Archive:The EU in the world - transport

This Statistics Explained online publication has been archived. The latest edition, Key figures on the EU in the world – 2023 edition, can be found on the Eurostat website.

Data extracted in January and February 2020.

Planned article update: February 2023.

Highlights

In Turkey, the number of air passengers relative to population size was 3.9 times as high in 2018 as in 2008.

Saudi Arabia, South Africa, India and Brazil all recorded at least 20 road traffic deaths per 100 000 inhabitants in 2016, while the ratio in the EU was 5 per 100 000 inhabitants.

Road traffic deaths, 2016
(per 100 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (tran_sf_roadse) and (demo_gind), the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (World Population Prospects 2019)

This article is part of a set of statistical articles based on Eurostat’s publication The EU in the world 2020. It focuses on transport statistics in the European Union (EU) and the 16 non-EU members of the Group of Twenty (G20). The article provides information on freight and passenger transport, the number of deaths from road accidents and some characteristics of the merchant fleet. It gives an insight into the EU’s transport sector in comparison with (most of) the major economies in the rest of the world, such as its counterparts in the so-called Triad — Japan and the United States — and the BRICS composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Two particular units are used for transport measurement — tonne-kilometre (tonne-km) and passenger-kilometre (passenger-km) — representing the transport of one tonne of goods (freight) or one passenger over a distance of one kilometre.

Full article

Air transport

Worldwide, the number of air passengers carried in 2018 was around 4.2 billion, an overall increase of 92 % compared with 2008. Relative to the size of the population, the number of air passengers worldwide in 2008 was 327 per 1 000 inhabitants and this ratio increased by 71 % to 557 per 1 000 inhabitants in 2018 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Number of air passengers carried, 2008 and 2018
(per 1 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoc) and (demo_gind)

In Turkey, the number of air passengers relative to population size was nearly four times as high in 2018 as in 2008

In 2018, the highest ratio of air passengers to population among the G20 members was 3 028 per 1 000 inhabitants in Australia, followed by 2 717, 2 487 and 2 412 per 1 000 inhabitants in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada respectively. Four other G20 members — South Korea, the EU-27 (incomplete data), Turkey and Saudi Arabia — also reported more passengers carried than their number of inhabitants. At the other end of the ranking, India reported 121 air passengers per 1 000 inhabitants in 2018, far less than the ratio of 406 per 1 000 inhabitants in Argentina which was the next lowest ratio among the G20 members.

Several G20 members recorded a fall in their number of air passengers in 2008 and/or 2009, at the peak of the financial and economic crisis, but overall between 2008 and 2018 all of the G20 members recorded faster growth for the number of air passenger than for inhabitants, such that the ratio shown in Figure 1 increased. During this period, the number of passengers relative to population size grew (in percentage terms) most strongly in Turkey where it nearly quadrupled, while it also more than trebled in Indonesia, China and Mexico and more than doubled in India, Argentina, Russia and South Korea. The weakest overall growth was reported for the United States where the ratio of air passengers to population size was 18 % higher in 2018 than it had been in 2008; for comparison, the next lowest growth was 25 % in Australia.

In terms of passenger numbers, the busiest airport in the world in 2017 was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta

In terms of passenger numbers, the busiest airport in the world in 2017 was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta in the United States, with 103.9 million passengers, followed by Beijing Capital International in China with 95.8 million (see Figure 2). The busiest airport outside of the G20 members was Dubai International in the United Arab Emirates with 88.2 million passengers in 2017. Paris Charles de Gaulle in France had 69.5 million passengers, making it the busiest passenger airport in the EU-27. Apart from Dubai International, Changi airport in Singapore was the only other airport in the top 20 that was not located in one of the G20 members.

Figure 2: Top 20 airports for passengers, 2017
(million passengers)
Source: Eurostat (avia_paoa) and the Airports Council International (ACI)

Maritime transport

The world’s maritime fleet (civilian seagoing ships for carrying freight or passengers) reached 1.98 billion deadweight tonnes (DWT) in 2019, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Deadweight tonnage is the weight measure of a vessel’s carrying capacity and includes cargo, fuel and stores.

The EU-27’s maritime fleet in 2019 was considerably larger than in any of the other G20 members; in fact, it accounted for a larger share (15.8 %) of the world total than the fleets of all of the other G20 members combined (14.5 %). It should be noted that there are several smaller countries outside of the G20 that account for a large share of the world maritime fleet, notably Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands, all associated with flags of convenience.

As well as showing the shares of the world’s merchant fleet, Figure 3 also shows the average vessel size. To some extent this is influenced by the different types of vessels in each country’s fleet. Saudi Arabia, which had the largest average vessel size (35.1 DWT) of the G20 members, has a fleet dominated by oil tankers: these represented 84 % of the DWT of its fleet compared with a world average of 29 %. The United Kingdom had the second largest average vessel size (31.5 DWT) among G20 members, with its fleet having the second highest DWT share (20 %) of container ships among G20 members after the United States (25 %); the world average DWT share for container ships was 13 %. With an average vessel size of 26.0 DWT, the EU-27 was the only other G20 member with an average vessel size above the world average of 20.5 DWT and it had a similar share for container ships (20 % of the total DWT) and a share for oil tankers (34 %) that was also above the world average.

Figure 3: Merchant fleet by flag of registration, 2019
Source: the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Maritime transport)

Close to one third of worldwide arrivals of merchant ships of 1 000 gross tons and above were in ports in the EU-27

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development provides port call and performance statistics. According to these data, worldwide there were 4.1 million arrivals of merchant ships of 1 000 gross tons and above in 2018. Ports in the EU-27 recorded 1.3 million arrivals of such vessels in 2018, close to one third (31.2 %) of the world total (see Figure 4). Collectively ports in the other G20 members recorded 1.7 million arrivals, such that the G20 share of the world total was close to three quarters (73.5 %).

Figure 4: Number of arrivals of vessels in ports, 2018
Source: the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Maritime transport)

Road transport

Relative to the size of their populations, the quantity in tonne-km of road freight transport was particularly high in the United States, Australia, Canada and China (see Figure 5). These very high figures reflect not only an extensive use of road freight transport as a mode of freight transport, but also the large distances involved in transporting goods around large land areas. Comparing data for the two years shown, the most notable development was the increase in the amount of Indian road freight: the level in 2017 was just over twice as high as the level in 2008. China also reported strong growth, with road freight (relative to population size) nearly doubling between 2008 and 2017. The United Kingdom, the United States (2008-2017) and Japan were the only G20 members (for which data are available) reporting a fall for this indicator, although in the two last cases this may be influenced by a break in series.

Figure 5: Road freight transport, 2008 and 2018
(tonne-km per inhabitant)
Source: Eurostat (road_go_ta_tott) and (demo_gind), the OECD (International transport forum) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (World Population Prospects 2019)

Mobility often comes at a cost, not just in terms of paying for transport and a potential impact on the environment, but also the risk of injury or death through transport accidents. An evaluation of the risk of death in a road traffic accident may be best expressed as a ratio of the number of road traffic deaths relative to the distance passengers have been transported, in other words relative to the number of passenger-kilometres or vehicle-kilometres. In the absence of reliable data on road traffic performance, Figure 6 uses a ratio of road traffic deaths per 100 000 inhabitants.

Among the G20 members, the highest incidence of road traffic deaths relative to population size in 2016 was observed in Saudi Arabia where there were 29 such deaths per 100 000 inhabitants. This was followed by South Africa (26 per 100 000 inhabitants), India (23 per 100 000 inhabitants) and Brazil (20 per 100 000 inhabitants). In Figure 6 it can be seen that five G20 members recorded ratios of road traffic deaths relative to population size that were notably lower than in the rest of the G20, ranging from 6 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants in Canada and Australia, through 5 and 4 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants in the EU-27 and Japan to 3 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants in the United Kingdom.

Figure 6: Road traffic deaths, 2016
(per 100 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (tran_sf_roadse) and (demo_gind), the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (World Population Prospects 2019)

Rail transport

The extent of the use of rail transport among G20 members in 2018 is presented in Figures 7 and 8. The G20 members can be split into several groups depending on the extent to which this mode is used for passenger and/or freight transport. Argentina (2017 data) and Turkey had a relatively low overall use of rail transport. In Canada and the United States, rail transport was focused mainly on freight transport, while passenger transport was dominant in Japan (2017 data), the United Kingdom, India (2017 data) and South Korea. A relatively high use of rail transport for both freight and passengers was observed in Russia, Australia (2016 data for freight) and the EU-27.

Between 2008 and 2018, rail passenger transport (relative to the number of inhabitants) increased in the EU-27 (see Figure 7 for the precise coverage) by 11.0 %. In relative terms, a much larger increase (the 2018 ratio was 8 times as high as the 2008 ratio) was observed in Mexico, although the level of rail passenger transport remained low. Turkey, Indonesia (2008-2017), India (2008-2017) and the United Kingdom recorded larger increases than in the EU-27 during this period, while Japan (2008-2017) and Australia reported smaller increases. The remaining G20 members reported a lower ratio of passenger-km per inhabitant in 2018 than 10 years earlier, with the largest decrease in percentage terms in Saudi Arabia and the largest decrease in absolute terms in Russia.

Figure 7: Rail passenger transport, 2008 and 2018
(passenger-km per inhabitant)
Source: Eurostat (rail_pa_total) and (demo_gind), the World Bank (World Development Indicators), the OECD (International transport forum) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (World Population Prospects 2019)

Rail freight transport (relative to the number of inhabitants) decreased between 2008 and 2018 in the EU-27 (excluding Belgium) by 6.0 %. In relative terms, larger decreases were observed in Argentina (2008-2017), South Korea, the United Kingdom, China and the United States (note that there is a break in series). A smaller decrease was observed in Japan (2008-2017). Elsewhere, the remaining G20 members reported a higher ratio of tonne-km per inhabitant in 2018 than 10 years earlier, with the largest increase in percentage and absolute terms in Australia (2008-2016).

Figure 8: Rail freight transport, 2008 and 2018
(tonne-km per inhabitant)
Source: Eurostat (rail_go_total) and (demo_gind), the World Bank (World Development Indicators), the OECD (International transport forum) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (World Population Prospects 2019)

Source data for tables and graphs

Transport: tables and figures

Data sources

The statistical data in this article were extracted during January and February 2020. The indicators are often compiled according to international — sometimes worldwide — standards. Although most data are based on international concepts and definitions there may be certain discrepancies in the methods used to compile the data.

Data concerning airports have been compiled from the World annual traffic report of the Airports Council International (ACI).

EU data

Most of the indicators presented for the EU and the United Kingdom have been drawn from Eurobase, Eurostat’s online database. Eurobase is updated regularly, so there may be differences between data appearing in this article and data that is subsequently downloaded. Some of the data have been extracted from international sources for reasons of comparability or availability.

G20 members from the rest of the world

For the non-EU G20 members other than the United Kingdom, most of the data presented have been compiled by the OECD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Statistics Division, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation. For some of the indicators shown a range of international statistical sources are available, each with their own policies and practices concerning data management (for example, concerning data validation, correction of errors, estimation of missing data, and frequency of updating). In general, attempts have been made to use only one source for each indicator in order to provide a comparable dataset for G20 members.

Context

An efficient and well-functioning passenger and freight transport system is often viewed as being vital for business and individuals. Some of the key issues related to transport are its environmental impact, efficiency and safety. This article presents transport statistics on the quantity of freight and number of passengers moved, as well as providing some information on the maritime fleet and the largest airports. The level of transport, in particular international transport, can be related to a wide variety of issues, including trade liberalisation, globalisation, higher motorisation rates, and tourism.