According to Eurostat, the modal split of freight transport in Portugal is dominated by road transport which, in 2019, had a share of 87%, 12.4 p.p. more than the EU-28 average. On the other hand, the relevance of rail transport is greater in Europe, reaching a share of 17.6% in freight transport, while in Portugal it has a share of only 13%.
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 and 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;
- The National Energy and Climate Plan for 2030 (PNEC 2030), drawn up following the EU Regulation 2018/1999, defines, among others, the objectives of promoting the production and consumption of alternative renewable fuels, in particular for the sectors of long-distance heavy-duty freight transport, heavy-duty transport of passengers, maritime freight and aviation, and to promote freight transport by rail and sea.
Progress analysis:
Modal split of freight transport, in Portugal
Source: Eurostat, 2021
Modal split of freight transport, in the EU-28
Source: Eurostat, 2021
Evolution of goods transported, by mode of transport
Notas: a) Only transport carried out by mainland operators; (b) In maritime and air transport, in the national transport component, for the purposes of greater comparability between modes, only boarding movements were considered
Source: INE, 2021
In 2020, freight transport showed a marked reduction in all modes of transport, following the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Road transport continued to be predominant, reaching 131.5 million tonnes of goods in 2020 (24.4 billion tonnes per kilometre [tkm]). The variation rate of transported tonness was -10.6% in 2020, compared to 2019 (in 2019 it had been -8.4% compared to the previous year).
Freight transport by rail decreased 10.6% in 2020 (totalling 8.7 million tonnes), after a reduction of 2.2% in 2019. In terms of transport volume (tonnes per km) there was a decrease of 3.1% over the previous year.
In terms of maritime transport, there was a decrease of 6.7% in the number of tonnes handled, reaching some 73.8 million tonnes of goods.
Air freight transport continued to be the least significant of the modes, reaching 133 thousand tonnes at international airports and recording the largest annual decrease (-31.5%).
Modal split of freight transport, exports from Portugal, in 2020
Source: INE, 2021
The volume of exports totalled, in 2020, 36.9 million tons of goods, which represents a decrease of 5.6% (+1.0% in 2019). 51.5% of the total volume was transported by sea, followed by road, which ensured the export of 43.2%. Airway handled 1.7% of the total exported quantity, while rail transport represented only 0.5% of the total exported tonnes.
In the main modes of freight transport, sea and road, there were reductions of 2.5% and 5.4% in exported quantities, respectively. The export value for these modes of transport showed decreases of 16.4% (by sea) and 6.2% (by road).
By rail, there was a reduction in exported quantities of 12.7%, compared to 2019, which had no impact on the export value, which increased by 3.6%.
Exports by air suffered the biggest decrease in the quantity exported, -56.2%, which corresponded to a 29.3% reduction in the export value.
Modal split of freight transport, imports to Portugal, in 2020
Source: INE, 2021
In 2020, imports of goods totalled 55.5 million, which corresponded to a decrease of 10.7% (-0.9% in 2019).
Of the imported goods, 32.3 million tonnes (58.1% of the total quantity) entered the country by sea (-15.5% than in 2019). The highway was the second most used mode of transport, ensuring the import of 19.9 million tonnes, which corresponds to 35.9% of the total imported (-2.2% than in 2019).
In the rail mode there was a decrease of 6.9% in the quantities imported, while the air route registered a reduction of 14.3%.
In 2020, the value of imports of goods reached 68.1 billion euros, which corresponds to a 14.8% reduction compared to the previous year (+6.0% in 2019).
Last update:
Friday, 12 November, 2021
More information at:
Institute for Mobility and Transport – https://www.imt-ip.pt/
Statistics Portugal – https://www.ine.pt/
Eurostat - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database