According to Eurostat, the modal split of freight transport in Portugal is dominated by road transport which, in 2016, had a share of 85.5%, 9.1% more than the EU-28 average. On the other hand, the relevance of rail transport is far greater in Europe, reaching a share of 17.4% in freight transport, while in Portugal it has a share of only 14.5%.
Freight transport
The "Freight transport" fact sheet examines the modal split of this type of transport, both in Portugal and in the EU-28, and quantifies the volumes of goods by type of transport, as well as the volumes moved as a result of international trade.
Description:
The European Union (EU) has set the objective of separating mobility from its negative impacts on human health and the environment. The transport sector is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and it is also responsible for high levels of air pollution and noise, which can seriously damage human health and ecosystems.
When we consider the environmental impact of freight transport, modal split becomes particularly significant due to the differences in terms of environmental performance between the various transport modes - namely in what regards resource consumption, GHG and pollutant emissions and noise.
Despite the fact that modal split is associated with various factors, such as the type of goods, specific transportation requirements, the type of transport available, the truth is that some transports have a greater negative impact on the environment than others. Comparing road transport with rail transport, we note that the latter tends to be more efficient in terms of volume of goods transported per amount of energy used and mostly less pollutant.
This fact sheet concerns mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Regions of Madeira and Azores and shall be updated on an annual basis.
Objectives and targets:
- The 2014-2020 Strategic Plan for Transport and Infrastructures, published in April 2014 and reviewed in June 2015, sets a number of targets, most notably the increase of 40% in the number of tonne-kilometres transported by rail, by 2020;
- The White Paper on Transport, adopted by the European Commission in 2011, proposes transferring 30% of the road freight traffic in distances longer than 300 km, and over 50% by 2050, to other modes, such as rail or inland waterway/sea, by 2030, with the support of efficient and ecological corridors.
Progress analysis:
Modal split of freight transport, in Portugal
Source: Eurostat, 2018
Modal split of freight transport, in the EU-28
Source: Eurostat, 2018
Evolution of goods transported, by mode of transport
Notas: a) Only transport carried out by mainland operators;
b) In sea and air transport, only shipment movements were considered
Source: INE, 2018
Freight transport showed a positive evolution in all modes of transport, with a notable increase in transport through national airports (+ 21% in 2017, after + 2.3% in 2016).
Road transport continues to be predominant, reaching 157.7 million tonnes of goods in 2017, resulting in 34.1 billion tonnes per kilometre (tkm). Differences between the variables were observed, with tonnage growing by 6.1% (after -4.0% in 2016 and -1.9% in 2015) and tkm decreasing by 1.8% (after the increase of 6.6% in 2016 that had recovered from the reduction of 10.5% in the previous year). In 2017, there was no significant change in the number of vehicles used for the transportation of goods by road, with the number of 42.7 thousand vehicles remaining.
The movement of goods by rail increased by 2.0% in 2017 (totaling 10.6 million tonnes), after a reduction of 6.3% in 2016. In terms of transport volume (tonnes per km), there was a decrease of 0.8% over the previous year, with the average route of each ton being 258.7 km, -7.5 km than in 2016.
In terms of maritime transport, there was an increase of 3.6% in the number of tonnes handled, reaching some 87 million tonnes of goods.
Modal split of freight transport, exports from Portugal, in 2017
Source: INE, 2018
Modal split of freight transport, imports to Portugal, in 2017
Source: INE, 2018
The volume of exports in 2017 totalled 37.5 million tons of goods, of which 54.6% of the volume was carried by maritime transport, followed by road transport that ensured the export of 39.1% of the quantity transported. Air transport handled 3,4% of the total exported quantity (including fuel for aircraft supply at the beginning of the journey), while rail transport represented only 0.6% of the total exported tonnage.
In the main modes of transport, there were increases of 5.7% and 2.9% in the quantities exported, respectively by sea and road (in 2016 these registered decreases of 3.2% and 5.7%). The export value for these modes of transport showed increases of 17.4% and 6.4%.
By rail, despite a reduction of 17.9% compared to 2016, in the exported quantities, there was an increase of 66.5% in export value.
In relation to imports of goods in 2017, 63.6 million tons (61.6% of the total quantity) entered the country through the national ports. The Road was the second most used transport mode, ensuring the import of 19.5 million tons (30.6% of the total imported).
In the less expressive railway mode, there was a decrease of 49.0% in imported quantities, after a significant increase in 2016 (+ 45.7%). By air, there was an increase of 31.1% (+ 8.7% in 2016)
Gas and oil pipelines, postal consignments and self-propulsion ensured 3.6% of imports.
Last update:
Thursday, 31 January, 2019
More information at:
Institute for Mobility and Transport – www.imtt.pt
Statistics Portugal – www.ine.pt
Eurostat - http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat