Archive:Water transport statistics - NACE Rev. 1.1
This Statistics Explained article is outdated and has been archived - for recent articles on structural business statistics see here.
- Data from January 2009. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.
This article belongs to a set of statistical articles which analyse the structure, development and characteristics of the various economic activities in the European Union (EU). According to the statistical classification of economic activities in the EU (NACE Rev 1.1), the present article covers water transport statistics, corresponding to NACE Division 61, which is part of the transport and storage sector. This article covers all water transport activities, both:
- sea and coastal transport or maritime transport (NACE Group 61.1);
- inland water transport (NACE Group 61.2).
For information on water transport networks and ports, see Warehousing and transport logistics statistics - NACE Rev. 1.1.
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Main statistical findings
Structural profile
Employment in the EU-27's water transport sector (NACE Division 61) sector in 2005 was 213.5 thousand persons. In 2006, there were 18.9 thousand enterprises in this sector, with combined turnover valued at EUR 100 billion resulting in value added of EUR 22.0 billion. As such, this sector contributed around 5.5 % of the wealth created in all transport services (NACE Divisions 60 to 63) in 2006 but a much smaller proportion (2.4 %) of the transport services workforce in 2005. Sea and coastal transport (NACE Group 61.1) dominated the water transport sector, with EUR 20.0 billion of value added in 2006 and 171.9 thousand persons employed in 2005, the remainder accounted for by inland water transport (NACE Group 61.2).
The relative importance of water transport depends largely on geographical, climatic, or historical factors. Close to one quarter of added value generated in the transport services sector was accounted for by water transport in Cyprus (23.1 %, 2005), while this share was close to one fifth in Denmark (19.2 %) and Greece (19.1 %). In contrast, all of the Member States with no coastline reported only limited activity within the water transport sector, which accounted for no more than 1 % of the total value added created within the transport services sector. For the third consecutive year Estonia recorded the unusual situation of a negative value added for water transport in 2006, indicating that the intermediate consumption (purchases of goods and services adjusted for changes in stocks) exceeded production value.
The high level of specialisation in the water transport sector in some of the smaller and medium-sized Member States resulted in them contributing particularly large shares of total EU-27 value added and employment in this sector. The Netherlands and Denmark were the fourth and fifth largest Member States in value added terms, while the Greek water transport sector's workforce represented 9.0 % of the EU-27 total. Denmark and Greece emerged as the second and third most specialised Member States [1] in water transport (based on their value added), behind Cyprus (2005). An analysis of the two subsectors shows particular specialisations in some Member States. For example, in the Netherlands inland water transport was much more significant, accounting for more than one third (37.2 %) of Dutch water transport value added; this was reflected in the fact that the Netherlands had the largest inland water transport subsector in the EU-27, approximately two fifths of EU-27 value added.
Among the transport services NACE divisions, the EU-27's water transport sector recorded the strongest growth in turnover between 2000 and 2007, an average increase of 7.2 % per year over this period, nearly two percentage points more than the non-financial services average (NACE Sections G to I and Divisions 72 and 74). In contrast, the employment index for water transport recorded an average fall of 2.2 % per year over the period 1998 to 2007, the only transport services NACE division to record an overall reduction in employment during this period. This was due to a strong fall in employment between 1999 and 2002; after which the water transport employment index only fell in one year (-0.6 % in 2006), and averaged growth of 1.1 % per year in the period 2002 to 2007.
Transport of goods and passengers
A majority of the merchant fleet controlled from the EU-27 sails under foreign flags – this proportion is roughly two thirds whether calculated based on the number of ships or their tonnage.
Sea transport, for the total movement of goods, combining inward and outward transport, reached 3 800 million tonnes in the EU-27 in 2007. The United Kingdom accounted for the largest share of sea transport of goods (both inward and outward), with 15.2 % of the EU-27 total, followed by Italy (13.6 %), the Netherlands (13.2 %) and Spain (11.1 %). Only in the Baltic Member States and Poland did the outward volume of sea freight transport exceed the inward volume, with Malta having by far the highest ratio of inward to outward sea freight transport.
The total number of sea passengers in the EU-27 was 397.6 million in 2007 (inward plus outward), of which Greece (23.2 %) and Italy (21.6 %) provided by far the largest shares. The Nordic trio of Denmark (12.2 %), Sweden (8.2 %) and Finland (4.1 %) also contributed relatively high shares, as did Malta (2.0 %). In contrast to goods transport, the inward and outward flows of passengers are similar in nearly all Member States with the exception of Sweden where there were half a million more inward transported passengers as outward.
Expenditure and productivity
The EU-27's water transport sector recorded a particularly high investment rate, with gross tangible investment equivalent to 45.5 % of value added in 2006, approximately two and a half times as high as the non-financial business economy average (18.4 %). Denmark recorded the largest level of gross tangible investment in the water transport sector in 2006, with investment valued at EUR 2.4 billion, while investment also exceeded EUR 1.3 billion in France, Italy and the Netherlands.
The share of personnel costs in total operating expenditure was as high as 20.0 % in the EU-27's inland water transport subsector in 2006, compared with just 8.0 % in the sea and coastal transport subsector, around one third the transport services average (22.5 %).
Water transport services were characterised by high apparent labour productivity with an average EUR 120.0 thousand of value added per person employed in the EU-27 in 2005. The sea and coastal transport subsector recorded a value of EUR 135.3 thousand per person employed, while the inland water transport average of EUR 50.0 thousand per person employed was much closer to the transport services average. Average personnel costs were also above the transport services average, but not to the same extent as for apparent labour productivity, resulting in high wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios; for the sector as a whole a ratio of 280.0 % was recorded in 2005 in the EU-27, with the sea and coastal transport subsector recording a ratio of 300.1 % and the inland water transport subsector a ratio of 175.0 %, both well above the transport services average (141.9 %) in the same year. Due to its negative value added Estonia recorded a negative wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio in the water transport sector in 2006, while Austria and Hungary both recorded ratios below 100 % as a result of average personnel costs exceeding apparent labour productivity.
Data sources and availability
The main part of the analysis in this article is derived from structural business statistics (SBS), including core, business statistics which are disseminated regularly, as well as information compiled on a multi-yearly basis, and the latest results from development projects.
Other data sources include short-term statistics (STS), Eurostat maritime transport statistics and ISL merchant fleet databases, based on the Lloyd’s Maritime Information System, in EU energy and transport in figures statistical pocketbook 2007/2008, European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy and Transport.
Context
The transport and storage sector focuses on transport services provided to clients for hire and reward. When analysing transport traffic volumes (for example, tonnes of freight) as presented in this article, it is important to bear in mind that these include own account transport as well as transport services for hire and reward. This is particularly important in road transport where, for example, a manufacturer might collect materials or deliver own output, rather than contracting a transport service enterprise to do this. Equally, the use of own vehicles (typically passenger cars) accounts for a very large part of passenger transport. Such own account transport does not contribute towards the statistics on the transport services sector.
EU transport policy is based upon the 2001 White paper 'European transport policy for 2010: time to decide' and the 2006 mid-term review in the European Commission's communication (COM(2006) 314) ‘Keep Europe moving – sustainable mobility for our continent’. In 2007 the European Commission adopted a communication (COM(2007) 606) on ‘Keeping freight moving’, to make rail freight more competitive, facilitate modernisation of ports, and review progress in the development of sea shipping.
Environmental issues remain of great importance to this sector, as transport is a major source of emissions and noise. In 2008 the European Commission put forward a package of measures related to road and rail transport referred to as ‘Greening Transport’. This included a communication (COM(2008) 433) summarising the packages and initiatives planned for 2009, a strategy to internalise the cost of transport externalities, a proposal for a Directive on road tolls for lorries, and a communication on rail noise. The overall thrust of the package is to try to move towards more sustainable transport.
Maritime freight shipping is made up of line (generally scheduled services) and tramp shipping, with a distinction between tankers (liquid and gas) and bulk carriers, and between containerised and general cargo. The EU relies heavily on maritime transport for its external trade. As well as freight, maritime transport activities also cover passenger transport, for example, scheduled ferry services and cruises. Inland navigation traditionally holds a strong market share in the transport of bulk cargo (such as iron ores, construction materials and metal products).
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- European Business: Facts and figures - 2009 edition
Main tables
Database
Dedicated section
Other information
- COM(2006) 314 of 22 June 2006 on Keep Europe moving - Sustainable mobility for our continent
- COM(2007) 606 of 18 October 2007 on The EU's freight transport agenda: Boosting the efficiency, integration and sustainability of freight transport in Europe
- COM(2008) 433 of 8 July 2008 on Greening Transport
External links
See also
- Coastal region statistics
- Maritime ports freight and passenger statistics
- Maritime transport of goods - quarterly data
Notes
- ↑ Bulgaria, Cyprus and Poland, 2005; the Czech Republic, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands and Romania, not available.