Freight Transport in the EU: Trends in 2023

Wednesday, May 21st, 2025

According to the latest Eurostat data, maritime and road transport continue to dominate freight activity within the European Union, jointly accounting for over 92% of total freight transport performance in 2023. The statistics, measured in tonne-kilometres, reflect trends across the five key modes used within the EU: maritime, road, rail, inland waterways, and air.

Key findings

Maritime transport remains the most used mode, with a 67.4% share. However, this reflects a gradual decline from its peak of 69.6% in 2015.
Road transport rose to 25.3%, marking its highest share in the past decade.
Rail freight held a 5.5% share, showing relative stability but remaining underutilised.
Inland waterway transport (IWT) remained at 1.6%, consistent with previous years.
Air freight remained marginal at 0.2% across EU member states.

These figures highlight the heavy reliance on road transport across intra-European flows. While maritime remains dominant in absolute terms, its decline—paired with the steady rise of road freight—may pose a challenge to the EU’s climate and energy objectives without targeted policy and infrastructure interventions.

Country-level variations

Although changes at EU level have been gradual, national modal shares vary significantly:

Portugal (98.2%), Cyprus (96.5%), and Greece (96.4%) recorded the highest maritime shares, linked to their geography and port activities.
Luxembourg led in road transport usage (84.5%), followed by Czechia (77.7%) and Hungary (70.7%).
Lithuania had the highest rail share (31.7%), though significantly down from 57.2% in 2013.
Romania stood out in inland waterway use (18.9%), primarily due to its extensive activity along the Danube.
Air freight shares remained under 2% in all countries, with Romania and Luxembourg reaching the highest (1.6% and 1.5%, respectively).

Decade-long evolution (2013–2023)

Road transport increased by +2.8 percentage points (pp) EU-wide, with the largest gains in Lithuania, Latvia, and Romania.
Maritime transport declined by -2.0 pp, most notably in Sweden, Finland, and Romania.
Rail transport fell sharply in Lithuania (-25.5 pp) and Latvia (-20.3 pp), while countries like Sweden and Germany experienced moderate growth.
Inland waterways also saw a general decline, except in Romania, where usage increased.
Air freight remained stable and marginal.

A focus on Intra-European transport

This analysis is based on freight activity within EU borders, following the territoriality principle. International trade beyond EU economies is not included. Eurostat uses detailed modelling and redistribution techniques to estimate tonne-kilometres accurately, ensuring comparability between member states and modes.

Strategic implications

The continued dominance of road and maritime freight, paired with the underuse of rail and inland waterways, underscores the need for focused action.

To achieve EU sustainability goals and ensure a more balanced and resilient freight network, targeted support is needed to:

Increase the use of rail and inland waterway transport (IWT)
Upgrade infrastructure across TEN-T corridors
Ensure coordination between energy, transport, and digital policy areas
Strengthen EU-level planning and funding instruments

Improving the competitiveness and reliability of rail and IWT, especially for intra-European flows- will be essential to reducing emissions, alleviating road congestion, and enhancing overall system efficiency.

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