Freight transport on European Union inland waterways reached 118.0 billion tonne-kilometres in 2025, marking a three per cent decrease equivalent to minus 3.7 billion tonne-kilometres compared with 2024, according to Eurostat.

Between 2015 and 2017, freight transport across the bloc’s inland waterways remained steady at roughly 145 to 146 billion tonne-kilometres.

Activity dropped sharply in 2018, partly recovered in 2019 and 2021, but stayed below the earlier peak.

From 2022, the decline accelerated and hit a low of 116.4 billion tonne-kilometres in 2023, before a modest rise to 121.6 billion tonne-kilometres in 2024.

Germany and the Netherlands served as the main contributors to European Union inland waterway transport in 2025, recording 42.7 billion tonne-kilometres and 42.2 billion tonne-kilometres respectively.

Together, transport on inland waterways in these two countries accounted for 71.9 per cent of the European Union total.

International transport accounted for more than half of the total transport across the bloc in 2025 at 54.7 per cent.

National transport represented 24.9 per cent and transit transport accounted for 20.4 per cent.

For five European Union countries, international transport represented the highest shares of transport.

In Austria, international transport in inland waterways accounted for 74.0 per cent of the total, with Germany and Belgium following closely with 64.1 per cent and 57.2 per cent respectively.

National transport proved predominant in the Czech Republic at 97.4 per cent, Poland at 82.2 per cent, and France at 60.2 per cent.

In Lithuania, Finland, and Sweden, there was exclusively national transport recorded in 2025.

Croatia at 97.2 per cent, Bulgaria at 92.8 per cent, Luxembourg at 87.9 per cent, Slovakia at 83.0 per cent, and Hungary at 60.1 per cent registered higher shares of transit transport, which was driven mainly by their geographical position.

Metal ores formed the largest share at 22.2 per cent of total transport measured in tonne-kilometres among all categories of transported goods.

This category was followed by coke and refined petroleum products at 16.2 per cent alongside chemicals, rubber, plastic, and nuclear fuel at 14.3 per cent.

Compared with 2024, inland waterway transport of products of agriculture recorded the largest decrease at minus 19.7 per cent.

Coal and crude petroleum saw the largest increase at plus 21.3 per cent over the same comparative period.