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Archive:The EU in the world - transport

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Data from June - July 2012. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

This article is part of a set of statistical articles based on Eurostat publication The EU in the world 2013.

The article focuses on the transport statistics in the European Union (EU) and in the 15 non-EU countries from the Group of Twenty (G20). It provides information on the weight of freight and number of passengers that are moved, as well as on the stock of passenger cars and gives an insight into the European economy in comparison with the major economies in the rest of the world, especially with the EU's counterparts in the so-called Triad, the US and Japan, and with the BRIC countries Brazil, Russia, India and China (or BRICS if South-Africa is also included).

Figure 1: Rail passenger transport, 2010 (1) (passenger-km per inhabitant)
Source: Eurostat (rail_pa_total) and the World Bank (World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance)
Table 1: Rail transport indicators, 2005 and 2010 (1)
Source: Eurostat (rail_pa_total) and (rail_go_typeall) and the World Bank (World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance)
Table 2: Maritime fleet and ports, 2002, 2010 and 2012
Source: Eurostat (mar_mg_aa_pwhd), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Maritime transport indicators) and the American association of port authorities (World port rankings)
Table 3: Maritime freight transport handled, 2006 to 2010
Source: Eurostat (mar_go_aa), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Review of maritime transport, 2011)
Figure 2: Number of passenger cars relative to population, 2009 (1) (number per 1000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (tsdpc340), and the World Bank (World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance)
Table 4: Road transport indicators, 2004 and 2009
Source: Eurostat (tsdpc340) and (road_go_ta_tott), and the World Bank(World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance)
Figure 3: Road freight transport, 2009 (1) (tonne-km per inhabitant)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_tott), and the World Bank (World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance)
Table 5: Number of air passengers carried, 2007 to 2010 (million)
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoc), and the World Bank (World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance)
Figure 4: Number of air passengers carried, 2010 (per 1000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoc), and the World Bank (World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance)
Table 6: Largest airports for passengers, 2010
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoa), national civil aviation authorities and information from websites of individual airports

Main statistical findings

Rail transport

Rail freight transport in 2010 lower than in 2005 in the EU‑27 and several other G20 members

Concerning the use of rail transport (see Figure 1 and Table 1), 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 and to a lesser extent Turkey had a relatively low use of rail transport in general. In Australia, Canada and the United States, as well as in Mexico to a lesser extent, rail transport was focused mainly on freight transport while passenger transport was dominant in India, Japan and South Korea. A relatively high use of rail transport for both freight and passengers was observed in China, Russia, South Africa and the EU‑27.

Comparing 2005 with 2010, large percentage increases in passenger rail services were recorded in Mexico, China and India. Rail freight transport in 2010 was lower than it had been in 2005 in the EU‑27 and several other G20 members, reflecting the impact of the financial and economic crisis, while in India and Saudi Arabia its was relatively higher.

Maritime transport

Over one fifth of the goods loaded and unloaded worldwide in 2010 were handled in EU‑27 ports

The world’s maritime fleet (see Table 2) increased from 822 million DWT in 2002 to 1 534 million DWT in 2012, equivalent to average growth of 6.4 % per year. During this period the maritime fleets of South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Australia contracted while most other G20 members recorded an expansion, notably in Canada, Argentina, China and South Korea. The EU‑27’s maritime fleet grew by 4.5 % per year during this ten-year period and remained the largest among the G20 members in 2012. It should be noted that there are several countries outside of the G20 that accounted for a large share of the world maritime fleet in 2012, notably Panama (21.4 %), Liberia (12.4 %) and the Marshall Islands (8.0 %) – all associated with flags of convenience.

The EU plays an important part in international maritime freight transport and this can be seen from Table 3. Just over one fifth of the goods loaded and unloaded worldwide in 2010 were handled in EU‑27 ports. The weight of maritime freight coming into the EU‑27 was around 1.6 times the weight of outward freight, reflecting in part the different types of goods entering and leaving the EU‑27 by sea.

Road transport

More than 400 cars for every 1 000 inhabitants in 2009 in Australia, the EU‑27, Japan, the United States and Canada

Among the G20 members, reliance on cars for passenger transport was highest in 2009 in Australia, the EU‑27, Japan, the United States and Canada – all of which had more than 400 cars for every 1 000 inhabitants; the lowest ratios were recorded in Indonesia, China and India.

Worldwide, the ratio of passenger cars to population increased from 110 cars per 1 000 inhabitants in 2004 to 125 per 1 000 inhabitants in 2009. This general upward trend was observed in all G20 members except for Canada and the United States where the ratio fell by 28 and by 27 passenger cars per 1 000 persons (-6.2 % and -5.8 % respectively) 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 and India; ratios for both of these countries more than doubled, reflecting, in part, their low rates in 2004. The number of passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants increased between 2004 and 2009 by 65 passenger cars in Russia; the next largest absolute increases were recorded in Mexico (an extra 60 passenger cars per 1 000 persons), South Korea (46) and Brazil (42).

The amount of road freight transport was particularly high in Australia relative to the size of its population. It should be noted that the road freight transport indicators presented here are based on the combination of the weight (in tonnes) and the distance (in kilometres) that is transported: the very high figure in Australia therefore reflects not only an extensive use of road freight transport, but also the large distances involved in transporting goods around a large and sparsely populated land area. Road freight transport was notably less common in South Korea than in the other G20 members for which data are available. Comparing 2004 with 2009, the most notable development was the increase in the amount of Chinese road freight: this figure almost quintupled (see Table 4), increasing at an annual average rate of 36.5 %.

The data available in Tables 1 and 4 allow a comparison of the relative importance of road and rail freight transport among several G20 members. The quantity of freight (tonnekilometres) transported by road in Japan and Turkey was approximately 16 times as high as that transported by rail; in the EU‑27 the level of road freight transport was about 4.5 times as high as rail freight transport, while in Russia and Canada the volume of rail freight transport exceeded that for road freight.

Air transport

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

Worldwide, the number of air passengers carried in 2010 was around 2.6 billion, an increase of 14.3 % compared with 2009. In the EU‑27 air passenger numbers in 2010 reached 777 million, an increase of 3.4 % compared with 2009, and equivalent to 29.9 % of the world total. The United States had 707 million passengers (27.3 % of the world total) and China 268 million (10.3 %). Several G20 members recorded a fall in their respective number of air passengers in 2008 and/or 2009, notably Mexico, Argentina and Japan – however, all of these, except Mexico, rebounded in 2010. Despite growth in 2010, the number of air passengers carried in Japan, the United States and the EU‑27 in 2010 remained below its 2007 level. By contrast, the number of air passengers carried in Turkey more than doubled between 2007 and 2010.

Relative to the size of the population, the number of air passengers was highest in the United States, just ahead of Australia, Canada and the EU‑27, all with more passengers carried than the overall size of their population (see Figure 4). By contrast, China, Indonesia, Mexico and India recorded the lowest number of air passengers relative to their overall population size.

In terms of passenger numbers, the busiest airport in the world was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta in the United States, with 88.0 million passengers, followed by Beijing airport in China with 73.9 million and Chicago O’Hare international airport in the United States with 67.0 million. London Heathrow in the United Kingdom was the busiest airport in the EU‑27 with 65.7 million passengers, making it the fourth largest in the world.

Data sources and availability

The statistical data were mainly extracted during June and July 2012.

For transport statistics:

  • data concerning ports have been extracted from the World port rankings of the American Association of Port Authorities;
  • data concerning airports have been compiled from information available from individual airports, regional or national civil aviation authorities.

The indicators are often compiled according to international – sometimes global – standards, for example, UN standards for national accounts and the IMF’s standards for balance of payments statistics. Although most data are based on international concepts and definitions there may be certain discrepancies in the methods used to compile the data.

EU‑27 and euro area data

Almost all of the indicators presented for the EU‑27 and EA-17 aggregates have been drawn from Eurobase, Eurostat’s online database. Eurobase is updated regularly, so there may be differences between data appearing in this publication and data that is subsequently downloaded. In exceptional cases some indicators for the EU have been extracted from international sources, for example, when values are expressed in purchasing power parities. Otherwise, European Commission sources have been used.

G20 countries from the rest of the world

For the 15 G20 countries that are not members of the EU, the data presented have generally been extracted from a range of international sources listed in the Introduction. In a few cases the data available from these international sources have been supplemented by data for individual countries from national statistics authorities. For some of the indicators 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 countries.

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. The transport statistics presented in this article on the weight of freight and number of passengers that are moved, as well as providing some information on the stock of passenger cars. 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)

Dedicated section


Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)

External links

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