Data extracted in July 2026
Planned article update: July 2027
Highlights
In 2025, total road freight transport in the EU amounted to 1 886 billion tonne-kilometres and nearly 13.3 billion tonnes.
In terms of tonne-kilometres, ‘Food products, beverages and tobacco' was the largest group of goods transported by road in the EU in 2025, accounting for 311.1 billion tonne-kilometres.
In terms of tonnes, Germany was the territory with the highest freight transport by road in 2025.
In 2025, Germany was the origin or destination of almost half of the top 20 country-to-country road freight transport flows within the EU.
This article presents the main trends in road freight transport in the European Union (EU) up to and including 2025. National, international, cross-trade and cabotage transport are all analysed. Road freight transport by type of goods and distance class are also presented, as are goods moved on the national territory of countries and country-to-country flows.
This article, together with the articles 'Road freight transport by vehicle characteristics', '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.
Total EU road freight transport performance continued to increase in 2025
In terms of tonne-kilometres (tkm), European road freight transport increased by 0.6% from 2023 to 2024 (from 1 857 billion tkm to 1 869 billion tkm). In 2025, it increased further, by 0.9% to 1 886 billion tkm (see Table 1 and Figure 1).
International transport accounted for almost one quarter (24.4%) of total road freight transport in the EU in 2025. It decreased by 1.5% from 2023 to 2024, followed by a slight increase of 0.3% from 2024 to 2025 (see Table 1). National transport, which represented almost two thirds (62.2%) of the total in 2025, increased by 0.8% in 2024 and 2.2% in 2025. Cross-trade and cabotage transport (together representing 13.4% of the EU total in 2025), fell by 3.7% and 3.0%, respectively, compared with 2024. In 2024, both recorded increases, by 3.4% and 4.7%, respectively.
In 2025, Poland (20.2% of EU total tkm) reconfirmed its position as one of the most important countries for road transport in Europe, ahead of Germany (14.7%) and Spain (14.5%). Together, international transport, cross-trade and cabotage made up 60.0% of Poland's transport performance, while national transport represented 40.0%.
In 2025, total road freight transport decreased in 13 EU countries compared with 2024, with the most significant declines recorded in Luxembourg (-14.1%), Slovenia (-10.7%) and Estonia (-10.3%). In contrast, 11 EU countries recorded increases, the highest ones in Ireland (+10.5%), Portugal (+10.3%) and Croatia (+7.7%). In Bulgaria and Lithuania, total road freight transport remained stable during these 2 years (see Figure 1). Looking back to 2024, compared with 2023, total road freight transport fell in 10 EU countries, from -18.6% in Bulgaria to -0.4% in Austria and Belgium. In 15 EU countries, total road freight transport increased, from +0.4% in Netherlands to +15.9% in Slovakia, while in Croatia the level remained stable.
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_tott)
Road freight transport performance in the EU increased in 2021, following the recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. The second quarter of 2021 represented a peak, at 496.4 billion tkm (see Figure 2). In 2022, total EU road freight transport remained relatively stable, with a higher performance in the first quarter compared with the same quarter of the previous year (+2.5%) and small decreases in the following 3 quarters (-0.7%, -0.6% and -1.6%, respectively), bringing total transport in 2022 close to the same level as in 2021. The road freight transport performance continued to decrease throughout 2023: -2.3% in the first quarter compared with the same quarter of the previous year, -3.6% in the second quarter, -3.8% in the third quarter, and -3.1% in the last quarter. In the last 2 quarters of 2023, total EU road freight transport fell to levels not recorded since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Road freight transport performance continued to decrease in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the same quarter of the previous year (-1.8%) but started to increase in the next quarters: +0.7% in the second and third quarter and +3.0% in the last quarter. This upward trend continued in 2025 except for the second quarter (-0.7%) while increases were observed in the first (+1.6%), third (+0.9%) and fourth (+1.9%) quarters.
The main goods categories transported in 2025 were the same as in 2024, both in terms of tonnes and tonne-kilometres
In terms of tonnage, European road freight transport increased by 1.8% in 2025, compared with 2024 (from 13 057 million tonnes to 13 291 million tonnes – see Table 2). In 2025, as in previous years, 'metal ores and other mining and quarrying products' was the largest product group transported, accounting for 3 041 million tonnes. Other important product groups were 'food, beverages and tobacco' (1 611 million tonnes), 'other non-metallic mineral products' (1 602 million tonnes), and 'agricultural, forestry and fishery products' (1 289 million tonnes). The most notable increases between 2024 and 2025 were recorded for ‘coal and lignite; crude petroleum and natural gas’ (up by 17.8%), ‘unidentifiable goods’ (up by 15.7%) and ‘equipment and material utilized in the transport of goods’ (up by 8.6%). At the other end of the scale, significant decreases were recorded for the product groups ‘textiles and textile products; leather and leather products’ (-6.6%), ‘furniture’ (-2.8%) and ‘removals; motor vehicles moved for repair’ (-2.3%).
In terms of tonne-kilometres, ‘food products, beverages and tobacco' continued to dominate road freight transport in 2025, accounting for 311.1 billion tkm, followed by 'grouped goods' (237.1 billion tkm) and 'agricultural products' (206.3 billion tkm). Notable increases between 2024 and 2025 were recorded for ‘unidentifiable goods’ (up by 18.8%), ‘coal and lignite; crude petroleum and natural gas’ (up by 11.7%) and ’coke and refined petroleum products’ (up by 8.2%). The highest decreases were recorded for ‘furniture’ (-11.8%), ‘chemicals; rubber and plastic products ; nuclear fuel’ (-4.1%) and ‘removals; motor vehicles moved for repair’ (-3.3%).
,_EU,_2024_and_2025_(thousand_tonnes_and_million_tonne-kilometres).png)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_tg)
Mixed trends in transport across distance classes in 2025
Most of the EU road freight traffic is carried out within 3 distance classes: from 150 to 299 km, from 300 to 499 km and from 500 to 999 km (see Table 3). In 2025, these 3 distance classes together accounted for 1 142 billion tkm of the total EU road freight transport, an increase of 1.4% compared with 2024. The highest road freight transport performances over these 3 distance classes were recorded in Poland (231 billion tkm), Germany (171 billion tkm) and Spain (158 billion tkm), while the lowest were recorded in Estonia (2 billion tkm), Luxembourg (4 billion tkm) and Latvia (7 billion tkm).
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_dctg)
Figure 3 shows trends in road freight transport for different distance classes since 2021. Compared with 2021, EU road freight transport decreased in 2022 for the distance classes of less than 150 km (-1.1%), from 150 to 299 km (-1.3%), as well as for the class of over 2 000 km (-2.2%). The remaining distance classes (from 300 to 999 km and from 1 000 to 1 999 km) each recorded increases of 0.8%.
Road freight transport fell considerably in all distance classes in 2023: -3.5% for both over 2 000 km and from 300 to 999 km, -3.4% for from 1 000 to 1 999 km, -3.3% for less than 150 km and -2.3% for from 150 to 299 km.
In 2024, small increases were recorded compared with the previous year for the distance classes from 150 to 299 km (+1.6%), from 300 to 999 km (+1.4%) and less than 150 km (+0.4%), while the distance classes of over 2 000 km and from 1 000 to 1 999 km recorded decreases (-5.8% and -0.2%, respectively).
In 2025 compared with 2024, the trend with increases over the shorter distance classes and decreases or limited changes over the longer distance classes continued: whereas the transport performance increased over distances of less than 150 km (+2.5%), from 150 to 299 km (+2.3%) and from 300 to 999 km (+0.9%), it fell for the class from 1 000 to 1 999 km (-3.6%) and changed only marginally for the class of 2 000 km and over (+0.1%).
Table 4 shows road freight transport by group of goods for 2024 and 2025, measured in tonnes, split between movements of less than 300 km and movements of 300 km or more.
The tonnage transported over distances of less than 300 km increased by 1.9% between 2024 and 2025. For transport within this distance range, 'coal and lignite; crude petroleum and natural gas' and ‘unidentifiable goods’ were the product groups that recorded the most significant increases (+20.0% and +14.3%, respectively). The highest decreases were recorded for ‘textiles and textile products; leather and leather products’ (-7.4%) and ‘removals; motor vehicles moved for repair’ (-1.9%).
The tonnage transported over 300 km and more increased by 1.1% between 2024 and 2025. The most notable changes were the high increases for ‘unidentifiable goods’ and ‘secondary raw materials; wastes’ (up by 22.5% and 8.0%, respectively). The largest decreases were recorded for ‘furniture’ and ‘removals; motor vehicles moved for repair’ (-8.2% and -6.4%, respectively).
,_EU,_2024_and_2025_(thousand_tonnes).png)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_dctg)
In 2025, Germany, France, Spain, Poland and Italy together accounted for two thirds of the total tonnage transported in the EU
When looking at total transport in 2025, the tonnes of goods transported within Germany (national transport) or loaded/unloaded in Germany (international transport) represented almost one quarter of the total tonnage (22.3%) in the EU, with France and Spain together almost making up another quarter (12.4% and 12.1%, respectively). These 3 countries, along with Poland (10.6%) and Italy (9.4%), accounted for just over two thirds (66.8%) of the total transport of goods by road in the European Union (see Figure 4).
In terms of national transport on their own territory, Germany, France, Spain, Poland and Italy recorded the highest tonnages among the EU countries in 2025 (22.5%, 12.6%, 13.1%, 11.0% and 10.0% of the total national transport in the EU, respectively).
Considering international transport (i.e., the sum of goods entering and leaving the country, including cross-trade), the pattern has not changed significantly over the last years. International transport of goods loaded/unloaded in Germany remained the highest tonnage (431 million tonnes), ahead of France (231 million tonnes), the Netherlands (200 million tonnes), and Belgium and Poland (181 million tonnes each).
At the level of EU/extra-EU country-to-country freight transport flows (see Table 5), Switzerland, Norway and the United Kingdom were important trading partners of the EU. The main extra-EU flows have generally been between these countries and the EU countries neighbouring them. In 2024, the main such traffic flows were between Switzerland and Germany (17.3% of the total extra-EU road transport tonnage), followed by the flows between Norway and Sweden (10.1%), Switzerland and France (8.4%), and Ireland and the United Kingdom (5.9%).
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_ia_ugtt, road_go_ia_lgtt and road_go_cta_gtt)
Table 6 shows the tonnage transported in the top 20 country-to-country flows within the EU, as well as the nationality of the most important hauliers and their shares in the respective transport flows.
Germany was either the origin or the destination for almost half of the top 20 country-to-country flows in 2025, illustrating the central role of Germany in intra-EU trade flows. However, German hauliers’ share of the transported volumes was less than 50% in all country-to-country flows shown in Table 6, with as little as 3.0% in the flow between Germany and Poland and 4.0% in that between Germany and Spain. German hauliers recorded their highest shares in the transport between Germany and Denmark (39.2%) and between Austria and Germany (29.7%).
The share of hauliers from other EU countries in the country-to-country transport flows varied substantially. In 2025, hauliers from other EU countries than the origin and destination countries carried 64.1% of the total volume transported between Germany and Italy, 60.1% between Belgium and Germany, 57.9% between Germany and France, 54.7% between Germany and Denmark, 54.4% between Austria and Italy, and 53.5% between France and the Netherlands. At the other end of the scale, hauliers from other countries accounted for only 1.3% of total tonnes transported between Spain and Portugal; 1.4% between Czechia and Poland; 1.6% between Germany and Poland; and 2.1% between Poland and Slovakia.
Among hauliers from other EU countries than the origin and destination, Polish hauliers were by far the most important. Of the top 20 intra-EU country-to-country transport flows in 2025, Polish hauliers were the main transporters from and to other EU countries for 10 connections. Of the remaining 10 connections with ‘other hauliers’, Poland was the origin or destination country in 3 these connections.
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Source: Eurostat (road_go_ia_ugtt, road_go_ia_lgtt and road_go_cta_gtt)
Source data for tables
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 Member States, 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. Differences might therefore occur between the figures in this publication and national values. For the distinction between national and international transport, journey information is used at the European level, which might cause differences compared with corresponding values from countries that use goods information for these statistics.
Data sources
Country specific notes
Croatia: While Croatia had no obligation prior to their accession in 2013, it started to report data for the reference year 2008.
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 Q1 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 participating to the sample which were not in use over the surveyed period.
Liechtenstein: Starting with the reference year 2014, Liechtenstein is exempted from the reporting of road freight data.
Methodological notes
EU totals calculated in this publication refer to road freight transport reported by the EU Member States, excluding Malta which is exempted from reporting road freight statistics.
Total transport
Total transport includes national transport, international transport of goods loaded in the reporting countries, international transport of goods unloaded in the reporting countries, cross-trade and cabotage transport.
National transport
Road transport between two places, a place of loading and a place of unloading, located in the same country by a vehicle registered in that country. It may involve transit through one or more countries.
International transport, loaded and unloaded
International transport as presented in this publication is based on goods loaded and unloaded in the reporting Member States. Each reporting country reports all activities of a road motor vehicle inside and outside its national territory. There is thus no risk of double counting at European level.
Breakdown by goods groups
Starting with the reference year 2008, Regulation (EC) No 1304/2007 establishes NST 2007 as the sole classification for goods carried in road freight transport. For detailed information on the NST 2007 classification, please refer to ‘Metadata classification’, Eurostat’s Metadata Server.
Transport by distance class
Eurostat disseminates road freight transport according to the following distance classes: less than 50 km; 50-149 km; 150-299 km; 300-499 km; 500-999 km; 1 000-1 999 km; 2 000-5 999 km; over 6 000 km.
More detailed data and metadata are available in the Eurostat dissemination database.
Goods entering a country
The volume of goods entering a country is the sum of international transport and cross-trade unloaded in the country by hauliers from all reporting countries.
Goods leaving a country
The volume of goods leaving a country is the sum of international transport and cross-trade loaded in the country by hauliers from all reporting countries.
Table 1 vs Table 2
The dissemination tables providing transport performance (in tkm) with a breakdown by group of goods are derived from basic goods transport operations (goods-related information) whereas dissemination tables without a breakdown by group of goods are derived from journey-related information. This may lead to small differences in the total tkm presented in different dissemination tables.
Figure 4
This figure presents volumes moved on the territory of each country if there is loading or unloading of the goods. Transit, where neither loading nor unloading takes place in the country traversed, is not included in this figure. The weight of goods in international transport is accounted for both in the country of loading and in the country of unloading. The weight of goods in national transport is accounted for only once.
Table 5 and Table 6
Table 5 and Table 6 are based on Eurostat calculations, drawing on several datasets. Table 5 presents the largest road freight transport flows between EU countries and extra-EU countries, while Table 6 presents the largest flows between different EU countries. In addition, Table 6 provides information on the share of carriers from the two loading/unloading countries and the most important other country. The calculation of each trade flow is based on tonnes of goods loaded/unloaded in a reporting EU country of goods unloaded/loaded in an extra-EU country (Table 5) or another EU country (Table 6) and the corresponding flow in the other direction. In addition, data on cross-trade for each flow is added (i.e. transport carried out for the flow by carriers from other reporting countries). Data on tonnes of goods loaded for each country-to-country flow are taken from the dataset road_go_ia_lgtt, goods unloaded from road_go_ia_ugtt, and cross-trade from road_go_cta_gtt.
Explore further
Other articles
Database
Thematic section
Publications
- Key figures on European transport — 2025 edition - Key figures
- Eurostat regional yearbook — 2025 edition - Flagship publications
- Key figures on Europe – 2025 edition - Key figures
Methodology
- Road freight transport measurement (ESMS metadata file)
- Glossary for transport statistics — 6th edition — 2026 - Manuals and guidelines
- Methodologies used in road freight transport surveys in Member States, EFTA and 3 candidate countries — 2025 revised edition - Manuals and guidelines
- Road freight transport methodology — 2025 revised 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