Data extracted in July 2024.
Planned article update: 12 September 2025.
Highlights
Inland waterway freight transport, EU, 2013-2023
This article presents the main annual and quarterly statistics on inland waterway freight transport in the European Union (EU) in 2023. It includes quarterly and annual data for total transport and container transport, as well as annual data for transport by type of goods, type of transport, type of vessel and type of dangerous goods. For more detailed statistics on inland waterway transport by type of goods, please refer to the Statistics Explained article Inland waterway transport statistics by product category. For more detailed statistics on inland waterway transport of containers, please refer to the Statistics Explained article Inland waterways - statistics on container transport. For more detailed statistics on inland waterway freight transport at regional level, please refer to the Statistics Explained article Inland waterway freight transport at regional level.
Inland waterway freight transport performance decreased by 4.6% in 2023 compared with 2022
Activity in inland waterway transport was volatile during the period 2013-2023. Measured in tonne-kilometres, activity decreased each year over the period 2014-2016. A slight increase was observed in 2017 (+0.5%) followed by a sharp fall in 2018 (-10.9%) and an immediate rebound in 2019 (+6.6%) (Figure 1). In 2020, a decrease (-5.9%) was observed while in 2021 a new rebound was registered with a 3.6% increase compared to 2020. In 2022, a sharp decline was recorded with a drop of 9.8%. In 2023, inland waterway freight transport performance decreased by 4.6% (or 6 million tonne-kilometres), reaching a lowest point since data have been available for the EU (i.e. 2005). A similar trend can be observed for 2023 in terms of tonnes with a drop of 4.0% (or 20 million tonnes) (Figure 5).
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(billion tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_atygo)
At a quarterly level, movement was more erratic and no seasonal pattern can be identified (Figure 2). Some noticeable changes were observed over the period 2013-2023 when comparing with the same quarter of the previous year. In particular, the year 2018 showed sharp declines in the third and fourth quarters of 2018 (-16.6% and -25.3%, respectively). The decline in the fourth quarter was the highest registered during the period from 2015 to 2023. In contrast, the fourth quarter of 2019 showed the highest increase in the period, when compared with the same quarter of the previous year (+18.8%). In 2022, a decline was recorded in all quarters. The highest decline was observed in the third quarter (-25.0%) when freight transport performance in the EU inland waterways was at its lowest since quarterly data have been available for the EU (i.e. the first quarter of 2006). In 2023, decreases were recorded in the first, second and fourth quarters, when compared with the same quarters of the previous year (-10.6%, -8.9% and -3.8%, respectively) while there was an increase in the third quarter (+9.5%).
(billion tonne-kilometres, % change from same quarter in previous year)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_qnave)
The main contributors by far to the EU inland waterway transport (in tonne-kilometres) in 2023 were the Netherlands and Germany. Transport on inland waterways in these 2 countries accounted for almost three quarters (71%) of the EU inland waterway transport (Figure 3). In 2023, the volume of transport (in tonne-kilometres) decreased in 12 out of 16 countries, for which data are available, compared with 2022. The highest increase was recorded in Lithuania (+24.6% or +2 million tonne-kilometres), followed by Finland (+14.0% or +27 million tonne-kilometres), Bulgaria (+12.3% or +0.5 billion tonne-kilometres) and Romania (+11.1% or +1.2 billion tonne-kilometres). However, the large changes in percentage observed for Lithuania and Finland should be considered in relation to a low initial value. The largest decrease compared with 2022 was recorded in Poland (-27.4%, or -11 million tonne-kilometres). Two other countries reported decreases by more than 15%: Croatia (-18.3 %, or -0.1 billion tonne-kilometres) and Luxembourg (-17.5%, or -35 million tonne-kilometres). Three additional countries recorded a drop between 10% and 15%: Hungary (-12.8%, or -0.2 billion tonne-kilometres), Czechia (-10.9%, or -2 million tonne-kilometres), and France (-10.2 %, or -0.7 billion tonne-kilometres). Five more countries recorded falls between 3% and 1%. Sweden registered the lowest decrease, by -0.3% (or -0.5 million tonne-kilometres). In absolute values, the Netherlands registered the highest decrease in 2023 compared with 2022 (-2.9 billion tonne-kilometres, or -6.6%).
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(billion tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_atygo)
When looking at the type of transport at EU level, international transport accounted for more than half of the total transport in 2023 (56.6%), when expressed in tonne-kilometres. National transport accounted for 24.9% and transit transport for 18.5%. For 5 countries, international transport represented the highest share of transport. Romania (71.6%) and Austria (70.0%) had the highest shares of international transport in 2023. In Italy (2022 data), Lithuania, Finland and Sweden, there is only national transport. In Czechia, Poland and France, national transport was predominant (95.3%, 75.4% and 62.9%, respectively). The five remaining countries, Bulgaria, Croatia, Luxembourg, Hungary and Slovakia had higher shares of transit transport, mainly due to their geographical position, with shares higher than 85% in Bulgaria, Croatia, Luxembourg and Slovakia.
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(%, based on tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_atygo)
When looking at the transport of freight in tonnes, the picture is quite similar to the one for tonne-kilometres with some noticeable differences (Figure 5). All countries recorded decreases in 2022 compared with 2021, except in Czechia (+19.3%), Finland (+14.5%), Romania (+12.2%) and Bulgaria (+7.0%). However, the large changes in percentage for Czechia and Finland should be considered in relation to low initial values. It should be noted that while Czechia registered a substantial increase in the transport of goods measured in tonnes, a decrease was observed in the transport of goods measured in tonne-kilometres (-10.9 %). The largest relative drops were registered in Sweden and Lithuania with -48.6% and -46.4%, respectively. However, these large changes in percentage should be considered in relation to low initial values, with absolute values decreasing from 2.5 million tonnes to 1.3 million tonnes in Sweden and from 303 thousand tonnes to 162 thousand tonnes in Lithuania. Other countries with substantial falls were Poland (-36.1%), Croatia (-18.6%), Luxembourg (-16.0%), Hungary (-12.2%), France (-11.0%) and Slovakia (-9.8%). It should be noted that while Lithuania registered a substantial decrease in the transport of goods measured in tonnes, an increase was observed in the transport of goods measured in tonne-kilometres (+24.6 ).
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(million tonnes)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_atygo)
Looking at the volume of freight transported per inhabitant, at EU level, 1.0 tonnes were transported on inland waterways in 2023 (Figure 6). The Netherlands had the highest volume with 18.4 tonnes per inhabitant, followed by Belgium (13.6 tonnes per inhabitant) and Luxembourg (7.2 tonnes per inhabitant). All other countries registered less than 2.5 tonnes per inhabitant in 2023. For six EU Member States, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, Czechia, Poland and Italy (2022 data) less than 150 kilograms per inhabitant were transported.
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(tonnes per inhabitant)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_atygo) and (demo_gind)
‘Metal ores’ is the largest goods category transported
At EU level, the main types of goods (according to NST_2007 classification) transported in 2023 were ‘metal ores’, ‘coke and refined petroleum products’ and ‘chemicals, rubber and plastic, nuclear fuel’. These top three categories accounted for more than half (52.5%) of all goods transport on EU inland waterways (Figure 7). Compared with 2022, the largest changes in the share of the different goods types in total transport performance were recorded for ‘coal and crude petroleum’ (decrease by 2.3 percentage points) and ‘products of agriculture’ (increase by 1.3 percentage points).
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(%, based on tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_atygo)
Transport performance (in tonne-kilometres) linked to the types of goods presented recorded an increase in 2023 compared with 2021 only for ‘coke and refined petroleum products’ (+3.2%) and ‘products of agriculture’ (+6.5%) (Figure 8). In contrast, the largest transport performance decrease was observed for ‘coal and crude petroleum’ (-27.6%), followed by ‘basic metals; fabricated metal products’ (-9.4%).
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(%, based on tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_atygo)
Self-propelled barges accounted for almost half of the total EU transport performance in 2023
In 2023, the ‘self-propelled barge’ was the predominant type of vessel used for goods transport on EU inland waterways, carrying almost half (49.7%) of the total EU transport performance, based on tonne-kilometres (Figure 9). The volume of goods transported with self-propelled barges decreased by 8.4% compared with 2022. The second and third most-used types of vessel were ‘self-propelled tanker barge’ (24.3%), which increased by 2.5% compared with 2022, and ‘barge not self-propelled’ (22.4%), which decreased by 3.2% compared with 2021. The transport performance with ‘other goods carrying vessel’ slightly increased by 0.8%. In contrast, transport performance with ‘tanker barge not self-propelled’ substantially decreased by 13.6%. Transport performance with ‘seagoing vessel’ registered a slight decrease (-0.8%).
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(billion tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_atyve)
‘Self-propelled barge’ and ‘barge not self-propelled’ accounted for the largest volumes transported for all countries with the exception of Slovakia and Sweden (Figure 10). Together with ‘self-propelled tanker barges’, they carried out between 94% and 100% of the entire transport in 12 out of 15 countries for which data are available. An exception was Sweden, which reported only ‘seagoing vessels’. The other exceptions were Finland, which reported 37% of ‘seagoing vessels’, and Slovakia, which recorded 80% of ‘other goods carrying vessels’.
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(%, based on tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_atyve)
In 2023, Dutch and German vessels were in the top three nationalities for 5 countries out of 15
When looking at the top three freight transport vessel nationalities in each Member State, in 2023, Dutch and German vessels were in the top three for 5 countries out of 15 (Table 1). Dutch vessels were at the first place in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. German vessels were at the first place in Slovakia and second in Germany, Hungary and Austria. Belgium, Austria and Slovakia were also well represented in the top three vessel nationalities, with five appearances. Romania and France appeared three times in the ranking. In seven countries, the top nationality of vessels performing freight transport was the home nationality: Czechia, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Finland and Sweden. In Czechia, Poland and Finland, all vessels were registered in their own country. On the contrary, Croatia, Luxembourg and Hungary did not have vessels registered in their own country in the top three places. All countries had a cumulated share of the top three vessel nationalities of 50% or higher, seven countries had a cumulated share of the top three nationalities higher than 88% and five countries had a cumulated share of the top three nationalities higher than 91%.
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(%, based on tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_anave)
Container transport performance in 2023 was at the lowest since 2009
The inland waterway transport of freight containers in the EU, measured in twenty-foot equivalent unit-kilometre (TEU-kilometres), increased by 8.5% between 2013 and 2014 (Figure 11), before remaining relatively stable in 2015 and 2016 (-0.3% each year). An increase was observed in 2017, reaching a new peak in container transport. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, three sharp declines were recorded (-8.6%, -3.1% and -4.9% compared with the previous year, respectively). In 2021, a rebound was observed with a 4.2% increase compared to 2020. In 2022, a substantial downturn was observed, by 8.2%. The downwards trend continued in 2023, with a 6.6% decrease leading to the lowest point (1.3 billion TEU-kilometres) in container transport performance since 2009 (1.1 billion TEU-kilometres).
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(million TEU-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_actygo)
At a quarterly level, a global increase in trend is visible from 2015 to mid-2018 (Figure 12). Strong increases were recorded in 2017 leading to a new peak in the third quarter of 2017 (453 million TEU-kilometres). In 2018, considerable decreases were observed in the third and fourth quarters of 2018 compared with the same quarters of 2017 (-12.2% and -30.4%, respectively). This led to a new low point in the fourth quarter of 2018 (304 million TEU-kilometres). The year 2019 also started with sharp declines but ended with a strong increase in the fourth quarter (+18.7%). In 2021, increases were observed in the two first quarters compared with the same quarters of 2020 (+3.5% and +19.6%, respectively), whereas, there were declines in the third and fourth quarters 2021. In 2022, there were substantial decreases in all quarters, even if more moderate in the second quarter (-3.0%): -6.8% in the first quarter, -12.6% in the third quarter and -10.9% in the fourth quarter. In 2023, decreases were recorded in the first, second and fourth quarters when comparing with the same quarters of the previous year (-2.4%, -12.7% and -11.4%, respectively) while there was a slight increase in the third quarter (+0.5%).
(million TEU-kilometres, % change from same quarter in previous year)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_qcnave)
In 2023, the largest contribution to transport of containers (in TEU-kilometres) came from the Netherlands, followed by Germany (Figure 13). Together, the two countries accounted for 87% of all the EU container transport. Out of the 11 countries reporting container transport, 5 recorded growth in 2023 compared with 2022. The highest increase was recorded in Austria (+100.3 %), followed by Sweden (+69.7 %). However, these large changes in percentage should be considered in relation to the low initial values. Three countries reported no transport of containers in 2013, 2022 and 2023: Czechia, Poland and Finland. In addition, Bulgaria reported no transport of containers in 2023 and Slovakia reported none in both 2022 and 2023. Besides Bulgaria, the highest decrease in container transport performance in 2022 was recorded by Croatia (-97.8%), followed by Hungary (-38.6%), Belgium (-22.1%) and the Netherlands (-12.7 %).
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(million TEU-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_actygo)
When looking at the loading status of containers (Figure 14), EU transport of loaded containers in 2023 accounted for more than two-thirds of total EU container transport (69.3%). Sweden was the country with the highest share of transport of loaded containers with 85.0%, followed by France (75.3%), Germany (69.6%), Romania (68.6 %), Belgium and the Netherlands (both 68.3 %). Croatia and Austria recorded only transport of empty containers in 2023. The two remaining countries transported more empty than loaded containers: Hungary (94.8% of empty containers, and Luxembourg (85.4%).
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(%, based on TEU-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_actygo)
‘Flammable liquids’ is the most transported dangerous goods category in EU inland waterways
The transport of dangerous goods is a voluntary data collection. In 2023, data on the transport of dangerous goods was reported by 8 out of 17 countries (Table 2). While it is still difficult to identify the types of dangerous goods transported at EU level due to lack of data for all EU countries, it can be observed that ‘flammable liquids’ was the main category in all the countries reporting such data. Overall, 'flammable liquids' accounted for 50% of the total tonnage of transported dangerous goods. Czechia reported no transport of dangerous goods in 2023.
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(thousand tonnes)
Source: Eurostat - (iww_go_adago)
Source data for tables and graphs
Data sources
All figures presented in this article have been extracted from the Eurostat online inland waterways transport database. The related datasets are collected according to Regulation (EU) No 2018/974 of the European Parliament and of the Council on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways. Regulation (EU) No 2018/974 consolidated the initial Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways and all its implementing and amending legal acts: Commission Regulation (EC) No 425/2007 (implementing regulation), Commission Regulation (EC) No 1304/2007 (amending regulation) and Regulation (EU) No 2016/1954 (amending regulation).
Regulation (EU) 2018/974 states that data must be supplied by all Member States for which the total volume of goods transported annually by inland waterways exceeds 1 million tonnes. Currently, 17 Member States provide data on mandatory or voluntary basis: Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Czechia (CZ), Germany (DE), France (FR), Croatia (HR), Italy (IT), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Romania (RO), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI) and Sweden (SE). The legal act requires only the provision of a reduced annual dataset for countries exceeding the 1-million-tonne threshold but where no international or transit traffic exists.
Definitions
National inland waterway transport: Inland waterway transport between two ports of a national territory irrespective of the nationality of vessel.
International inland waterway transport: Inland waterway transport between two ports located in different national territories.
Transit inland waterway transport: Inland waterway 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 transshipment.
Calculation of EU aggregates: In Figures 5 and 6, the EU international and total goods transport in tonnes is calculated excluding double counting. In order to achieve that, the EU total international transport is calculated by adding the international unloadings declared by the EU countries plus the international loading for which the unloading country is not in the EU. Then, the EU total transport is calculated by adding the national transport and the total international transport.
For transit transport measured in tonnes, an EU aggregate equal to the sum of the country figures is not valid because volumes of freight transported are reported by all transit countries through which the transport takes place before reaching the unloading destination. Therefore, the same volume may be reported two, three, or more times without the possibility to eliminate multiple counting. At the same time, figures for transit transport are included in the EU national or international transport as they are reported not only by the transit countries but also by the loading and unloading countries. So, for the EU total volume of freight, it is enough to sum the total national and international figures.
Country specific notes
Belgium: A break in time series can be observed in 2018 due to an improvement of the data collection system.
Bulgaria: Transit data supplied include Romanian national IWW transport data equivalent to Bulgarian transit transport.
Croatia: Quarterly transit transport is not available.
Italy: No data available for 2023. Data are delivered on a voluntary basis. Only a simplified annual dataset is provided.
Lithuania: Data are delivered on a voluntary basis. Only a simplified annual dataset is provided.
Hungary: Due to a methodological change, transit data are underestimated for the third quarter 2013 and are not comparable with the other quarters.
Romania: Transit data supplied include Bulgarian national IWW transport data equivalent to Romanian transit transport.
Finland: No data available for 2017 and 2018. Data are delivered on a voluntary basis. Only a simplified annual dataset was provided until 2016.
Sweden: Data were delivered on a voluntary basis until 2021. Only a simplified annual dataset was provided until 2021.
Breakdown by group of goods The NST 2007 classification is available on RAMON.
Symbols
- ":" not available
- "-" not applicable
- "0" real zero
Context
The content of this statistical article is based on data collected within the framework of Regulation (EU) No 2018/974 of the European Parliament and of the Council on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways.
Explore further
Other articles
Database
- Transport, see datasets under the following categories:
- Inland waterways transport (iww)
- Inland waterways transport infrastructure (iww_if)
- Inland waterways transport equipment (iww_eq)
- Inland waterways transport - Enterprises, economic performances and employment (iww_ec)
- Inland waterways transport measurement - goods (iww_go)
- Inland waterways - accidents (iww_ac)
Thematic section
Selected datasets
- Transport, see table under 'Inland waterways transport':
- Inland waterways transport (t_iww)
- Goods transport by inland waterways (ttr00007)
Methodology
Legislation
- Regulation (EU) No 2018/974 of the European Parliament and of the Council on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways
- Summaries of EU legislation: EU statistics of goods transport by inland waterways
- Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 425/2007 (implementing regulation)
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 1304/2007 (amending regulation)
- Regulation (EU) No 2016/1954 (amending regulation)