Source: Eurostat no data for MT
*Total of dangerous goods includes: Explosives; Gases – compressed, liquified, dissolved under pressure; Flammable liquids and solids; Substances liable to spontaneous combustion; Substance emitting flammable gases (with water); Oxidising substances; Organic peroxides; Toxic substances; Substances liable to cause infections; Radioactive material; Corrosives; Miscellaneous dangerous substances.

5.9 Registration of commercial vehicles in EU and selected countries, 2023-2024

Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) Up to 3,5 t

Country 2024 2023 Evolution 2024-2023
AT 33,075 30,701 7.7%
BE 65,780 67,549 -2.6%
BG 6,794 5,192 30.9%
HR 8,495 7,463 13.8%
CY 2,248 1,766 27.3%
CZ 21,761 22,735 -4.3%
DK 28,053 25,746 9.0%
EE 4,080 3,904 4.5%
FI 9,735 11,021 -11.7%
FR 379,747 375,510 1.1%
DE 281,078 259,376 8.4%
EL 9,872 10,008 -1.4%
HU 24,782 20,749 19.4%
IE 30,785 28,854 6.7%
IT 198,517 196,732 0.9%
LV 2,737 2,699 1.4%
LT 2,893 3,104 -6.8%
LU 3,997 5,412 -26.1%
MT 889 814 9.2%
NL 129,878 69,294 87.4%
PL 66,853 64,522 3.6%
PT 32,304 28,523 13.3%
RO 20,212 17,235 17.3%
SK 9,061 9,107 -0.5%
SI 8,577 7,686 11.6%
ES 166,157 146,144 13.7%
SE 38,328 43,713 -12.3%
EU 27 1,586,688 1,465,559 8.3%
IS 1,870 1,972 -5.2%
NO 28,459 29,573 -3.8%
CH 30,741 30,570 0.6%

Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles Over 3.5 t

2024 2023 Evolution 2024-2023
AT 7,970 8,008 -0.5%
BE 9,280 10,058 -7.7%
BG ─ ─ ─
HR 2,048 2,048 0.0%
CY 181 159 13.8%
CZ 9,172 10,408 -11.9%
DK 4,820 4,973 -3.1%
EE 645 872 -26.0%
FI 3,434 3,942 -12.9%
FR 50,635 52,143 -2.9%
DE 88,240 94,820 -6.9%
EL 880 726 21.2%
HU 5,281 6,359 -17.0%
IE 2,865 2,655 7.9%
IT 28,698 28,889 -0.7%
LV 1,243 1,868 -33.5%
LT 6,993 10,662 -34.4%
LU 1,081 1,832 -41.0%
MT ─ ─ ─
NL 18,574 16,136 15.1%
PL 28,043 35,482 -21.0%
PT 6,381 6,915 -7.7%
RO 7,955 8,497 -6.4%
SK 3,412 3,939 -13.4%
SI 2,133 2,529 -15.7%
ES 32,140 28,688 12.0%
SE 5,792 7,184 -19.4%
EU 27 327896 349,792 -6.3%
IS 386 422 -8.5%
NO 6,137 6,477 -5.2%
CH 4,984 4,482 11.2%

Source: ACEA