Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
[DE1] Federal Statistical Office (Statistisches Bundesamt)
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Section E 36: Freight Transport and Aviation
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Federal Statistical Office of Germany
Post adress: 65180 Wiesbaden, Germany
Local adress: Gustav-Stresemann-Ring 11, 65189 Wiesbaden, Germany
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
15 April 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
15 April 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
1 September 2026
3.1. Data description
Inland waterways transport statistics provide information on the volume and performance of goods transport on the EU inland waterways network. They are reported on the basis of the "territoriality principle", which means that each country reports the loading, unloading and movement of goods taking place on its national territory, irrespective of the country of origin of the enterprises or the place of first loading and final unloading.
The full mandatory data provision includes:
Annually: goods transport by type of goods, nationality of vessels and type of vessel, as well as container transport by type of goods;
Quarterly: goods and container transport by nationality of vessels.
In addition, Germany provides voluntary data on dangerous goods and port traffic.
In summary, the following inland waterways transport statistics are reported to Eurostat:
Transport of goods (annual and quarterly mandatory data provision)
Transport of dangerous goods (annual voluntary data provision)
Transport between ports (annual voluntary data provision)
3.2. Classification system
Country and NUTS codes
Territorial units such as the reporting country and loading/unloading regions are coded according to the NUTS classification for territorial units covered by the NUTS Regulation and according to ISO 3166 for all others (e.g. territorial units outside the EU). The NUTS version used is always the version applicable to the respective reference period, and no conversion to a previous version is necessary. For example, NUTS 2006 is used for data from 2008 to 2011, NUTS 2010 for data from 2012 to 2014, NUTS 2013 for data from 2015 to 2017, and NUTS 2016 for data from 2018 until the next NUTS regulation.
The level of detail is either NUTS0 – for the reporting country – or NUTS2 (basic regions, 4 digits) – for the regions. If ISO 3166 is used and 4-digit level coding is required (e.g. for regions outside the EU), the two-digit ISO code followed by 'ZZ' is used.
Goods classification
Prior to 2007, the types of goods reported as being transported by inland waterways were those defined by NST/R (Standard Goods for Transport Statistics). In 2007 only, the type of goods has been reported according either to the NST-2000 classification or to the NST/R classification. From 2008 onwards, only the NST2007 classification is valid as set out in Commission Regulation 1304/2007 amending Regulation 1365/2006 with respect to the establishment of NST2007 as the unique classification for transported goods in certain transport modes.
Dangerous goods are classified according to the European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways (ADN). The classes are the following:
ClassDenomination
1 Explosive substances and articles 2 Gases 3 Flammable liquids 4.1 Flammable solids, self-reactive substances and solid desensitised explosives 4.2 Substances liable to spontaneous combustion 4.3 Substances which, in contact with water, emit flammable gases 5.1 Oxidising substances 5.2 Organic peroxides 6.1 Toxic substances 6.2 Infectious substances 7 Radioactive material 8 Corrosive substances 9 Miscellaneous dangerous substances and articles
In addition, there are other classifications that are not internationally regulated. These include the classification of the German waterway network into waterway areas and sections as well as individual waterways.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Loading and unloading operations of vessels with a deadweight tonnage of at least 50 tonnes in German ports or at other loading and unloading places are covered. Also included are arrivals and departures in what is known as inland-sea traffic. This includes not only traffic between inland ports in Germany and abroad that crosses the sea border, but also traffic between inland ports and German coastal ports that does not cross the sea border. All vessels are included if they are used for the commercial transport of goods. Commercial transport means that the transport is carried out with the direct intention of making a profit. Transit traffic is covered separately.
Vessels used exclusively as tugs or towing vessels, or calling at a port solely for safety or security reasons, are excluded. Also excluded from inland waterways transport statistics are lightering operations on open water to reduce the draught of the vessel being unloaded, as well as traffic of vessels engaged in fishing, hydraulic engineering or dredging, provided that the dredged material is not the subject of trade. The same applies to passenger vessels with or without cargo, ferry traffic, traffic for the supply of vessels, traffic of vessels between the berths of a port or between ports within the same municipality (= local traffic), and traffic on the Rhine upstream of Neuburgweier between French ports or between those ports and Basel. Exceptions to the exclusion of local traffic apply to a few selected ports (e.g. Duisburg).
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The definitions covering the main concepts used in this domain are included in Article 1 and Annex II to Regulation 425/2007. The main definitions are as follows:
Navigable inland waterway: A watercourse, no part of the sea, which by natural or man-made features is suitable for navigation, primarily by inland waterway vessels. This term covers navigable rivers, lakes, canals and estuaries.
Inland waterway vessel: A floating craft designed for the carriage of goods or public transport of passengers, which navigates predominantly in navigable inland waterways or in waters within, or closely adjacent to sheltered waters or areas where port regulations apply.
Nationality of the vessel: The country in which the vessel is registered.
Inland waterways transport: Any movement of goods using inland waterways vessels, which is undertaken wholly or partly in navigable inland waterways.
National inland waterways transport: Inland waterways transport between two ports of a national territory irrespective of the nationality of the vessel.
International inland waterways transport: Inland waterways transport between two ports located in different national territories.
Transit inland waterways transport: Inland waterways transport through a national territory between two ports both located in another national territory or national territories provided that in the total journey within the national territory there is no trans-shipment.
Inland movement: any movement of goods and/or passengers to and from inland ports connected by water routes which may be made navigable by one or more lock structures.
Inland waterways traffic: Any movement of a vessel on a given navigable inland waterway.
Types of vessels:
Self-propelled barge. Any powered inland waterways freight vessel, other than self-propelled tanker barges.
Barge not self-propelled. Any unpowered inland waterways freight vessel, other than not self-propelled tanker barges. This category includes towed, pushed and pushed-towed barges.
Self-propelled tanker barge. A self-propelled barge intended for the transport of liquids or gases in fixed tanks.
Tanker barge not self-propelled. A barge not self-propelled intended for the transport of liquids or gases in fixed tanks.
Other goods carrying vessel. Any other known or unknown kind of inland waterways freight vessel intended for carrying goods not defined in the previous categories.
Seagoing vessel. A vessel other than those, which navigate predominantly in navigable inland waterways or in waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where port regulations apply.
Containers: A freight container means an article of transport equipment:
of a permanent nature and accordingly strong enough to be suitable for repeated use;
specially designed to facilitate the carriage of goods by one or more modes of transport, without intermediate reloading;
fitted with devices permitting its ready handling, particularly its transfer from one mode of transport to another;
so designed as to be easy to fill and empty;
having a length of 20 feet or more.
The size of containers is reported according to four categories:
20 Foot ISO containers (length of 20 feet and width of 8 feet)
40 Foot ISO containers (length of 40 feet and width of 8 feet)
ISO containers over 20 feet and under 40 feet in length
ISO containers over 40 feet long
Containers smaller than 20 feet are reported under Category 1.
Containers of unknown size are reported under Category 3.
Inland waterway traffic: any movement of an IWT vessel on a given IWT network.When a vessel is being carried on another vehicle, only the movement of the carrying vehicle (active mode) is taken into account.
Inland waterway journey: any movement of an IW vessel from a specified point of origin to a specified point of destination.
The statistical unit is an individual loading or unloading operation of an inland waterway vessel with a deadweight tonnage of at least 50 tonnes in a German inland port or at another transhipment location on an inland waterway. In the case of transit traffic, the statistical unit corresponds to the journey of an inland waterway vessel through the German inland waterways network, provided that no loading or unloading operations take place in Germany.
According to Section 26, sentence 1, number 1 of the Transport Statistics Act (Verkehrsstatistikgesetz; VerkStatG), the reporting units are the carriers, freight operators and vessel masters. For information on the consignor and consignee of the goods, the consignors and consignees or their locally authorised representatives are also included. The statistical unit and the reporting unit are therefore not identical.
The information provided by respondents is generally forwarded to the Statistical Offices of the Länder via transmission offices, in particular port authorities pursuant to Section 3 of the Transport Statistics Act (VerkStatG). The transmission offices are not reporting units within the meaning of this report. Information on transit traffic is taken from reports provided by Statistics Netherlands; therefore, no separate primary data collection from reporting units in Germany is carried out.
3.6. Statistical population
Loading and unloading operations, i.e. the loading and unloading of vessels with a deadweight tonnage of at least 50 tonnes, are covered in German inland ports or at other loading and unloading places on an inland waterway, for example in the case of ship-to-ship transfers. Also included are arrivals and departures in what is known as inland-sea traffic. This includes traffic between inland ports in Germany and abroad that crosses the sea border, as well as traffic between inland ports and German coastal ports that does not cross the sea border. All vessels used for the commercial transport of goods are included. In this context, “commercial” means that the transport is carried out with the direct intention of making a profit. Transit traffic is recorded separately.
Vessels used exclusively for towing or as tugboats, or calling at a port solely for protection or safety purposes, are not covered. Also excluded from inland waterways transport statistics are lightering operations on open water to reduce the draught of the vessel being unloaded, as well as traffic of vessels engaged in fishing, hydraulic engineering or dredging, provided that the dredged material is not the subject of trade. The same applies to passenger vessels with or without cargo, ferry traffic, traffic for the supply of vessels, and traffic of vessels between the berths of a port or between ports within the same municipality (local traffic). Also excluded is traffic on the Rhine upstream of Neuburgweier between French ports or between those ports and the Port of Basel. Exceptions to the exclusion of local traffic apply to 41 selected ports.
3.7. Reference area
Federal territory. The results are spatially broken down by federal states, waterway areas, waterway sections, waterways and ports.
Germany (from 1991): The data for Germany refer to the Federal Republic of Germany according to the territorial status since 3 October 1990.
Until 1991, the data refer to the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany according to the territorial status up to 3 October 1990; they include Berlin-West.
3.8. Coverage - Time
From the 2011 reference year the classification of types of goods has been changed from NST/R (1968) to NST-2007. This limits the comparability of the results by type of goods. However, the monthly results are comparable since the 1993 reference year.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Data is disseminated using the following units of measure:
1000T: Thousands of tonnes
MIO_TKM: Millions of tonnes/km (the transport of one tonne by inland waterways over one kilometre)
TEU: Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (a unit of volume used in maritime transport statistics equivalent to a 20-foot ISO container )
1000 TEU_KM: Thousands of TEUs/km (the transport of one twenty-foot equivalent unit over one kilometre )
VES_MOV: Vessel movements (in numbers)
Quarterly data for data sets D1, D2:
D1: Transport by nationality of vessels
D2: Container transport by nationality of vessels
Annual data for data sets A1, A2, A4, A5, B1, C1:
A1: Goods transport by type of goods
A2: Transport of dangerous goods by inland waterways (voluntary)
A4: Goods transport by port of loading and port of unloading (voluntary)
A5: Goods transport by type of cargo (voluntary)
B1: Transport by nationality of vessel and type of vessel
Gesetz über die Statistik der See- und Binnenschifffahrt, des Güterkraftverkehrs, des Luftverkehrs sowie des Schienenverkehrs und des gewerblichen Straßen-Personenverkehrs (Verkehrsstatistikgesetz - VerkStatG).
Gesetz über die Statistik für Bundeszwecke (Bundesstatistikgesetz - BStatG).
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
European:
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
National:
Gesetz über die Statistik der See- und Binnenschifffahrt, des Güterkraftverkehrs, des Luftverkehrs sowie des Schienenverkehrs und des gewerblichen Straßen-Personenverkehrs (Verkehrsstatistikgesetz; VerkStatG).
Pursuant to Section 28 (1) of the German Transport Statistics Act, the Federal Statistical Office and the statistical offices of the federal states may transmit tables with statistical results from the surveys pursuant to Section 1 (1) to (12) of the German Transport Statistics Act to the supreme federal or state authorities for use vis-à-vis the legislative bodies and for planning purposes, but not for the purpose of regulating individual cases, even to the extent that table fields only show one single case. Pursuant to Section 29 (3) of the German Transport Statistics Act, the results of the survey may be published broken down by ports, even if they contain individual data if the name of the undertakings obliged to provide information is not published.
Gesetz über die Statistik für Bundeszwecke (Bundesstatistikgesetz - BStatG).
The individual information collected is generally kept secret in accordance with Section 16 BStatG. Individual data may only be transmitted in exceptional cases expressly regulated by law or if the respondents have consented.
Pursuant to Section 16 (6) BStatG, it is permissible for universities or other institutions with the task of carrying out independent scientific research to be granted the right to transmit individual data if the individual data are anonymised in such a way that they can only be attributed to the respondents or persons concerned with a disproportionate expenditure of time, cost and labour (de facto anonymised individual data), grant access to individual data without name and address (formally anonymised individual data) within specially secured areas of the Federal Statistical Office and the state statistical offices if effective precautions are taken to maintain confidentiality.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
National Level: No regionally more detailed results are published than port results. A confidentiality procedure is therefore not necessary, since the results of the survey may be published according to §29 Abs. 3 VerkStatG by ports, also insofar as they contain individual details, if the name of the companies obliged to provide information is not published.
European: The data collected is not confidential.
8.1. Release calendar
Information on loading and unloading operations in German ports and other transhipment sites is collected on a daily basis. For transit traffic, which is currently recorded on the basis of reports from the Statistical Office of the Netherlands, the data is collected on a monthly basis.
The Federal Statistical Office receives the data on average 81 days after the end of the reference period and publishes the final results on average 86 days after the end of the reference period.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
The results of inland waterways transport statistics are available free of charge to all users.
More detailed user-specific data are available on request.
Inland waterways transport statistics data are made available to all users at the same time.
Data sets D1, D2 are transmitted to Eurostat quarterly and data sets A1, A2, A4, A5, B1, C1 annually. Data are available at the earliest 3 months after the reference period.
For the description of the data sets see 5. Reference Period.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Press releases are issued regularly on full-year results. Additional press releases are issued on special occasions. The press releases can be found on the NSI website.
The Federal Statistical Office provides interested users with so-called standard datasets, which are classified at a detailed thematic and regional level.
These include:
STD IW1: Freight transport in regional breakdown by goods and vessel characteristics.
STD IW2: Goods handling in regional breakdown by goods characteristics.
STD IW3: Freight transport on waterways.
STD IW4: regional breakdown of ship arrivals.
Open Data
As part of the Federal Government's Open Data initiative, a modified version of the IW1 standard dataset is available for free download from the joint statistics portal (German) of the Federal Statistical Office and the Statistical Offices of the Länder. It provides easy access to highly structured results of inland waterways statistics. The data provided in CSV format can be flexibly evaluated and further processed.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
A standard-documentation with Meta information (definitions, comments, methods, quality) on inland waterways transport statistics is available at national level.
A standard-documentation with meta information (definitions, comments, methods, quality) on inland waterways transport statistics is available at national level.
For more information, see 10.6.
11.1. Quality assurance
The system follows as far as possible the European Statistics Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System. In addition, Destatis has introduced up-to-date standard quality reports for all statistics. The reports are based on the ESS definition of quality in statistics and follow the European Standard Quality Report and provide users with information on the underlying concepts, definitions, methods used and the quality of the statistics (meta-information) in a standardised format.
The quality of the data can be considered high. A set of validation rules and quality checks are in place to detect different types of problems. When problems are detected, data providers are contacted to provide explanations and/or to revise the data accordingly. Eurostat provides a data quality report summarising the main findings affecting quality, the solution adopted and the materiality of the differences. Checks on mirroring and consistency over time are also carried out.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
In addition to the Federal Ministry of Digitalisation and Transport and EUROSTAT, the main users of the statistics are associations, companies, shipping companies and operators using inland waterways and inland ports for the transport of goods. Other important user groups are related organisations and associations of other modes of transport. The Federal Ministry of Digitalisation and Transport uses the results in particular for infrastructure planning and traffic control.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Within the framework of an expert committee, users have the opportunity to bring their wishes and requirements to our attention.
12.3. Completeness
All data requested by Regulation 2018/974 is transmitted.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
In general, the reporting parties provide complete and reliable information. Occasionally, corrections and subsequent reports are received after the publication date. Corrections and subsequent reports are immediately entered into the online database GENESIS-Online. The most recent figures are always included. Corrections are also transmitted to Eurostat.
Overall, the accuracy can be rated as good, which is mainly due to the fact that inland navigation statistics are carried out as a total survey and to the extensive checks carried out by the statistical offices of the federal states.
The processing with several plausibility checks as well as the validation checks carried out before the data are transmitted to Eurostat ensure a high accuracy of the data.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
It can be assumed in principle that the loading and unloading operations in the ports and other handling facilities are fully covered. The rate of non-response for the statistical units cannot be determined because the statistics do not have any further information on the population of the statistical units (all loading and unloading operations). Since ports have a great self-interest in registering all activities in their area, especially due to the charges levied, any non-responses are negligible. There may be exceptions if the infrastructure of a port is not needed for cargo and container handling, for example in the case of transhipments between two ships on the open route.
To check the completeness and quality of the individual data, machine plausibility checks are carried out in the statistical offices of the federal states and at the Federal Statistical Office, by means of which obvious inconsistencies are detected and, if necessary, corrected either mechanically or manually.
14.1. Timeliness
In the framework of Regulation (EU) 2018/974, Member States have to transmit their data as soon as possible and not later than five months after the end of the relevant period of observation.
14.2. Punctuality
The deadlines for transmission are usually met.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
At EU level, comparability is achieved through the application of common concepts and validation rules. The harmonised interpretation of the methodology is enhanced by the organisation of regular meetings of the Working Group on Inland Waterways Transport Statistics, where all reporting countries are represented at national level.
15.2. Comparability - over time
With the 2011 reference year the classification of goods was changed to NST-2007. An exact comparison with previous years is not possible due to the coarser structure of the individual departments.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
In addition to the official inland waterways transport statistics, data on inland waterways transport are also collected and evaluated from many inland ports. Differences in the results are due to different user requirements and methods:
The information provided by ports often covers all goods movements on the port site, including rail to lorry and vice versa. In contrast, official inland waterways transport statistics only include data on goods that have moved 'quayside', i.e. have been unloaded from or loaded onto a vessel, or have been transhipped from an inland waterway vessel directly to another vessel.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Internal statistical coherence is given.
In order to reduce the burden on the parties obliged to provide information, port administrations are often appointed as transmitting agencies to collect the required information. This is particularly the case for large inland ports which have the appropriate IT equipment. The task of these transmitting agencies is to transmit the information required for official statistics from the data already available to the respective Land Statistical Office. The transmission takes place with the help of self-developed or commercial software and IDEV. The type and form of transmission is agreed between the individual port and the Land Statistical Office.
17.1. Data revision - policy
There is generally no data revision.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Not apllicable.
18.1. Source data
The information is provided by the parties responsible for providing information to the transmitting agencies or collected directly by them.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
The frequency of data collection is monthly.
Monthly data for the former Federal territory are available for 1947-1990, annual data for the former GDR for 1949-1990, monthly data for post-unification Germany from 1991 to the present.
18.3. Data collection
Carriers, masters, consignors and consignees or their local representatives are obliged to provide information on all loading and unloading operations in German inland ports. Since it is often difficult for the statistical offices of the Länder to reach the parties required to provide information, port administrations are often designated as transmitting agencies for the purpose of carrying out the statistics. These transmitting agencies have the task of collecting the data accumulated in their port and transmitting them to the respective Land statistical office. The data itself is delivered to the transmitting agencies by the parties responsible for providing information by means of so-called "counting cards", whereby an arrival or departure counting card must be filled in according to the loading process. Depending on the technical equipment of the port authorities, electronic recording and transmission of the required information via IDEV is also possible. Transit traffic from a foreign country via German inland waterways to another country, where no loading or unloading takes place in German ports and therefore no counting cards are filled in, is recorded on the basis of reports from the Statistical Office of the Netherlands.
18.4. Data validation
To check the completeness and quality of the individual data, the statistical offices of the Länder and the Federal Statistical Office carry out automatic plausibility checks which identify obvious inconsistencies and correct them either automatically or manually if necessary.
18.5. Data compilation
For national transport, two reports are available for the same movement, since both loading and unloading are reported. They do not always match exactly – due to measurement differences, losses in transit, or destinations changed at a later stage, among others. To avoid double counting, the so-called single-flow method (German: Einstromverfahren) is applied in the consolidated federal results: only the report from the port of unloading is authoritative. The quantity recorded there is attributed to the corresponding port of loading as the dispatched quantity. Therefore, each domestic movement appears in the statistic with a single, unambiguous figure. This method is only applied for national transport.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable.
No comments.
Inland waterways transport statistics provide information on the volume and performance of goods transport on the EU inland waterways network. They are reported on the basis of the "territoriality principle", which means that each country reports the loading, unloading and movement of goods taking place on its national territory, irrespective of the country of origin of the enterprises or the place of first loading and final unloading.
The full mandatory data provision includes:
Annually: goods transport by type of goods, nationality of vessels and type of vessel, as well as container transport by type of goods;
Quarterly: goods and container transport by nationality of vessels.
In addition, Germany provides voluntary data on dangerous goods and port traffic.
In summary, the following inland waterways transport statistics are reported to Eurostat:
Transport of goods (annual and quarterly mandatory data provision)
Transport of dangerous goods (annual voluntary data provision)
Transport between ports (annual voluntary data provision)
1 September 2026
The definitions covering the main concepts used in this domain are included in Article 1 and Annex II to Regulation 425/2007. The main definitions are as follows:
Navigable inland waterway: A watercourse, no part of the sea, which by natural or man-made features is suitable for navigation, primarily by inland waterway vessels. This term covers navigable rivers, lakes, canals and estuaries.
Inland waterway vessel: A floating craft designed for the carriage of goods or public transport of passengers, which navigates predominantly in navigable inland waterways or in waters within, or closely adjacent to sheltered waters or areas where port regulations apply.
Nationality of the vessel: The country in which the vessel is registered.
Inland waterways transport: Any movement of goods using inland waterways vessels, which is undertaken wholly or partly in navigable inland waterways.
National inland waterways transport: Inland waterways transport between two ports of a national territory irrespective of the nationality of the vessel.
International inland waterways transport: Inland waterways transport between two ports located in different national territories.
Transit inland waterways transport: Inland waterways transport through a national territory between two ports both located in another national territory or national territories provided that in the total journey within the national territory there is no trans-shipment.
Inland movement: any movement of goods and/or passengers to and from inland ports connected by water routes which may be made navigable by one or more lock structures.
Inland waterways traffic: Any movement of a vessel on a given navigable inland waterway.
Types of vessels:
Self-propelled barge. Any powered inland waterways freight vessel, other than self-propelled tanker barges.
Barge not self-propelled. Any unpowered inland waterways freight vessel, other than not self-propelled tanker barges. This category includes towed, pushed and pushed-towed barges.
Self-propelled tanker barge. A self-propelled barge intended for the transport of liquids or gases in fixed tanks.
Tanker barge not self-propelled. A barge not self-propelled intended for the transport of liquids or gases in fixed tanks.
Other goods carrying vessel. Any other known or unknown kind of inland waterways freight vessel intended for carrying goods not defined in the previous categories.
Seagoing vessel. A vessel other than those, which navigate predominantly in navigable inland waterways or in waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where port regulations apply.
Containers: A freight container means an article of transport equipment:
of a permanent nature and accordingly strong enough to be suitable for repeated use;
specially designed to facilitate the carriage of goods by one or more modes of transport, without intermediate reloading;
fitted with devices permitting its ready handling, particularly its transfer from one mode of transport to another;
so designed as to be easy to fill and empty;
having a length of 20 feet or more.
The size of containers is reported according to four categories:
20 Foot ISO containers (length of 20 feet and width of 8 feet)
40 Foot ISO containers (length of 40 feet and width of 8 feet)
ISO containers over 20 feet and under 40 feet in length
ISO containers over 40 feet long
Containers smaller than 20 feet are reported under Category 1.
Containers of unknown size are reported under Category 3.
Inland waterway traffic: any movement of an IWT vessel on a given IWT network.When a vessel is being carried on another vehicle, only the movement of the carrying vehicle (active mode) is taken into account.
Inland waterway journey: any movement of an IW vessel from a specified point of origin to a specified point of destination.
The statistical unit is an individual loading or unloading operation of an inland waterway vessel with a deadweight tonnage of at least 50 tonnes in a German inland port or at another transhipment location on an inland waterway. In the case of transit traffic, the statistical unit corresponds to the journey of an inland waterway vessel through the German inland waterways network, provided that no loading or unloading operations take place in Germany.
According to Section 26, sentence 1, number 1 of the Transport Statistics Act (Verkehrsstatistikgesetz; VerkStatG), the reporting units are the carriers, freight operators and vessel masters. For information on the consignor and consignee of the goods, the consignors and consignees or their locally authorised representatives are also included. The statistical unit and the reporting unit are therefore not identical.
The information provided by respondents is generally forwarded to the Statistical Offices of the Länder via transmission offices, in particular port authorities pursuant to Section 3 of the Transport Statistics Act (VerkStatG). The transmission offices are not reporting units within the meaning of this report. Information on transit traffic is taken from reports provided by Statistics Netherlands; therefore, no separate primary data collection from reporting units in Germany is carried out.
Loading and unloading operations, i.e. the loading and unloading of vessels with a deadweight tonnage of at least 50 tonnes, are covered in German inland ports or at other loading and unloading places on an inland waterway, for example in the case of ship-to-ship transfers. Also included are arrivals and departures in what is known as inland-sea traffic. This includes traffic between inland ports in Germany and abroad that crosses the sea border, as well as traffic between inland ports and German coastal ports that does not cross the sea border. All vessels used for the commercial transport of goods are included. In this context, “commercial” means that the transport is carried out with the direct intention of making a profit. Transit traffic is recorded separately.
Vessels used exclusively for towing or as tugboats, or calling at a port solely for protection or safety purposes, are not covered. Also excluded from inland waterways transport statistics are lightering operations on open water to reduce the draught of the vessel being unloaded, as well as traffic of vessels engaged in fishing, hydraulic engineering or dredging, provided that the dredged material is not the subject of trade. The same applies to passenger vessels with or without cargo, ferry traffic, traffic for the supply of vessels, and traffic of vessels between the berths of a port or between ports within the same municipality (local traffic). Also excluded is traffic on the Rhine upstream of Neuburgweier between French ports or between those ports and the Port of Basel. Exceptions to the exclusion of local traffic apply to 41 selected ports.
Federal territory. The results are spatially broken down by federal states, waterway areas, waterway sections, waterways and ports.
Germany (from 1991): The data for Germany refer to the Federal Republic of Germany according to the territorial status since 3 October 1990.
Until 1991, the data refer to the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany according to the territorial status up to 3 October 1990; they include Berlin-West.
Quarterly data for data sets D1, D2:
D1: Transport by nationality of vessels
D2: Container transport by nationality of vessels
Annual data for data sets A1, A2, A4, A5, B1, C1:
A1: Goods transport by type of goods
A2: Transport of dangerous goods by inland waterways (voluntary)
A4: Goods transport by port of loading and port of unloading (voluntary)
A5: Goods transport by type of cargo (voluntary)
B1: Transport by nationality of vessel and type of vessel
In general, the reporting parties provide complete and reliable information. Occasionally, corrections and subsequent reports are received after the publication date. Corrections and subsequent reports are immediately entered into the online database GENESIS-Online. The most recent figures are always included. Corrections are also transmitted to Eurostat.
Overall, the accuracy can be rated as good, which is mainly due to the fact that inland navigation statistics are carried out as a total survey and to the extensive checks carried out by the statistical offices of the federal states.
The processing with several plausibility checks as well as the validation checks carried out before the data are transmitted to Eurostat ensure a high accuracy of the data.
Data is disseminated using the following units of measure:
1000T: Thousands of tonnes
MIO_TKM: Millions of tonnes/km (the transport of one tonne by inland waterways over one kilometre)
TEU: Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (a unit of volume used in maritime transport statistics equivalent to a 20-foot ISO container )
1000 TEU_KM: Thousands of TEUs/km (the transport of one twenty-foot equivalent unit over one kilometre )
VES_MOV: Vessel movements (in numbers)
For national transport, two reports are available for the same movement, since both loading and unloading are reported. They do not always match exactly – due to measurement differences, losses in transit, or destinations changed at a later stage, among others. To avoid double counting, the so-called single-flow method (German: Einstromverfahren) is applied in the consolidated federal results: only the report from the port of unloading is authoritative. The quantity recorded there is attributed to the corresponding port of loading as the dispatched quantity. Therefore, each domestic movement appears in the statistic with a single, unambiguous figure. This method is only applied for national transport.
The information is provided by the parties responsible for providing information to the transmitting agencies or collected directly by them.
Data sets D1, D2 are transmitted to Eurostat quarterly and data sets A1, A2, A4, A5, B1, C1 annually. Data are available at the earliest 3 months after the reference period.
For the description of the data sets see 5. Reference Period.
In the framework of Regulation (EU) 2018/974, Member States have to transmit their data as soon as possible and not later than five months after the end of the relevant period of observation.
At EU level, comparability is achieved through the application of common concepts and validation rules. The harmonised interpretation of the methodology is enhanced by the organisation of regular meetings of the Working Group on Inland Waterways Transport Statistics, where all reporting countries are represented at national level.
With the 2011 reference year the classification of goods was changed to NST-2007. An exact comparison with previous years is not possible due to the coarser structure of the individual departments.
