EU Inland Waterway Freight Falls 3% to 118 Billion Tonne-Kilometres in 2025
Updated
Updated · European Commission · Jul 29
EU Inland Waterway Freight Falls 3% to 118 Billion Tonne-Kilometres in 2025
3 articles · Updated · European Commission · Jul 29
Summary
118.0 billion tonne-kilometres moved on EU inland waterways in 2025, down 3.0% from 121.6 billion in 2024 and near the 2023 low of 116.4 billion.
Germany and the Netherlands carried 42.7 billion and 42.2 billion tonne-kilometres, together accounting for 71.9% of the EU total.
54.7% of 2025 traffic was international, while national transport made up 24.9% and transit 20.4%, showing cross-border flows still dominate the sector.
22.2% of freight consisted of metal ores, the largest goods category; agricultural products posted the steepest annual drop at 19.7%, while coal and crude petroleum rose 21.3%.
The latest decline extends a longer slide from the 145-146 billion tonne-kilometre levels seen in 2015-2017, despite a brief recovery in 2024.