In 2012, EU28 inland freight transport amounted to 2 186 billion tonne-kilometers, down by 11.7% compared with
its level in 2007. Road transport was still by far the dominant freight transport mode (74.5% of total inland freight transport performance in 2012) and its share has remained almost unchanged since 2007.

This information comes from a publication issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on
modal split of inland freight transport in the EU.

EU28 inland freight transport, in billion tonne-kilometers
2012 Growth 2012/2007

	2007	2012	Growth 2012 /2007 (%)	% of total freight transport 2012
Road	1 867	1 628	-12.8	74.5
Rail	452	407	-9.9	18.6
Inland waters	156	150	-4.1	6.9
Total	2475	2186	-11.7	100

 

Inland freight transport performance down by 12% in the EU since its 2007 peak 

In the EU28, total inland freight transport, expressed in tonne-kilometers, fell by 11.7% between 2007 and 2012.  Each of the three modes of inland transport also recorded decreases in absolute terms over these six years, with road transport (-12.8%) and rail (-9.9%) dropping significantly, while inland waterways (-4.1%) showed a more  moderate decline. As a result, the modal split of inland freight transport has barely changed over this period: road  (from 75.4% in 2007 to 74.5% in 2012), rail (from 18.3% in 2007 to 18.6% in 2012) and inland waterways (from  6.3% in 2007 to 6.9% in 2012)

Rail main mode of freight transport in the three Baltic Member States
Between 2007 and 2012, the share of road in total inland freight transport performance decreased in fifteen Member States, increased in eleven and remained stable in two. In 2012, road transport accounted for less than half of the inland freight transport in Latvia (15.7%), Lithuania (29.6%), Estonia (33.0%), Romania (39.4%) and the Netherlands (47.5%), while it represented over 90% in Cyprus and Malta5 (both 100.0%), Ireland (98.9%),
Greece (98.5%) and Spain (94.5%)

Rail transport was in 2012 the main mode for inland freight transport in Latvia (84.3%), Lithuania (70.4%) and Estonia (67.0%), while it accounted for less than 10% in Ireland (1.1%), Greece (1.5%), Spain (5.5%), the Netherlands (6.0%) and Luxembourg (8.8%). Between 2007 and 2012, the share of rail in total inland freight transport decreased in fourteen Member States and increased in twelve.

For inland waterways, the highest proportions were observed in 2012 in the Netherlands (46.5% of the total inland
freight transport), Bulgaria (30.5%) and Romania (29.2%).