LUXEMBOURG – A total of 13.29 billion tonnes of goods were transported by road in the European Union in 2025, an increase of 1.8% compared with 2024, according to figures published by Eurostat. Metal ores and other mining and quarrying products accounted for the largest share of goods transported by weight, while food products, beverages and tobacco represented the largest share of transport performance measured in tonne-kilometres.
Metal ores and mining products lead by weight
In 2025, 3.04 billion tonnes of metal ores and mining and quarrying products were transported by road across the EU. This category accounted for 22.9% of the total weight carried.
Food products, beverages and tobacco followed with 1.61 billion tonnes, representing 12.1% of the total. Other non-metallic mineral products accounted for 1.60 billion tonnes, also representing 12.1%.
Food products account for largest share of tonne-kilometres
The ranking changes when road freight transport is measured in tonne-kilometres. One tonne-kilometre represents the transport of one tonne of goods over a distance of one kilometre.
Food products, beverages and tobacco accounted for 311.1 billion tonne-kilometres, or 16.6% of total EU road freight transport performance.
Grouped goods, comprising a mixture of different types of goods transported together, followed with 237.1 billion tonne-kilometres and a share of 12.6%.
Agricultural, hunting, forestry and fishing products accounted for 206.3 billion tonne-kilometres, representing 11.0% of the total.
Dangerous goods represent 4% of road freight transport
Dangerous goods accounted for 4.0% of total EU road freight transport performance in 2025, measured in tonne-kilometres. This category includes flammable liquids, toxic substances and explosive substances.
Finland recorded the highest share of dangerous goods in its national road freight transport performance, at 9.8%, followed by Ireland at 7.8% and Cyprus at 7.5%.
The lowest shares were recorded in Lithuania (0.7%), Portugal (1.9%) and Slovakia (1.9%).
Malta excluded from the figures
Eurostat notes that Malta is excluded from the figures because the EU regulation governing these statistics does not apply to the country.
The statistical office also points out that figures for dangerous goods transport carry a higher degree of statistical uncertainty than those for other types of freight, as dangerous goods account for only a small proportion of total road freight transport.
