European Neighbourhood Policy - East - transport statistics

Data extracted in February 2023.

Highlights

In 2021, Georgia had the highest motorisation rate among the European Neighbourhood Policy-East countries at 340 passenger cars per thousand inhabitants, followed by Moldova (276).

In 2021, rail passenger kilometres travelled in the ENP-East countries were still largely below the levels observed in 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the period 2011-2021, all ENP-East countries for which data are available recorded growths for air passenger arrivals, except Azerbaijan.

Motorisation rate, 2011, 2020 and 2021

Country codes: AZ = Azerbaijan; GE = Georgia; MD = Moldova; UA = Ukraine
Armenia not available. Countries are ranked based on 2021 data.
European Union: 2021 not available. Rounded estimates based on the closest reference period available for each EU Member State.
Georgia: include also road goods trailers and semi-trailers.
Moldova: 2011: exclude agricultural tractors permitted on the road and special purpose motor vehicles.
Ukraine: 2020 and 2021 not available. 2011: unreliable and excludes agricultural tractors permitted on the road and special purpose motor vehicles. Ukraine’s position in the figure doesn’t indicate anything about its 2021 value.
Source: Eurostat (online data codes: tran_r_vehst, enpe_road_eqs_car and demo_gind)

This article is part of an online publication and it presents information for five European Neighbourhood Policy-East (ENP-East) countries, namely, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, compared with the European Union (EU). Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine also all became enlargement countries in 2022, the European Council giving the three a European perspective and granting Moldova and Ukraine candidate status on 23 June 2022. This article does not contain any data on Belarus, as statistical cooperation with Belarus has been suspended as of March 2022.

Data shown for Georgia exclude the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia over which Georgia does not exercise control. The data managed by the National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova does not include data from Transnistria over which the government of the Republic of Moldova does not exercise control. Since 2014, data for Ukraine generally exclude the illegally annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol and the territories which are not under control of the Ukrainian government. The latest statistics in this Statistics Explained article cover the calendar year 2021, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Data on Ukraine for the year 2021 is limited due to exemption under the martial law from mandatory data submission to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, effective as of 3 March 2022.

The article presents transport indicators covering road, rail, air and maritime transport.

Full article

Road transport

Transport is fundamental to the economy and to society as a whole. There are considerable variations between the ENP-East countries as regards their level of economic development, their total (land) area and population numbers, as well as their geography. This is reflected in differences in the efficiency, safety and environmental impact of the transport sector, as well as the infrastructure and the stocks of transport equipment. Transport statistics need to evolve to respond to policy needs, informing development towards clean, safe and eﬃcient transport.

Among the ENP-East countries, car ownership is usually less commonplace than in the EU, and passenger cars tend to account for a lower share of the total number of road vehicles. Subject to data availability, Table 1 shows that Ukraine had the highest total number of passenger cars, at 6.9 million in 2011 (no fresher data are available for Ukraine), while the next highest counts (for 2021) were recorded in Azerbaijan and Georgia, at each 1.3 million in 2021. Moldova had the lowest number of passenger cars with 0.7 million. There is no data available for Armenia.

In 2020 (no 2021 data), the share of passenger cars in the total number of road motor vehicles was estimated to be 88 % in the EU. This was slightly higher than the ratio recorded in 2021 for Azerbaijan (87.2 %) and in Georgia (84.9 %). The relative importance of passenger cars within the stock of road motor vehicles was less than 80 % in Ukraine (76.8 % in 2011) and Moldova (72.1 % in 2021). There is no data available for Armenia.

Among the ENP-East countries, Ukraine (510 000 - 2011 data) had the highest number of lorries. In 2021, the lowest number of lorries were reported by Azerbaijan (161 000) while it was 191 000 in Moldova. There is no data available for Armenia and Georgia.

Table 1: Road equipment, 2011, 2020 and 2021
(thousands)
Source: Eurostat (enpe_road_eqs_car) and (tran_r_vehst)

The motorisation rate (see Figure 1) shows the number of passenger cars relative to the size of the population. Georgia had the highest motorisation rate among the ENP-East countries for which data are available, at 340 passenger cars per thousand inhabitants in 2021, followed by Moldova (276 per thousand inhabitants) and Azerbaijan (132 per thousand inhabitants). In Ukraine, there were 151 passenger cars per thousand inhabitants in 2011 (2020 and 2021 data not available). These rates were considerably lower than the rate of 558 passenger cars per thousand inhabitants estimated for the EU in 2020 (no data available for 2021).

Figure 1: Motorisation rate, 2011, 2020 and 2021
(number of passenger cars per thousand inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (enpe_road_eqs_car), (tran_r_vehst) and (demo_gind)

Figure 2 presents information on the number of persons killed in road accidents relative to the population. This provides a basis for comparing the frequency of road accidents between countries of different sizes.

Over the decade, there was a notable decrease in the relative number of road deaths in all ENP-East countries, except Armenia. Georgia recorded the highest rate of persons killed in road accidents among these countries, the rate rising from 11.8 road deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants in 2011 to 13.9 in 2017 (the most recent data available). Armenia also demonstrated an increase of 2.4 % of road deaths in 2021 (12.4 road deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants) compared to 2011 (10.0 road deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants). In contrast, in Azerbaijan, the death rate fell from 11.2 in 2011, the third highest among the ENP-East countries, to 7.0 in 2020 and 2021, the lowest rate. Marked improvements in the rate of road deaths were registered also in Moldova (by -2.5 %; 2011-2021), Ukraine (-2.7 %; 2011-2017) and Azerbaijan (-4.2 %; 2011-2021).

In the EU there was a marked reduction in the total number of road deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants over the past decade, from 6.5 persons killed per 100 000 inhabitants in 2011 to 4.2 in 2020 (2021 data not yet available).

Figure 2: Persons killed in road accidents, 2011, 2020 and 2021
(number per 100 thousand inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (tran_sf_roadse) and (demo_gind) and Eurostat data collection

Rail transport

Rail services provide an alternative to road transport and are generally considered as more environmentally friendly. Table 2 presents indicators for analysing developments in the transport of passengers and freight by rail. Passenger-kilometres (pkm) and tonne-kilometres (tkm) are the main measurements used for analysing transport volumes of passengers and freight, respectively.

In 2021, rail passenger transport was still impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most ENP-East countries showed a substantial rise in rail passenger transport performance between 2020 and 2021. Armenia showed an increase of 76.9 %, Ukraine grew by 48.5 % and Georgia by 10.6 % over the same period. The exceptions were Azerbaijan with 35.4 % decrease and Moldova, where rail passenger transport decreased by 16.5 % in 2021 compared to 2020.

When comparing 2021 to 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic, substantial falls can still be observed in all ENP-East countries. The largest decrease was observed in Azerbaijan (-77.5 %), followed by Georgia (-57.9 %), Ukraine (-42.6 %), Armenia (-39.4 %) and Moldova (-16.8 %).

In the EU, rail passenger transport showed a growth of 16.5 % in 2021 compared to 2020, from 225 million pkm to 262 million pkm, while the number of passenger-kilometres were still -37.0 % lower in 2021 compared to pre-pandemic year 2019.

Rail passenger transport performance fell from 2011 to 2021 in all ENP-East countries. High falls in rail passenger transport over the period 2011-2021 were recorded in Moldova (-87.5 %), Azerbaijan (-82.2 %), Ukraine (-63.9 %), Georgia (-57.4 %) and Armenia (-14.8 %).

Table 2: Rail transport, 2011, 2019, 2020 and 2021
Source: Eurostat (enpe_rail_go), (rail_pa_total), (rail_go_typepas) and (rail_go_total) and Eurostat data collection

The picture for rail freight transport is somehow different. In 2020, rail freight transport was impacted by restrictions, albeit at a much lesser extent than rail passenger transport. Between 2020 and 2021, substantial rises were recorded in Azerbaijan (20.4 %), Georgia (13.6 %) and Ukraine (4.6 %). In contrast, falls in rail freight transport were recorded in Moldova (-8.3 %) and Armenia (-3.6 %) over the same period. In the EU, rail freight transport increased by 8.7 % between 2020 and 2021.

In Georgia, the transport of freight by rail almost halved from 2011 to 2021 (-45.1 %), while Ukraine and Azerbaijan registered a substantial fall over the same period (-25.4 % and -19.1 %, respectively). Armenia remained relatively stable (-0.6 %). The other ENP-East country, Moldova, recorded a growth between 2011 and 2021 of 8.6 %. In the EU, rail freight transport grew over the period 2011-2021, by 0.4 %.

Ukraine and Georgia, which recorded essential falls over the decade, were also the ENP-East countries with the highest quantity of rail freight transport performance — measured in tkm. In 2021, rail freight transport performance accounted for 66 billion tkm in Ukraine and 3 billion tkm in Georgia. The other ENP-East countries had much lower levels of rail freight transport. Moldova had the lowest figures with 152 million tkm in 2021, Azerbaijan reported 727 million tkm in 2021, Armenia 811 million tkm. In comparison, the EU recorded 403 billion tkm of rail freight transport in 2021 (not including Belgium and including only detailed reporting by main undertakings for Greece).

Air transport

There has been considerable expansion in air services in recent decades, both in terms of passenger numbers and freight carried. Although there has been rapid growth, it is worthwhile noting that the weight of goods carried by air is relatively low, given the high cost of this mode of transport (for example, when compared with maritime freight) especially for bulky items. Table 3 presents two main indicators for air transport, namely the number of passenger arrivals and the quantity of air freight and mail arrivals.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the world had taken a variety of restrictive measures since the beginning of 2020. The air transport industry was severely hit, in particular the transport of passengers. However, 2021 showed substantial revival of the sector. All ENP-East countries (excluding Georgia, there is no data available) registered rapid growths between 140 % in Armenia and 80 % in Moldova, from 2020 to 2021. To perform a realistic analysis, it should be marked that the level of passenger arrivals in 2021 was still far from the level observed in pre-pandemic year 2019. All East countries showed much lower levels when comparing 2021 and 2019. The largest decrease between those two years was observed in Azerbaijan (-53.6 %), followed by Moldova (-40.0 %), Ukraine and Armenia (both -33.3 %). In the EU, the number of arrived by air transport passengers showed decrease of 61.5 % between 2019 and 2021. In 2021, there were 290.9 million air passenger arrivals in the EU. The combined number of arrivals in the ENP-East countries (excluding Georgia) was 11.5 million, which was nearly 26 % higher in 2021 than in 2011. The highest number of air passenger arrivals among the ENP-East countries was registered in Ukraine (8.1 million), followed by Azerbaijan (1.3 million), Armenia (1.2 million) and Moldova (0.9 million).

When looking at the period between 2011 and 2021, all the ENP-East countries for which data are available (no data for Georgia) recorded growths for air passenger arrivals, except Azerbaijan (-18.8 %), although from relatively low initial levels. The most rapid expansion was recorded for Moldova, where air passenger arrivals were 80.0 % higher in 2021 compared to 2011. Armenia and Ukraine also showed a substantial growth over the same period (50.0 % and 29.7 %, respectively). The number of EU air passenger arrivals decreased by -45.8 % between 2011 and 2021.

Table 3: Air transport, 2011, 2019, 2020 and 2021
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoc) and (avia_gooc) and Eurostat data collection

The air freight and mail transport were impacted by the restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, albeit at a much lesser extent than air passenger transport. In 2021, there was an increase in the air freight and mail transport, although not as high as in the air passenger transport. Armenia recorded substantial growth of 57.4 % between 2020 and 2021. Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova also registered a growth in the volume of air freight and mail unloaded over the same period (14.8 %, 13.1 % and 11.1 %, respectively). In 2021, EU and all the ENP-East countries, except Moldova (-31.0 %) and Georgia (no data available), showed a growth in air freight and mail transport in comparison to pre-pandemic year 2019, between 1.5 % for Ukraine and 49.5 % in Azerbaijan.

The highest quantity of air freight and mail arrivals among the ENP-East countries was recorded in Azerbaijan, reaching 352 thousand tonnes in 2021 (no data for Georgia). This marked a considerable expansion when compared to ten years earlier (68 thousand tonnes in 2011). The other ENP-East countries (no data for Georgia) reported altogether 51 thousand tonnes in 2021. In the EU, 8.2 million tonnes of air freight and mail arrived in 2021, an increase by 20.2 % compared to 2021 and 12.1 % compared to pre-pandemic year 2019.

Maritime transport

Armenia is a landlocked country, without sea ports. Thus, no data collection on maritime transport is applicable for this country. Moldova is not considered as being a landlocked country as seagoing vessels can access to the port of Giurgiulești located on the Danube.

The final table in this article, Table 4, presents some main indicators for maritime passenger and freight transport. As for rail and air transport, maritime transport, in particular passenger transport, has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictions put in place worldwide. Data on maritime passenger transport are only available for two of the three ENP-East countries with access to the sea, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

Azerbaijan has a relatively low level of maritime passenger activity, with 7.5 thousand passengers (excluding cruises) disembarked in Azerbaijani ports in 2021, an increase of 7.1 % compared to 2020 and 53.1 % compared to 2011. Higher levels were observed for maritime freight, with Baku on the Caspian Sea playing an important role on Europe-Asia transit routes. Azerbaijan had the highest volumes of freight handled in its ports, among the ENP-East countries, in 2011 with 11.9 million tonnes. This fell to 8.2 million tonnes in 2019 and rose to 8.9 million tonnes in 2021.

Table 4: Maritime transport, 2011, 2019, 2020 and 2021
Source: Eurostat (enpe_mar_go), (mar_pa_aa) and (mar_mg_aa_cwhd)

Georgia had the highest volumes of freight handled in its ports, among the ENP-East countries, in 2019 with 10.4 million tonnes, which fell first to 9.2 million tonnes in 2020, then to 8.9 million tonnes in 2021. The levels were of 7.7 million tonnes in 2011.

Moldova showed growing volumes of freight handled in its port between 2019 and 2021. In 2019, it was 1.3 million tonnes, which fell to 1.2 million tonnes in 2020 and rebounded to 1.8 million tonnes in 2021.

During the last decade, there was a substantial reduction in both the number of maritime passengers carried and the quantity of maritime freight handled in Ukraine. These developments may be linked to the political tension between Ukraine and Russia, which may have impacted on the lower passenger numbers arriving in Black Sea ports, while trade sanctions/embargos between Ukraine and Russia from 2014 onwards may explain (some of) the subsequent reduction in maritime trade. Note also that the data for 2020 and 2021 exclude the illegally annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, and thus do not cover any maritime passenger or freight transport activity in this region in these reference years.

In the EU, the level of maritime passenger activity was 132.4 million passengers (excluding cruises) in 2021, which increased by 15.7 % compared to 2021, but still 34.3 % lower than in pre-pandemic year 2019 and 29.3 % lower than in 2011. In 2021, the volumes of freight handled in EU ports was about 3.5 billion tonnes, which was 4.1 % higher than in 2020 and 6.0 % higher than in 2011. However, in 2021 the level of maritime freight handled in EU ports was 3.5 % lower than in pre-pandemic year 2019.

Source data for tables and graphs

European Neighbourhood Policy — East countries — transport: tables and figures

Data sources

The data for ENP-East countries are supplied by and under the responsibility of the national statistical authorities of each country on a voluntary basis. The data that are presented in this article result from an annual data collection cycle that has been established by Eurostat. These statistics are available free-of-charge on Eurostat’s website, together with a range of different indicators covering most socio-economic areas.

For the EU, transport statistics are available with an annual frequency and generally begin in the early 1990s. Eurostat’s statistics describe the most important features of transport, not only in terms of the quantities of freight and numbers of passengers that are moved each year, or the number of vehicles and infrastructure that are used, but also the contribution of transport services to the economy as a whole. Data collection is supported by several legal acts obliging the EU Member States to report statistical data (framework legislation and implementing legislation, organised according to the mode of transport under consideration), as well as voluntary agreements to supply additional data.

Passenger transport statistics

The majority of passenger transport statistics are based on vehicle movements in each of the reporting countries, regardless of the nationality of the vehicle or vessel involved (the ‘territoriality principle’). For this reason, the measure of passenger-kilometres (pkm, which represents one passenger travelling a distance of one kilometre) is generally considered as a more reliable measure, as a count of passengers entails a higher risk of double-counting, particularly for international transport.

Freight transport statistics

As with passenger transport statistics, freight transport statistics are generally based on movements in each reporting country, regardless of the nationality of the vehicle or vessel involved (the ‘territoriality principle’). For this reason, the measure of tonne-kilometres (tkm or tonne-km, in other words, one tonne of goods travelling a distance of one kilometre) is generally considered a more reliable measure when analysing freight transport statistics, as the simple use of tonnes entails a higher risk of double-counting, particularly for international transport.

Transport safety

Eurostat publishes transport safety data for road, rail, inland waterways, maritime and air transport. CARE is the European centralised database on road accidents which result in death or injury across the EU, developed on the basis of Council Decision 93/704/EC; it is managed by the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport. A road death is defined as the number of deaths that are caused by road accidents and which occur within 30 days from the date of the accident; the count includes drivers and passengers in motorised vehicles and on bicycles who might be involved in road accidents, as well as pedestrians.

Tables in this article use the following notation:

Value in italics	data value is forecasted, provisional or estimated and is therefore likely to change;
:	not available, confidential or unreliable value;
–	not applicable.

Context

An efficient and well-functioning passenger and freight transport system is vital for enterprises and inhabitants. The ability to move goods safely, quickly and cost-efficiently to markets is important for international trade, national distributive trades, and economic development. The rapid increase in international trade up to the onset of the global financial and economic crisis and the deepening integration of the EU’s single market, alongside a range of economic practices (including the concentration of production in fewer sites to reap economies of scale, delocalisation, and just-in-time deliveries), may explain — at least to some degree — developments in the volume of freight being transported.

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport is responsible for developing transport policy within the EU. It aims to develop policy to foster clean, safe and efficient travel throughout Europe, underpinning the internal market for goods (transferring them between their place of production and consumption) and the right of citizens to travel freely throughout the EU (for both work and pleasure).

On 2 July 2021, the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy presented the Eastern Partnership: a Renewed Agenda for cooperation with the EU’s Eastern partners. This agenda is based on the five long-term objectives, with resilience at its core, as defined for the future of the Eastern Partnership in the Joint Communication Eastern Partnership policy beyond 2020: Reinforcing Resilience – an Eastern Partnership that delivers for all in March 2020. It is further elaborated in the Joint Staff Working Document Recovery, resilience and reform: post 2020 Eastern Partnership priorities. It will be underpinned by an Economic and Investment plan. The Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit ‘Recovery, Resilience and Reform’ of 15 December 2021 reaffirms strong commitment to a strategic, ambitious and forward-looking Eastern Partnership.

In cooperation with its ENP partners, Eurostat has the responsibility ‘to promote and implement the use of European and internationally recognised standards and methodology for the production of statistics, necessary for developing and monitoring policy achievements in all policy areas’. Eurostat undertakes the task of coordinating EU efforts to increase the statistical capacity of the ENP countries. Additional information on the policy context of the ENP is provided here.