Data extracted in June 2025.
Planned article update: July 2026.
Highlights
In 2024, total road freight transport in the EU amounted to more than 13.1 billion tonnes and 1 867 billion tonne-kilometres.
In terms of tonne-kilometres, ‘Food products, beverages and tobacco' was the largest group of goods transported by road in the EU in 2024, accounting for 312.2 billion tonne-kilometres.
In terms of tonnes, Germany was the territory with the highest freight transport by road in 2024.
In 2024, Germany was the origin or destination of almost half of the top 20 country-to-country road freight transport flows within the EU.
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_tq_tott)
This article presents the main trends in road freight transport in the European Union (EU) up to and including 2024. National, international, cross-trade and cabotage transport are all analysed. Road freight transport by type of goods and distance class are also presented, as are goods moved on the national territory of countries and country-to-country flows.
This article, together with the articles 'Road freight transport by vehicle characteristics', 'Road freight transport by type of goods', 'Road freight transport by journey characteristics' and 'Road freight transport statistics - cabotage' present a complete overview of road freight transport in Europe.
Total EU road freight transport performance increased in 2024
In terms of tonne-kilometres (tkm), European road freight transport decreased by 3.2% from 2022 to 2023 (from 1 919 billion tkm to 1 857 billion tkm). In 2024, it increased by 0.6% to 1 869 billion tkm (see Table 1 and Figure 1).
International transport represented almost one quarter (24.6%) of total road freight transport in the EU in 2024. It decreased by 4.4% from 2022 to 2023, followed by another decrease of 1.5% from 2023 to 2024 (see Table 1). National transport, which represented almost two thirds (61.4%) of the total in 2024, decreased by 3.3% in 2023 followed by a small increase of 0.8% in 2024. Cross-trade and cabotage transport (together representing 14.1% of the EU total in 2024), increased by 3.5% and 4.8%, respectively, compared with 2023. In 2023, both recorded decreases from the previous year, by 0.4% and 0.8%, respectively.
In 2024, Poland (19.7% of EU total tkm) reconfirmed its position as one of the most important countries for road transport in Europe, ahead of Germany (15.0%) and Spain (14.5%). Almost two thirds (64.2%) of the Polish transport performance were either international transport, cross-trade or cabotage, while national transport accounted for just over one third (35.8%).
In 2024, total road freight transport decreased in 10 EU countries compared with 2023, with the most significant declines recorded in Bulgaria (-18.6%), Portugal (-14.0%) and Luxembourg (-8.6%). In contrast, 15 EU countries recorded increases, the highest ones in Slovakia (+15.9%), Latvia (+12.9%) and Czechia (+8.5%). In Croatia, total road freight transport remained stable during these 2 years (see Figure 1). Looking back to 2023, compared with 2022, total road freight transport had fallen in 20 EU countries, from -16.4% in Portugal to -1.3% in Spain. In the remaining 6 EU countries, total road freight transport had increased, from +17.3% in Lithuania to +1.4% in Romania.
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( Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_tott)
Road freight transport performance in the EU increased in 2021, following the recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. The second quarter of 2021 represented a peak, at 496.4 billion tkm (see Figure 2). In 2022, total EU road freight transport remained relatively stable, with a higher performance in the first quarter compared with the same quarter of the previous year (+2.5%) and small decreases in the following 3 quarters (-0.7%, -0.6% and -1.6%, respectively), bringing total transport in 2022 close to the same level as in 2021. The road freight transport performance continued to decrease throughout 2023: -2.3% in the first quarter compared with the same quarter of the previous year, -3.6% in the second quarter, -3.8% in the third quarter and -3.1% in the last quarter. In the last 2 quarters of 2023, total EU road freight transport fell to levels not recorded since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Road freight transport performance continued to decrease in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the same quarter of the previous year (-1.8%), followed by increases in the next quarters: +0.7% in the second and third quarter and +3.0% in the last quarter.
Source: Eurostat (road_go_tq_tott)
The main goods categories transported in 2024 were the same as in 2023, both in terms of tonnes and tonne-kilometres
In terms of tonnage, European road freight transport decreased by 0.7% in 2024, compared with 2023 (from 13 173 million tonnes to 13 075 million tonnes – see Table 2). In 2024, as in previous years, 'metal ores and other mining and quarrying products' was the largest product group transported, accounting for 3 007 million tonnes. Other important product groups were 'food, beverages and tobacco' (1 590 million tonnes), 'other non-metallic mineral products' (1 562 million tonnes), and 'agricultural, forestry and fishery products' (1 287 million tonnes). The most notable increases between 2023 and 2024 were recorded for ‘other goods not elsewhere classified’ (up by 35.6%), ‘unidentifiable goods’ (up by 17.1%) and ‘textile and textile products’ (up by 6.6%). At the other end of the scale, significant decreases were recorded for the product groups ‘coal and lignite’ (-44.8%), ‘basic metals’ (-8.1%) and ‘furniture’ (-6.6%).
In terms of tonne-kilometres, ‘food products, beverages and tobacco' continued to dominate road freight transport in 2024, accounting for 312.2 billion tkm, followed by 'grouped goods' (236.5 billion tkm) and 'agricultural products' (207.6 billion tkm). Notable increases between 2023 and 2024 were recorded for ‘unidentifiable goods’ (up by 24.3%), ‘other goods not elsewhere classified’ (up by 22.4%) and ’goods moved in the course of household and office removals’ (up by 15.2%), while the highest decreases were recorded for ‘coal and lignite’ (-67.6%), ‘basic metals’ (-6.4%) and ‘coke and refined petroleum products’ (-3.7%).
,_EU,_2023_and_2024_(thousand_tonnes_and_million_tonne-kilometres).png)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_tg)
Mixed trends in transport across distance classes in 2024
Most of the EU road freight traffic is carried out within 3 distance classes: from 150 to 299 km, from 300 to 499 km and from 500 to 999 km (see Table 3). In 2024, these 3 distance classes together accounted for 1 126 billion tkm of the total EU road freight transport, an increase of 1.5% compared with 2023. The highest road freight transport performances over these 3 distance classes were recorded in Poland (219 billion tkm) and Germany (175 billion tkm), while the lowest were recorded in Estonia (2 billion tkm), Luxembourg (4 billion tkm) and Latvia (6 billion tkm).
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Figure 3 shows trends in road freight transport for different distance classes since 2020. Following the post-COVID-19 recovery, strong increases were recorded in all distance classes of tonne-kilometres performed in 2021 compared with the previous year, ranging from 14.0 percentage points (pp) (for the distance class of over 2 000 km) to 5.4 pp (for the distance class of less than 150 km). Compared with 2021, EU road freight transport decreased in 2022 for the distance classes of less than 150 km; from 150 to 299 km; as well as for the class of over 2 000 km (-1.4 pp, -1.6 pp and -3.3 pp, respectively). The remaining distance classes (from 300 to 999 km; and from 1 000 to 1 999 km) recorded increases of 0.6 pp and 0.5 pp respectively. Road freight transport by distance class continued to fall in 2023, with decreases in all classes: -3.9 pp for over 2 000 km; -3.8 pp from 300 to 999 km; -3.7 pp from 1 000 to 1 999 km; -3.4 pp for less than 150 km; and -2.4 pp from 150 to 299 km.
Compared with the previous year, in 2024 small increases were recorded for the distance classes from 150 to 299 km (+1.7 pp); from 300 to 999 km (+1.5 pp); and less than 150 km (+0.4 pp), while the distance classes of over 2 000 km and from 1 000 to 1 999 km recorded decreases (-6.3 pp and -0.2 pp, respectively).
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_dctg)
Table 4 shows road freight transport by group of goods for 2023 and 2024, measured in tonnes, split between movements of less than 300 km and movements of 300 km or more. For transport of less than 300 km, 'other goods not elsewhere classified' and ‘unidentifiable goods’ were the product groups that recorded the most significant increases (+39.0% and +16.2%, respectively). The highest decreases were recorded for ‘coal and lignite’ (-39.0%) and ‘basic metals’ (-8.2%). Overall, the tonnage transported over less than 300 km decreased by 1.1% from 2023 to 2024.
The tonnage transported over 300 km and more increased by 1.4% between 2023 and 2024. The most notable changes were the high increases for ‘other goods not elsewhere classified’ and ‘goods moved in the course of household and office removals’ (up by 24.1% and 23.7%, respectively). The highest decreases were recorded for ‘coal and lignite’ and ‘basic metals’ (-63.9% and -8.0%, respectively).
,_EU,_2023_and_2024_(thousand_tonnes).png)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_dctg)
In 2024, Germany, France, Spain, Poland and Italy together accounted for almost two thirds of the total tonnage transported in the EU
When looking at total transport in 2024, the tonnes of goods transported within Germany (national transport) or loaded/unloaded in Germany (international transport) represented almost one quarter of the total tonnage (22.5%) in the EU, with France and Spain together making up another quarter (12.6% and 12.1%, respectively). These countries, along with Poland and Italy, accounted for close to two thirds (65.7%) of the total transport of goods by road in the European Union in 2024 (see Figure 4).
Germany, France, Spain, Poland and Italy also recorded the highest tonnages among the EU countries in terms of transport on the national territory in 2024.
Considering international transport (i.e., goods entering and leaving the country, including cross-trade), the pattern has not changed significantly over the last years. International transport of goods loaded/unloaded in Germany remained the highest tonnage, ahead of France. The Netherlands and Belgium, with their large North Sea ports, also recorded relatively high tonnages of loaded/unloaded goods for international transport.
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_tott), (road_go_ia_ugtt), (road_go_ia_lgtt) and (road_go_cta_gtt)
At the level of EU/extra-EU country-to-country freight transport flows (see Table 5), Switzerland, Norway and the United Kingdom were important trading partners of the EU. The main extra-EU flows have generally been between these countries and the EU countries neighbouring them. In 2024, the 3 main such traffic flows were between Switzerland and Germany (18.3% of the total extra-EU road transport tonnage), followed by the flow between Norway and Sweden (9.5%) and the flow between Switzerland and France (8.9%).
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_tott), (road_go_ia_ugtt), (road_go_ia_lgtt) and (road_go_cta_gtt)
Table 6 shows the tonnage transported in the top 20 country-to-country flows within the EU, as well as the nationality of the most important hauliers and their shares in the respective transport flows. Germany was either origin or destination for almost half of the top 20 country-to-country flows in 2024, illustrating the central role of Germany in intra-EU trade flows. However, German hauliers’ share of the transported volumes was less than 50% in all country-to-country flows shown in Table 6, with as little as 3.6% in the flow between Germany and Poland in 2024. German hauliers recorded their highest shares in the transport between Germany and Denmark (45.0%) and between Austria and Germany (30.8%).
The share of hauliers from other EU countries in the country-to-country transport flows varied substantially. In 2024, hauliers from other EU countries than the origin and destination countries carried 62.5% of the total volume transported between Germany and Italy, 62.0% between Germany and France, 59.9% between Belgium and Germany, 54.6% between France and the Netherlands, and 53.1% between Austria and Italy. At the other end of the scale, hauliers from other countries accounted for only 1.1% of total tonnes transported between Spain and Portugal; 1.6% between Czechia and Poland as well as between Poland and Slovakia; and 1.8% between Germany and Poland.
Among hauliers from other EU countries than the origin and destination, Polish hauliers were by far the most important. Of the top 20 intra-EU country-to-country transport flows in 2024, Polish hauliers were the main transporters from and to other EU countries for 11 connections. Of the remaining 9 connections with ‘other hauliers’, Poland was the origin or destination country in 3 connections.
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_ia_ugtt), (road_go_ia_lgtt) and (road_go_cta_gtt)
Source data for tables and graphs
Context
Data presented in this publication were collected in the framework of Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road (recast). These data are based on sample surveys carried out in the reporting countries, i.e., the EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland, and record the road goods transport undertaken by vehicles registered in these countries.
Reporting countries use their own national surveys for the collection of data based on returns from road hauliers. The results are microdata referring to vehicles and their linked journeys, providing detailed information on goods transported. At the European level, common aggregation procedures have been used which may diverge from national practices. Differences might therefore occur between the figures in this publication and national values. For the distinction between national and international transport, journey information is used at the European level, which might cause differences compared with corresponding values from countries that use goods information for these statistics.
Data sources
Country specific notes
Croatia: While Croatia had no obligation prior to their accession in 2013, it started to report data for the reference year 2008.
Malta: Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 does not apply to Malta, as long as the number of Maltese-registered goods road transport vehicles licensed to engage in international transport does not exceed 400 vehicles.
Finland: National and international surveys have been harmonised and follow a common methodology from Q1 2011 onwards, leading to a break in time series in 2011.
Sweden: A break in series occurred in 2014 following a change in methodology. On the basis of a specific survey, Sweden corrected the European road freight survey results for trucks participating to the sample which were not in use over the surveyed period.
Liechtenstein: Liechtenstein reports only international road freight transport. Starting with the reference year 2014, Liechtenstein is exempted from the reporting of road freight data.
Methodological notes
EU totals calculated in this publication refer to road freight transport reported by the EU Member States, excluding Malta which is exempted from reporting road freight statistics.
Total transport
Total transport includes national transport, international transport of goods loaded in the reporting countries, international transport of goods unloaded in the reporting countries, cross-trade and cabotage transport.
National transport
Road transport between two places (a place of loading and a place of unloading) located in the same country, by a vehicle registered in that country.
International transport, loaded and unloaded
International transport as presented in this publication is based on goods loaded and unloaded in the reporting Member States. Each reporting country reports all activities of a road motor vehicle inside and outside its national territory. There is thus no risk of double counting at European level.
Breakdown by goods groups
Starting with the reference year 2008, Regulation (EC) No 1304/2007 establishes NST 2007 as the sole classification for goods carried in road freight transport. For detailed information on the NST 2007 classification, please refer to ‘Metadata classification’, Eurostat’s Metadata Server.
Transport by distance class
Eurostat disseminates road freight transport according to the following distance classes: less than 50 km; 50-149 km; 150-299 km; 300-499 km; 500-999 km; 1 000-1 999 km; 2 000-5 999 km; over 6 000 km.
More detailed data and metadata are available in the Eurostat dissemination database.
Goods entering a country
The volume of goods entering a country is the sum of international transport and cross-trade unloaded in the country by hauliers from all reporting countries.
Goods leaving a country
The volume of goods leaving a country is the sum of international transport and cross-trade loaded in the country by hauliers from all reporting countries.
Table 1 vs Table 2
The dissemination tables providing transport performance (in tkm) with a breakdown by group of goods are derived from basic goods transport operations (goods-related information) whereas dissemination tables without a breakdown by group of goods are derived from journey-related information. This may lead to small differences in the total tkm presented in different dissemination tables.
Figure 4
This figure presents volumes moved on the territory of each country if there is loading or unloading of the goods. Transit, where neither loading nor unloading takes place in the country traversed, is not included in this figure. The weight of goods in international transport is accounted for both in the country of loading and in the country of unloading. The weight of goods in national transport is accounted for only once.
Explore further
Other articles
Thematic section
Publications
- Key figures on European transport — 2024 edition - Key figures
- Eurostat regional yearbook — 2024 edition - Flagship publications
- Key figures on Europe – 2024 edition - Key figures
Selected datasets
Methodology
- Road freight transport measurement (ESMS metadata file)
- Glossary for transport statistics — 5th edition — 2019 - Manuals and guidelines
- Methodologies used in road freight transport surveys in Member States, EFTA and 3 candidate countries — 2025 edition - Manuals and guidelines
- Road freight transport methodology — 2025 edition - Manuals and guidelines
Legislation
- Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 of 18 January 2012 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road (recast)
- Regulation (EC) No 1304/2007 of 7 November 2007 amending Directive 95/64, Regulation (EC) No 1172/98, Regulations (EC) No 91/2003 and (EC) No 1365/2006 with respect to the establishment of NST 2007 as the unique classification for transported goods in certain transport modes