Road freight transport by vehicle characteristics

Data extracted in September 2024.

Planned article update: 16 October 2025.

Highlights

In 2023, more than three-quarters (83.4%) of EU road freight transport in tonne-kilometres was performed by heavy goods vehicles with a maximum permissible laden weight of over 30 tonnes.

In 2023, close to two-thirds (60.0%) of road freight transport in tonne-kilometres in the EU were performed by goods vehicles aged 5 years or less.

In 2023, road tractors and semi-trailers accounted for more than three-quarters (78.3%) of EU road freight transport measured in tonne-kilometres, while in vehicle-kilometres they accounted for nearly two-thirds (65.6%).

Goods vehicle stock in reporting countries, 2023

This article presents road freight transport in the European Union (EU) with a focus on road freight vehicles. It deals with vehicle stocks in the EU countries and road freight transport broken down by the following vehicle characteristics: maximum permissible laden weight, load capacity, age and axle configuration.

This article and the articles 'Road freight transport statistics', 'Road freight transport by type of goods', 'Road freight transport by journey characteristics' and 'Road freight transport statistics - cabotage' present a complete overview of road freight transport in Europe.

Full article

The EU fleet of goods vehicles

There were over 4.0 million goods vehicles registered in the EU in 2023. This number was 1.8% higher than in 2022 (see Table 1). Between 2019 and 2022, a negative average annual growth rate of 0.3% was recorded.

Among the EU countries, Poland had the largest stock of goods vehicles in 2023, with 18.0% of the EU fleet, while Germany had the second largest fleet, with 14.2%, followed by France and Spain, with 10.2% and 9.5%, respectively.

From 2022 to 2023, there were different trends among the EU countries regarding the stock of goods vehicles. In 19 countries, the stock increased, while in 6 countries it decreased. Lithuania recorded the highest growth rate of goods vehicle stock (8.3%), followed by Ireland and Slovakia (6.9% and 6.6%, respectively).

Several EU countries followed the opposite trend and recorded decreases in the number of goods vehicles between 2022 and 2023. The largest decrease in the number of goods vehicle stock was in Estonia (6.5%); Bulgaria (5.9%) and Portugal (2.4%). For Bulgaria, the decrease observed in 2023 continued the trend seen in previous years.

Between 2019 and 2022 the average annual growth rate of goods vehicle stocks increased in 20 countries, in one country (Belgium) it remained at the same level, while in 5 countries it decreased. Ireland recorded the highest positive average annual growth rate over the period 2019-2022 (8.2%), followed by Lithuania (5.9%) and Croatia (4.5%), while Bulgaria was at the other end with negative average annual growth rate of 10.0%, followed by France (8.6%) and Portugal (3.2%).

Table showing the number of goods vehicle stock registered in the EU, individual EU countries, Switzerland and Norway over the years 2019 to 2023. The percentage average annual growth rate from 2019 to 2022 and the growth rate between 2022 and 2023 are also shown.

Table 1: Goods vehicle stock registered in reporting countries, 2019-2023
(number)
Source: Eurostat (Tables compiled by Eurostat based on data declared by reporting countries; the tables are not available in Eurostat's dissemination database)

Road freight transport by maximum permissible laden weight of vehicle

In 2023, vehicles with a maximum permissible laden weight over 30 tonnes performed 83.4% of EU road freight transport in million tonne-kilometres (tkm). Vehicles with a maximum permissible laden weight under 10 tonnes accounted for merely 0.3% of the total EU transport performance in 2023 (see Table 2). Vehicles with a maximum permissible laden weight from 10.1 to 20.0 tonnes accounted for 10.7% while those ranging from 20.1 to 30.0 tonnes contributed 5.6% to total EU transport.

In 15 EU countries, the highest share of their transport performance was carried by heavy goods vehicles with maximum permissible laden weight of more than 40 tonnes. In 2023, these heavy vehicles performed more than 90% of the total road freight transport in the Netherlands (96.7%), Estonia (95.4%), Croatia (91.6%), Sweden (91.5%) and Luxembourg (90.1%). The largest shares of goods vehicles with maximum permissible laden weight from 30.1 to 40 tonnes were observed in Poland (92.7%), Spain (91.1%) and Portugal (88.1%). Italy (85.4%), Belgium (75.5%) and Cyprus (13.3%) recorded the highest shares of transport performance for vehicles with maximum laden weight from 10.1 to 20 tonnes.

In 2023, Lithuania recorded the highest increase in total tonne-kilometres compared with 2022, by 17.3%, followed by Denmark with 8.2% and Cyprus with 7.8%. At the other end of the scale, Portugal recorded the highest decrease in total tonne-kilometres between 2022 and 2023 of 16.4%, followed by Slovakia with 16.2% and Sweden with 11.5%.

Table 2: Road freight transport by maximum permissible laden weight of vehicle, 2023
(million tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_mplw)

EU road transport in tonne-kilometres performed by lighter vehicles (maximum permissible laden weight 10.1 - 20.0 tonnes) increased by 70.2% in 2022 compared with 2019 (see Figure 1). However, in 2023 the transport performance by these vehicles fell by 35.6%. Transport performance by the heaviest goods vehicles with maximum permissible laden weight more than 40 tonnes decreased by 35.1% in 2022 compared with 2019, whereas in 2023 it increased by 16.3%. When looking at the other three categories (10.0 tonnes or less, 20.1 to 30.0 tonnes and 30.1 to 40.0 tonnes), the category 10.0 tonnes or less decreased in 2022 compared with 2019 (14.3%), while it increased in 2023 compared with 2022 (20.8). The category 20.1 to 30.0 tonnes increased in both 2022 and 2023 compared with 2019, while the category 30.1 to 40.0 tonnes recorded significant increase in 2022 (compared with 2019, 28.8%) and decrease in 2023 (3.4%).

Figure 1: Road freight transport by maximum permissible laden weight of vehicle, EU, 2019, 2022 and 2023
(billion tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_mplw)

Road freight transport by load capacity

In 2023, more than three-quarters (80.5%) of EU road freight transport in terms of million tonne-kilometres were performed by vehicles with a load capacity of 20.6 tonnes or more. Vehicles with a load capacity of 9.5 tonnes or less represented 3.7% of the EU transport performance (see Table 3).

Among the EU countries, Poland (93.6%), Spain (92.9%) and Latvia (89.9%) had the highest shares of transport performed by vehicles with a load capacity between 20.6 and 30.5 tonnes, while Italy, Belgium, and Luxembourg had the smallest shares in the same category with only 0.5%, 0.6% and 1.4%, respectively. Belgium and Italy reported that 85.1% and 77.6%, respectively, of their transport were performed by vehicles with a load capacity between 9.6 and 15.5 tonnes. Luxembourg (88.5%), Sweden (88.4%) and Finland (82.2%) had the highest shares for vehicles with a load capacity of more than 30.5 tonnes.

Table 3: Road freight transport by load capacity, 2023
(million tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_lc)

There was substantial growth in EU transport performance by vehicles with a load capacity between 9.6 and 15.5 tonnes in 2022 (compared with 2019) of 57.2%, while in 2023 the performance decreased by 32.4% (see Figure 2). On the opposite end, transport performance by vehicles with a load capacity between 25.6 and 30.5 tonnes decreased by 25.3% in 2022 (compared with 2019) but increased in 2023 by 26.3%.

For goods vehicles with a load capacity of 9.5 tonnes or less, there was an increase in transport performance in 2022 compared with 2019 of 12.8%, followed by an increase of 3.0% in 2023 compared with 2022. For goods vehicles with capacity over 30.5 tonnes and 20.6 to 25.5 tonnes, the growth recorded in 2022 (compared with 2019) of 11.3% and 10.6%, respectively was followed by a decrease in 2023 (compared with 2022) of 3.5% and 4.5%, respectively. For the remaining category 15.6 to 20.5 tonnes, there were decreases in both 2022 (compared with 2019) of 0.1% and in 2023 (compared with 2022) of 13.1%.

Figure 2: Road freight transport by load capacity, EU, 2019, 2022 and 2023
(billion tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_lc)

Road freight transport by age of vehicle

The goods vehicles aged between 2 and 5 years performed 759.1 billion tonne-kilometres in 2023. These vehicles accounted for 40.9% of the total transport performance, a decrease of 9.3% compared with 2022, and an average annual growth rate of 1.8% between 2019 and 2022 (see Table 4). The goods vehicles aged between 6 and 9 years performed 458.1 billion tonne-kilometres and accounted for nearly a quarter (24.7%) of the total transport performance. Performance in this group increased (compared with 2022) by 2.3% while, during the period 2019-2022, the average annual growth rate of transport performance for these vehicles was at 8.7%.

The youngest goods vehicles (less than 2 years old since their first registration) performed 355.0 billion tonne-kilometres (19.1% of the total tonne-kilometres in the EU) in 2023. The tonne-kilometres performed by these vehicles rose by 2.6% compared with 2022. By contrast, the average annual growth rate of their transport performance was negative during 2019-2022, at 3.1%.

The vehicles between 10 and 14 years accounted for a smaller share of the transport performance (175.1 billion tonne-kilometres, representing 9.4% of the total tonne-kilometres), while the transport performance of the vehicles aged 15 years and over was much smaller (98.8 billion tonne-kilometres, representing 5.3% of the total tonne-kilometres).

Table showing road freight transport by age of vehicle as billion tonne-kilometres in the EU over the years 2019 to 2023 with the percentage average annual growth rate 2019 to 2022 and percentage growth rate between 2022 and 2023.

Table 4: Road freight transport by age of vehicle, EU, 2019-2023
(billion tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_agev)

Compared with 2019, in 2023 there was a decline in road freight transport performed (in tonne-kilometres) by less than 2 years old vehicles (see Figure 3). Their share of the total EU freight transport decreased from 21.0% in 2019 to 18.0% in 2022 (equivalent to 3.0 percentage points (pp)) and increased to 19.1% in 2023 (a decrease of 1.9 pp compared with 2019). Similar trend was recorded by the vehicles between 10 and 14 years, from 12.0% in 2019 to 9.5% in 2022 (2.5 pp), to 9.4% in 2023 (decrease of 2.6 pp compared with 2019). By contrast, transport performed by vehicles between 6 and 9 years increased from 19.2% in 2019 to 23.3% in 2022, and to close to a quarter of the total tonne-kilometres performed in 2023 (24.7%). Between 2019 and 2023, it represented an increase by 5.5 pp. The transport performed by vehicles between 2 and 5 years recorded a decrease by 0.1 pp between 2019 and 2022, followed by a decrease by 2.7 pp between 2022 and 2023. The overall change was 2.8 pp between 2019 and 2023.

Figure 3: Road freight transport by age of vehicle, EU, 2019, 2022 and 2023
(% share in tonne-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_agev)

At EU level, goods vehicles of 5 years or less accounted for 58.3% of the total vehicle-kilometres (vkm) in 2023, while goods vehicles of 10 years or more accounted for only 16.9% (see Figure 4). In 10 EU countries, more than 60% of their total vehicle-kilometres were performed by goods vehicles that were 5 years or less in 2023. The highest shares of vehicle-kilometres performed by vehicles less than 5 years old, were recorded by Luxembourg, with 79.6%, followed by Germany (79.0%), Denmark (75.1%) and France (71.6%). At the other end of the scale, a major part of the vehicle-kilometres was performed by vehicles of 10 years and over, in Ireland (100.0%), Greece (79.6%) and Cyprus (50.0%).

Figure 4: Road freight transport by age of vehicle, 2023
(% share in vehicle-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_agev)

Road freight transport by axle configuration

Concerning road freight transport by axle configuration, road tractors attached to semi-trailers (road tractors and semi-trailers) performed in 2023 more than three-quarters (78.3%) of the total tonne-kilometres in the EU. Correspondingly, lorries and lorries with trailers accounted for 21.7% (see Table 5). At national level, road tractors and semi-trailers performed more than 60% of total transport in 17 countries in 2023. Lorries and lorries with trailers performed the majority of tonne-kilometres in Czechia (92.8%), Sweden (82.8%) and Finland (80.2%).

In terms of the total vehicle-kilometres in the EU, road tractors and semi-trailers performed nearly two-thirds (65.6%), while lorries and lorries with trailers accounted together for more than one-third (34.4%). At national level, road tractors and semi-trailers performed more than 60% of total transport in 12 countries. Lorries and lorries with trailers performed together the majority of vehicle-kilometres in Czechia (94.4%), Sweden (84.2%) and Finland (80.2%). The data presented in this section are available for 22 EU countries (see also the methodological notes).

Table showing road freight transport by axle configuration of lorry, lorry and trailer, road tractor and semi-trailer and total as million tonne-kilometres and million vehicle-kilometres in the EU, individual EU countries, Switzerland and Norway for the year 2023.

Table 5: Road freight transport by axle configuration, 2023
(million tonne-kilometres and million vehicle-kilometres)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_axle)

Source data for tables and graphs

Road freight transport by vehicle characteristics

Context

Data presented in this publication were collected in the framework of Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road (recast). These data are based on sample surveys carried out in the reporting countries, i.e. the EU countries, Norway and Switzerland, and record the road goods transport undertaken by vehicles registered in these countries.

Reporting countries use their own national surveys for the collection of data, based on returns from road hauliers. The results are microdata referring to vehicles and their linked journeys providing detailed information on goods transported. At the European level, common aggregation procedures have been used that might diverge from national practices. Therefore, differences might occur between the figures in this publication and national values.

Country specific notes

Croatia: While Croatia had no obligation to report data prior to their accession to the EU in 2013, it started reporting data from reference year 2008 onwards.

France: A partial redesign of the survey took place in 2020, leading to a break in time series. Following this redesign, the calculation of the weighting factors for the vehicles was impacted. This change in the weighting factors affects the final number of vehicles in the different categories by maximum permissible laden weight and load capacity.

Malta: Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 does not apply to Malta, as long as the number of Maltese registered goods road transport vehicles licensed to engage in international transport does not exceed 400 vehicles.

Finland: National and international surveys have been harmonised and follow a common methodology from the first quarter of 2011 onwards, leading to a break in time series in 2011.

Sweden: A break in series occurred in 2014 following a change in methodology. On the basis of a specific survey, Sweden corrected the European road freight survey results for trucks which were not in use over the surveyed period but still part of the survey sample.

Liechtenstein: Liechtenstein reports only international road freight. Starting with the reference year 2014, Liechtenstein is exempted from reporting road freight data.

Methodological notes

The road freight transport survey (RFTS) data is a collection based on sample surveys carried out in the reporting countries, which have the right to exclude from their surveys different types of vehicles. Such choices are allowed by Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 on the carriage of goods by road, which permits the exclusion from the survey of road vehicles with a load capacity (LC) of less than 3.5 tonnes or with a maximum permissible laden weight (MPLW) below 6 tonnes. In this context, some countries consider goods vehicles with a load capacity less than 3.5 tonnes (e.g. 1 or 2 tonnes) and some others are using the maximum permissible laden weight as a threshold for their survey vehicles (e.g. more than 6 tonnes). For more insight on what types of vehicles each country considers for the RFTS, please consult the manual 'Methodologies used in road freight transport surveys in EU Member States, EFTA and 3 candidate countries — 2023 edition'.

The aforementioned choices have an impact on the number of goods vehicles stock reported by each country and disseminated in Eurostat's database.

EU totals calculated in this publication refer to road freight transport reported by the EU countries, excluding Malta which is not reporting road freight statistics. Certain totals might be different from the sum of their components (e.g. summing up the data by axle configuration for one year will give a slightly different result than the total value). This is due to the use of the 'u' flag (for unreliable data). By using this flag, values behind it are not considered in the detailed data, whereas they are included in the totals.

Road freight transport by axle configuration is an optional variable. Therefore, not all countries report this variable. The EU total in this case is calculated as the sum of available data.

Vehicle-kilometre (vkm): Unit of measurement representing the movement of a road motor vehicle over one kilometre (loaded or empty). Units made up of a road tractor with a semi-trailer or of a lorry with a trailer are counted as one vehicle. The distance taken into account is the distance actually driven. It excludes any distance covered while the goods road vehicle is itself being transported by another means of transport, e.g. by rail or by sea.

Age of vehicle is the length of time after the first registration of the goods road vehicle, irrespective of the registering country. The reporting of vehicle age data by countries follows specific age group classifications, which are defined as follows:

Less than 2 years
Between 2 and 5 years (2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 5 years)
Between 6 and 9 years (6 years, 7 years, 8 years, 9 years)
From 10 to 14 years
15 years or over
Unknown

Vehicles with an age that includes fractions of a year must be assigned to the full-year category e.g., a vehicle with an age of 5 years and 9 months is considered a 5-year-old vehicle.