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Archive:The EU in the world - transport

Revision as of 12:41, 22 September 2015 by Verdodo (talk | contribs)
Data extracted in March 2015. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database. Planned article update: May 2016.
Number of passenger cars relative to population, 2013 (per 1 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (for more information see figure 3 below)
The infographic shows EU‑28 as well as the two G20 members with the highest values and the two with the lowest values. Note that the size of the symbols does not show a precise representation of the underlying data values, but illustrates the highest and lowest values.
Figure 1: Rail passenger transport, 2007 and 2012 (1)
(passenger-km per inhabitant)
Source: Eurostat (rail_pa_total) and (demo_gind) and the World Bank (World Development Indicators and Health Nutrition and Population Statistics)
Figure 2: Rail freight transport, 2007 and 2012 (1)
(tonne-km per inhabitant)
Source: Eurostat (rail_go_typeall) and (demo_gind) and the World Bank (World Development Indicators and Health Nutrition and Population Statistics)
Table 1: Maritime fleet and ports, 2004, 2012 and 2014
Source: Eurostat (mar_mg_aa_pwhd), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Maritime transport indicators), the American association of port authorities (World port rankings) and port authority data
Table 2: Maritime freight transport handled, 2004–13
Source: Eurostat (mar_go_aa) and (demo_gind) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTADstat and Review of maritime transport)
Figure 3: Number of passenger cars relative to population, 2008 and 2013 (1)
(per 1 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (tsdpc340) and (demo_gind), the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and the World Bank (Health Nutrition and Population Statistics)
Figure 4: Road freight transport, 2003 and 2013 (1)
(tonne-km per inhabitant)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_tott) and (demo_gind), OECD (International transport forum) and the World Bank (Health Nutrition and Population Statistics)
Figure 5: Number of air passengers carried, 2008 and 2013
(per 1 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoc) and (demo_gind) and the World Bank (World Development Indicators and Health Nutrition and Population Statistics)
Table 3: Largest airports for passengers, 2013
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoa), Airports Council International (ACI), national civil aviation authorities and information from websites of individual airports

This article is part of a set of statistical articles based on Eurostat’s publication The EU in the world 2015.

The article focuses on transport statistics in the European Union (EU) and in the 15 non-EU members of the Group of Twenty (G20). It provides information on freight and passenger transport, as well as on the stock of passenger cars and gives an insight of the EU’s transport sector in comparison with the major economies in the rest of the world, such as its counterparts in the so-called Triad — Japan and the United States — and the BRICS composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Main statistical findings

Rail transport

Concerning the use of rail transport (see Figures 1 and 2), the G20 members can be split into several groups depending on the extent to which this mode is used for passenger and/or freight transport. Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey and to a lesser extent Argentina generally had a relatively low use of rail transport. In the United States, Mexico, Canada, Australia and South Africa, rail transport was focused mainly on freight transport, while passenger transport was dominant in Japan, South Korea and India. A relatively high use of rail transport for both freight and passengers was observed in Russia, China and the EU-28.

Comparing 2007 with 2012, a particularly large percentage increase in passenger rail services was recorded in Mexico (although the overall level of passenger rail services remained low), with smaller but nevertheless large increases also recorded in Indonesia (between 2008 and 2012), India, South Africa (between 2007 and 2010) and China. Estimates for the EU-28 show a 6 % increase in rail passenger transport per inhabitant.

Rail freight transport increased strongly in Indonesia, India and China between 2007 and 2012

Relative to the size of the population, rail freight transport in 2012 was smaller than it had been in 2007 in most G20 members, notably in the United States and Mexico where it decreased by 14 %; estimates for the EU-28 show an 11 % fall in rail freight transport per inhabitant between 2007 and 2012. By contrast, rail freight transport increased by 55 % in Indonesia, by 22 % in India and by 11 % in China.

Maritime transport

The world’s maritime fleet (see Table 1) increased from 864 million deadweight tonnes (DWT) in 2004 to 1.69 billion DWT in 2014, equivalent to average growth of 7.0 % per year. Deadweight tonnage is the weight measure of a vessel’s carrying capacity and includes cargo, fuel and stores. Between 2004 and 2014 the maritime fleets of South Africa, Brazil, Russia, Australia, Argentina and Saudi Arabia contracted, while the other G20 members recorded an expansion, notably in Indonesia, China, South Korea, the EU-28, Mexico and India. The EU-28’s maritime fleet grew by 4.1 % per year during this 10-year period and remained the largest among the G20 members in 2014 with 18.5 % of the world total. It should be noted that there are several smaller countries outside of the G20 that accounted for a large share of the world maritime fleet in 2014, notably Panama (21.1 %), Liberia (12.1 %) and the Marshall Islands (9.0 %) — all associated with flags of convenience.

In 2012, the world’s largest freight port in terms of the quantity of goods handled was Shanghai in China, while the largest in the EU-28 was Rotterdam in the Netherlands. For maritime freight, goods handled covers goods loaded and unloaded, in other words goods placed on a merchant ship for transport by sea or goods taken off a merchant ship.

Just under one fifth of the goods loaded and unloaded worldwide in 2013 were handled in EU-28 ports

The EU plays a leading role in international maritime freight transport and this can be seen from Table 2. Just under one fifth (19.5 %) of the goods loaded and unloaded worldwide in 2013 were handled in EU-28 ports. The weight of maritime freight coming into the EU-28 was around 1.5 times the weight of outward freight, reflecting in part the different types of goods entering and leaving the EU-28 by sea.

Road transport

More than 600 passenger cars for every 1 000 inhabitants in Japan, Canada, Australia and the United States

Among the G20 members, reliance on cars for passenger transport was highest in 2013 in the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan, all of which had more than 600 passenger cars for every 1 000 inhabitants; the lowest ratios were recorded in India, Indonesia and China, all below 100 cars for every 1 000 inhabitants. Passenger cars are road motor vehicles, other than mopeds or motor cycles, intended for the carriage of passengers and designed to seat no more than nine persons (including the driver). A general upward trend was observed in all G20 members between 2008 and 2013, except for the United States where the ratio fell by 32 passenger cars per 1 000 persons (-3.9 %) over the five-year period under consideration. In percentage terms, the fastest growth in the ratio of passenger cars to population was recorded in China, as the ratio more than doubled. The number of passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants also increased strongly in India, Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Brazil (see Figure 3).

Relative to the size of its population, the quantity in tonne-kilometres of road freight transport was particularly high in the United States and Australia. A tonne-kilometre (t-km or tonne-km) is a unit of measure of freight transport which represents the transport of one tonne of goods (including packaging and tare weights of intermodal transport units) by a given transport mode over a distance of one kilometre. The very high figure in the United States and Australia reflects not only an extensive use of road freight transport as a mode of freight transport, but also the large distances involved in transporting goods around a large land area. Comparing 2003 with 2013, the most notable development was the increase in the amount of Chinese road freight: this figure increased eight-fold (see Figure 4), equivalent to an annual average growth of 23.1 %. India also reported strong growth, with road freight (relative to population size) doubling during this period. Japan was the only G20 member (for which data are available) reporting a fall for this indicator.

Air transport

Worldwide, the number of air passengers carried in 2013 was around 3.0 billion, an increase of 4.5 % compared with 2012. In the EU-28, air passenger numbers in 2013 reached 842.2 million, an increase of 1.7 % compared with 2012, and equivalent to 27.9 % of the world total. The United States had 743.1 million passengers (24.6 % of the world total) and China had 352.8 million (11.7 %). Several G20 members recorded a fall in their respective number of air passengers in 2008 and/or 2009, at the peak of the financial and economic crisis. By 2011, air passenger numbers had returned above their pre-crisis 2007 peaks in all G20 members except for the United States and by 2013 the number of air passengers in the United States was still slightly below the pre-crisis high of 2007. The situation in Japan was more complicated as the rebound in passenger numbers in 2010 was short-lived as numbers fell again in 2011 in the wake of the earthquake and Tsunami off the coast of Tōhoku. Although subsequent growth in 2012 and 2013 brought passenger numbers in Japan once more above their pre-crisis peak, they remained 3.4 % below their 2010 high point.

Between 2008 and 2013, the number of passengers relative to population size more than doubled in Turkey and Indonesia

Relative to the size of the population, the number of air passengers in 2013 was highest among the G20 members in Australia, ahead of the United States and Canada, followed by the EU-28, all with more passengers carried than the overall size of their populations (see Figure 5). By contrast, India recorded by far the lowest number of air passengers relative to its population size. Between 2008 and 2013, the number of passengers relative to population size grew (in percentage terms) most strongly in Turkey and Indonesia where it more than doubled, while it also grew more than 50 % in Mexico, China, Russia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Argentina. The weakest growth was reported for the United States (1.9 %) and the EU-28 (4.4 %).

In terms of passenger numbers, the busiest airport in the world was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta

In terms of passenger numbers, the busiest airport in the world in 2013 was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta in the United States, with 94.4 million passengers, followed by Beijing Capital airport in China with 83.7 million and London Heathrow in the United Kingdom with 72.4 million, making Heathrow the busiest passenger airport in the EU-28.

Data sources and availability

The statistical data in this article were extracted during March 2015.

The indicators are often compiled according to international — sometimes global — standards. Although most data are based on international concepts and definitions there may be certain discrepancies in the methods used to compile the data.

Data concerning ports have been extracted from the World port rankings of the American Association of Port Authorities supplemented by information from individual port authorities.

Data concerning airports have been compiled from the world annual traffic report of the Airports council international (ACI) supplemented by information available from individual airports, regional or national civil aviation authorities.

Data concerning the number of passenger cars has been extracted from the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers.

EU data

Most of the indicators presented for the EU have been drawn from Eurobase, Eurostat’s online database. Eurobase is updated regularly, so there may be differences between data appearing in this article and data that is subsequently downloaded.

G20 members from the rest of the world

For the 15 non-EU G20 members, most of the data presented have been extracted from a range of international sources, namely the OECD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the World Bank. For some of the indicators shown a range of international statistical sources are available, each with their own policies and practices concerning data management (for example, concerning data validation, correction of errors, estimation of missing data, and frequency of updating). In general, attempts have been made to use only one source for each indicator in order to provide a comparable analysis between the members.

Context

An efficient and well-functioning passenger and freight transport system is often viewed as being vital for business and individuals. Some of the key issues related to transport are its environmental impact, efficiency and safety. This article presents transport statistics on the quantity of freight and number of passengers that are moved, as well as providing some information on the maritime fleet, the stock of passenger cars, and the largest ports and airports. The level of transport, in particular international transport, can be related to a wide variety of issues, including trade liberalisation, globalisation, higher motorisation rates, and tourism.

See also

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Road transport (t_road)
Motorisation rate (tsdpc340)

Database

Railway transport (rail)
Railway transport measurement - passengers (rail_pa)
Railway transport - Total annual passenger transport (1 000 pass., million pkm) (rail_pa_total)
Railway transport measurement - Goods (detailed data based on Directive 80/1177/EC or Regulation (EC) 91/2003) (rail_go)
Railway transport - Goods transported, by type of transport (1 000 t, million tkm) (rail_go_typeall)
Road transport (road)
Road freight transport measurement (road_go)
Total road freight transport (road_go_tot)
Summary of annual road freight transport by type of operation and type of transport (1 000 t, Mio Tkm, Mio Veh-km) (road_go_ta_tott)
Maritime transport (mar)
Maritime transport - main annual results (mar_m)
Top 20 ports - Gross weight of goods handled in each port, by direction (mar_mg_aa_pwhd)
Maritime transport - goods (mar_go)
Maritime transport - Goods (gross weight) - Annual data - All ports - by direction (mar_go_aa)
Air transport (avia)
Air transport measurement - passengers (avia_pa)
Overview of the air passenger transport by country and airports (avia_pao)
Air passenger transport by reporting country (avia_paoc)
Air passenger transport by main airports in each reporting country (avia_paoa)
Population change – Demographic balance and crude rates at national level (demo_gind)

Dedicated section

Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)

Excel.jpg Transport: tables and figures

External links

  • American association of port authorities
  • United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
  • World Bank
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