Increase in road freight transport as of 2021

In 2022, total road freight transport in the EU remained at the same level as in 2021, at 1,920 billion tonne-kilometres (tkm). 

Following some instability in the first and second quarters of 2020 due to COVID-related restrictions, in 2021 and 2022, road freight transport not only recovered but also showed an increase compared to years before 2020. Total EU road freight transport registered a higher performance in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the same quarter of the previous year (+2.6%) and small decreases in the following three quarters (-0.6 %, -0.5 % and -1.6 %, respectively), bringing the overall total transport to the same level as in 2021.

This information comes from data on road freight transport published by Eurostat. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on road freight transport statistics.  
 

Source dataset: road_go_tq_tott
 
In terms of goods, in 2022, ‘food products, beverages and tobacco' continued to dominate road freight transport, accounting for 317 billion tkm (16.6% of total tkm). This group of goods along with 'agricultural products', which summed 203 billion tkm (10.6%), already represent more than one quarter of the total road transport in tkm. 

Between 2021 and 2022, notable increases in performed tkm were registered for ‘equipment and material utilised in the transport of goods’ (+7.4%) and ‘mail, parcels’ (+4.7 %). On the other hand, ‘furniture’ (-6.2%), ‘chemicals, chemical products, and man-made fibres’ (-6.1%) and ‘wood and products of wood and cork’ (-5.3%) were the groups of goods that registered the highest decreases.

International freight transport continues to increase 

An analysis by type of operation shows that, in 2022, international transport performance (in tkm) increased by 1.0% compared with 2021, representing one quarter (25.4%) of total road freight transport in the EU. Since 2021, this type of operation has registered a strong increase compared with previous years. The other three types of operation: cabotage transport (-8.9%), national transport and cross-trade (both -0.1%), all saw a decrease in performance in 2022.

At the level of country-to-country transport flows between EU and extra-EU, in 2022, Switzerland, Norway, and the United Kingdom were important trading partners. The three main flows, in terms of tonnes transported, were between Switzerland and Germany (17.6% of the total EU/extra-EU road transport tonnage), followed by the flow between Norway and Sweden (11.4%) and the flow between Switzerland and France (7.3%).
 

Source dataset: road_go_ta_tott, road_go_ia_ugtt, road_go_ia_lgtt, road_go_cta_gtt

More information

• Statistics Explained article on road freight transport statistics 
• Thematic section on transport
• Database on transport (Road transport > Road freight transport measurement)

Methodological notes

• Malta: data are excluded as Malta is exempted from reporting road freight transport statistics. This is because there are fewer than 400 goods road transport vehicles that are registered in Malta and licensed to engage in international transport. 

If you have any queries, please visit the contact page.

Share this article: