More road and maritime transport in 2018

Nearly 80 percent of goods carried by road and sea

Of all cargo transported in 2018, over 44 percent of the weight was carried by lorries. Seagoing vessels shipped more than 35 percent of all goods, while over 18 percent was carried by inland vessels. Rail transport and aviation contribute only a limited portion to total goods transport.

Mainly more domestic transport

In 2018, domestic goods transport amounted to 681 million tonnes, up by 3.5 percent on the previous year. This was primarily road haulage with 82 percent of all inland transportation carried out by road hauliers. In 2018, these road hauliers carried 2.6 percent more goods than in the previous year, mainly more building materials and trade goods.

Inland vessels transported 7.3 percent more cargo. These shipments mainly concerned metal ores and container goods. Domestic rail transport grew by 16.9 percent. At 0.5 percent, however, this type of transport constitutes only a small share of total domestic goods transport.

Cross-border transport up for seagoing vessels

Cross-border goods transport decreased slightly last year, to nearly 1.04 billion tonnes. More cargo was transported from and to the Netherlands by sea only (1.5 percent). The majority of these goods which have a foreign origin or destination were shipped by seagoing vessels (58 percent).

The weight of goods carried across the border by inland vessels declined by 4.6 percent. In the second half of 2018, inland waterway navigation was severely affected by low water levels. As a result, vessels to and from Germany had to be loaded less heavily. Rail transport to and from the Netherlands decreased by 2 percent, while road haulage dropped by 1.1 percent. Air transport decreased as well, by 0.3 percent. The share of aviation in total cross-border transport is relatively small at 0.2 percent.