Data extracted in September 2025.
Planned article update: October 2026.
Highlights
In 2024, 83% of EU road freight transport, in tonne-kilometres, was performed by heavy goods vehicles with a maximum permissible laden weight of more than 30 tonnes.
Goods vehicles aged 5 years or less performed 60% of road freight transport in tonne-kilometres in the EU in 2024.
Goods vehicle stock in reporting countries, 2024
This article presents road freight transport in the European Union (EU) focusing 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.
The EU fleet of goods vehicles
In 2024, there were over 4.0 million goods vehicles registered in the EU. This was 1.0% higher than in 2023 (see Table 1). Between 2020 and 2023, the stock of goods vehicles grew at an average annual rate of 1.3%.
Among the EU countries, Poland had the largest fleet, representing 17.9% of the total EU stock of goods vehicles in 2024. Germany had the second largest fleet, with 14.0%, followed by France and Spain, with 10.3% and 9.7%, respectively.
From 2023 to 2024, trends in the stock of goods vehicles varied across the EU countries. Increases were recorded by 10 countries, with Lithuania showing the highest growth at 9.3%, followed by Ireland and Croatia at 7.2% and 6.6%, respectively.
In 14 EU countries, the trend went in the opposite direction, with decline in the numbers of goods vehicles between 2023 and 2024. The largest decreases were recorded in Bulgaria (-13.6%), Estonia (-4.5%) and Portugal (-4.2%). In the Netherlands and Poland, the stock of goods vehicles remained stable, with hardly any change.
Between 2020 and 2023, the average annual growth rate of goods vehicles was positive in 21 countries, remained stable in France, and negative in 4 countries. Ireland recorded the highest average annual growth rate over the period 2020-2023 (+6.0%), followed by Lithuania (+4.5%) and Croatia (+3.6%). At the other end of the scale, Bulgaria recorded the largest average annual decrease of 5.1%, followed by Finland (-3.2%) and Greece (-1.0%).
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Road freight transport by maximum permissible laden weight of vehicle
In 2024, vehicles with a maximum permissible laden weight of more than 30 tonnes performed 83.1% of total EU road freight transport in tonne-kilometres (tkm). By contrast, vehicles with a maximum permissible laden weight under 10 tonnes accounted for only 0.2% (see Table 2). Vehicles in the 10.1 to 20.0 tonne range made up 10.9%, while those ranging from 20.1 to 30.0 tonnes contributed 5.8% to EU road freight transport.
In 15 EU countries, the largest share of transport performance was carried by heavy goods vehicles (HGV) with maximum permissible laden weight of more than 40 tonnes. In 2024, these heavy vehicles accounted for over 90% of the total road freight transport in Luxembourg (97.0%), the Netherlands (96.8%), Estonia (94.4%) and Sweden (90.4%). The largest shares of goods vehicles with maximum permissible laden weight from 30.1 to 40 tonnes were observed in Poland (92.3%), Spain (92.0%) and Portugal (83.2%). Italy (85.4%) and Belgium (71.2%) recorded the highest shares for vehicles in the 10.1 to 20 tonne category.
In 2024 compared with 2023, Slovakia recorded the sharpest increase in total tonne-kilometres, of 15.9%. Other countries that recorded notable increases were Latvia with 12.9% and Czechia with 8.5%. In contrast, the largest decrease in total tonne-kilometres between 2023 and 2024 were registered in Bulgaria (-18.6%), followed by Portugal (-14.0%) and Luxembourg (-8.6%).
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_mplw)
EU road transport in tonne-kilometres performed by the lightest category vehicles (maximum permissible laden weight of 10.0 tonnes or less) increased by 3.8% between 2020 and 2023 (see Figure 1). However, from 2023 to 2024, the transport performance by these vehicles fell by 16.4%. A similar development was recorded also for the 30.1 - 40.0 tonne category, which increased by 7.5% from 2020 to 2023, but decreased by 1.1% in 2024.
Transport performance by the heaviest goods vehicles, with maximum permissible laden weight of more than 40 tonnes, decreased by 8.1% between 2020 and 2023, but increased by 2.6% in 2024.
For the other two categories (10.1 to 20.0 tonnes and 20.1 to 30.0 tonnes), transport performance increased from 2020 to 2023 (by +10.6% and +19.6%, respectively), with further growth also in 2024 of 2.7% and 4.1%, respectively.
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_mplw)
Road freight transport by load capacity
In 2024, an estimated over 80% of EU road freight transport measured in million tonne-kilometres was performed by vehicles with a load capacity of 20.6 tonnes or more. By contrast, vehicles with a load capacity of 9.5 tonnes or less accounted for only 3.8% of total EU transport performance (see Table 3).
Among the EU countries, Poland (93.7%), Spain (92.8%) and France (87.1%) recorded the largest shares of transport performed by vehicles with a load capacity between 20.6 and 30.5 tonnes. Italy and Belgium had the smallest shares in this category, at just 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively. Instead, Belgium and Italy reported that 84.7% and 76.1% of their road freight transport performance, respectively, were performed by vehicles with a load capacity between 9.6 and 15.5 tonnes. Luxembourg (88.8%), Sweden (87.7%) and Finland (81.8%) had the highest shares of transport performance carried out by vehicles with a load capacity of more than 30.5 tonnes.
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The transport performance by vehicles with a load capacity of 15.6 to 20.5 tonnes fell substantially, by 11.8%, between 2020 and 2023. However, it grew by 3.7% in 2024 (see Figure 2).
For vehicles with a load capacity of 25.6 to 30.5 tonnes transport performance decreased by 4.7% between 2020 and 2023, declining further by 4.4% in 2024.
Increases were recorded for all other categories: 11.6% for 2020-2023 and 4.1% in 2024 for goods vehicles with a load capacity of 9.5 tonnes or less; 10.4% and 1.8% for goods vehicles with a load capacity of 9.6 to 15.5 tonnes; and 7.6% and 2.3% for those with a load capacity of 20.6 to 25.5 tonnes. Transport performance of vehicles with a load capacity of more than 30.5 tonnes increased by 4.6% between 2020 and 2023 (2024 data are not available).
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_lc)
Road freight transport by age of vehicle
Goods vehicles aged between 2 and 5 years performed 744.1 billion tonne-kilometres in 2024, accounting for 39.8% of the total EU road freight transport performance. This represented a decrease of 2.0% compared with 2023, and an average decline of 2.8% per year between 2020 and 2023 (see Table 4).
Goods vehicles aged between 6 and 9 years performed 471.7 billion tonne-kilometres and accounted for one quarter (25.2%) of total transport performance in 2024. Transport performance in this age group increased by 3.0% compared with 2023, although it was substantially lower than the average annual growth rate of transport performance during the 2020-2023 period (8.0%).
The youngest goods vehicles, with less than 2 years since their first registration, performed 377.1 billion tonne-kilometres in 2024, accounting for one-fifth (20.2%) of total road freight transport performance in the EU. The tonne-kilometres performed by these vehicles rose by 6.2% from 2023 to 2024. However, their average annual growth rate over 2020-2023 was just -0.05% (this value is rounded to one decimal place in the table below, where it appears as -0.1).
Vehicles aged between 10 and 14 years accounted for a smaller share of total EU road freight transport performance (178.2 billion tonne-kilometres, representing 9.5% of the total), while the performance of the oldest vehicles, aged 15 years and over, was much smaller (88.6 billion tonne-kilometres, representing 4.7% of the total).
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Compared with 2020, the road freight transport performed by vehicles between 2 and 5 years old declined by 7.5% in 2024 (see Figure 3). Their share of total EU road freight transport in tonne-kilometres decreased from 47.3% in 2020 to 40.9% in 2023 (a decrease by 6.4 percentage points (pp)) and further to 39.8% in 2024 (-7.5 pp compared with 2020). A similar trend was observed for vehicles between 10 and 14 years old, whose share decreased from 10.0% in 2020 to 9.5% in 2024. By contrast, the share of road freight transport performed by vehicles between 6 and 9 years old increased from 18.7% in 2020 to one quarter (25.2%) of the total in 2024 representing an increase by 6.5 pp over the period. Vehicles less than 2 years old accounted for 19.8% of the total transport performance in 2020, falling slightly to 19.1% in 2023, before rising again to 20.2% in 2024, corresponding to an overall change of +0.4 pp between 2020 and 2024.
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_agev)
At EU level, goods vehicles aged 5 years or less accounted for 58.1% of the total vehicle-kilometres (vkm) in 2024, while those aged 10 years or more represented only 16.4% (see Figure 4). In 10 EU countries, more than 60% of total vehicle-kilometres were performed by goods vehicles aged 5 years or less. The highest shares performed by this age group were recorded in Germany (78.6%), followed by Luxembourg (75.8%), Denmark (75.6%) and France (70.7%).
By contrast, in Greece the majority of total vehicle-kilometres (83.1%) were performed by vehicles aged 10 years and over, with only 5.8% carried out by vehicles aged 5 years or less. In Cyprus, half of total vehicle-kilometres (50.0%) were performed by vehicles aged 10 years and over. High shares for this age group were also observed in Bulgaria (42.1%) and Ireland (41.7%).
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Road freight transport by axle configuration
In 2024, at national level, road freight transport by axle configuration showed that road tractors and semi-trailers accounted for more than 60% of total transport performance in tonne-kilometres in 17 EU countries (see Table 5). Lorries and lorries with trailers, performed the majority of total tonne-kilometres in Czechia (94.6%), Finland (81.8%), Sweden (81.2%) and Romania (55.4%).
When measured in vehicle-kilometres, road tractors and semi-trailers performed more than 60% of total transport in 12 countries. Lorries and lorries with trailers accounted for more than 80% of total vehicle-kilometres in Czechia (95.9%), Finland (83.6%) and Sweden (82.9%). The data presented in this section cover 22 EU countries (see also the methodological notes).
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Source data for tables and graphs
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 which may diverge from national practices. Therefore, differences might occur between the figures in this publication and national values.
Data sources
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 — 2025 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 low reliability 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.
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.
Explore further
Other articles
Database
- Transport, see detailed datasets:
- Road transport (road)
- Road freight transport measurement (road_go)
Thematic section
Publications
- Key figures on Europe – 2025 edition - Key figures
- Key figures on European transport — 2024 edition - Key figures
- Eurostat regional yearbook — 2024 edition - Flagship publications
Selected datasets
- Transport, see selected datasets:
- Road transport (t_road)
Methodology
- Road freight transport measurement (ESMS metadata file)
- Glossary for transport statistics — 5th edition — 2019 - Manuals and guidelines
- Methodologies used in road freight transport surveys in Member States, EFTA and 3 candidate countries — 2025 edition - Manuals and guidelines
- Road freight transport methodology — 2025 edition - Manuals and guidelines
Legislation
- Regulation (EU) No 70/2012 of 18 January 2012 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road (recast)
- Regulation (EC) No 1304/2007 of 7 November 2007 amending Directive 95/64, Regulation (EC) No 1172/98, Regulations (EC) No 91/2003 and (EC) No 1365/2006 with respect to the establishment of NST 2007 as the unique classification for transported goods in certain transport modes
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 202/2010 amending Regulation (EC) No 6/2003 concerning the dissemination of statistics on the carriage of goods by road