Road transport rises to 25%, sea remains the most used mode

Brussels – Road freight transport was the only mode to record steady growth between 2014 and 2024, increasing by 3.3 percentage points. The data released today (26 March) by Eurostat on the modal split of freight transport confirms the trend for road transport, which stood at 25.7 per cent of the total in 2024. In the same year, around two-thirds (67 per cent) of all freight transport (in tonne-kilometres) within the EU took place by sea. And although maritime transport remains the by far most widely used mode, with a share of 67 per cent, the sector saw a decline of 2.5 percentage points compared to previous figures, directly affected by restrictions stemming from the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. Thus, in 2024, maritime and road transport accounted for 92.7 per cent of total freight transport in the EU; rail transport stood at 5.4 per cent, inland waterway transport at 1.7 per cent, and air transport at 0.2 per cent. 

Maritime transport was the main mode of freight transport for 15 of the 22 EU countries with access to the sea, whilst in 9 countries it accounted for over 70 per cent of freight transport. In total, 14 countries recorded a decline compared with ten years ago. Finland (-12.4 pp), Sweden (-11.2 pp), and Romania (-7.2 pp) reported the largest declines compared with 2014. 

In 2024, road freight transport was the main mode of transport in 11 EU countries. Over the last ten years, as many as 21 Member States reported an increase in this share, with the most significant increases recorded in Lithuania (+22.4 percentage points), Latvia (+22.0 pp), and Romania (+14.8 pp). The highest overall percentages are found in Luxembourg (84.4 per cent), the Czech Republic (78.0 per cent) and Hungary (68.8 per cent). 

However, modal diversification remains heavily influenced by infrastructure availability and the geographical location of member states. Countries such as the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and Switzerland are landlocked, whilst Cyprus and Malta lack inland waterways. Maritime transport, on the other hand, dominates almost entirely in Portugal (98.2 per cent), Greece (96.4 per cent), and Cyprus (96.3 per cent). 

While road transport continues to grow, other modes of transport are struggling to gain ground. Rail transport lags far behind with a share of 5.4 per cent, having in fact recorded a slight decline of 0.3 per cent. Eurostat reports that in 2024, rail was not the primary mode of transport in any EU country. As for inland waterways, the share has remained relatively stable over the last decade. A prime example is Romania, where this mode accounts for 19.2 per cent, thanks to heavy commercial traffic on the Danube. In Italy, however, the share of inland waterways remains marginal, standing at under 0.1 per cent, as is the case in the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Poland. Finally, air transport remains steady at 0.2 per cent at the EU level. No Member State exceeds the 2 per cent threshold for goods transported by air, with the highest figures recorded in Romania (1.9 per cent) and Hungary (1.6 per cent).