Cyprus road freight activity continues to grow in first quarter

Road freight transport in Cyprus increased in the first quarter of 2026, with the weight of goods moved within the country rising by 2.3 per cent and freight transported to and from Cyprus climbing by 9.3 per cent, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Statistical Service. During January to March 2026, the total weight of goods transported by road within Cyprus was higher than in the corresponding quarter of 2025, while freight movements involving Cyprus recorded a substantially stronger increase. The figures point to continued growth in road-based goods movement despite Cyprus’ reliance on international shipping and air transport for many external trade links. Eurostat data also show that Cyprus recorded 1,099 million tonne-kilometres of road freight transport in 2025, up slightly from 1,096 million in 2024 and 1,023 million in 2023. Tonne-kilometres measure the transport performance of freight by combining the weight of goods moved with the distance travelled, providing an indication of the overall volume of road freight activity. The latest Cyprus figures therefore come against a wider European backdrop of gradually rising road freight activity. Across the European Union, total road freight transport reached 1,886 billion tonne-kilometres in 2025, an increase of 0.9 per cent from 1,869 billion tonne-kilometres in 2024. The 2024 figure had itself represented a 0.6 per cent increase from 1,857 billion tonne-kilometres in 2023. In terms of physical volume, almost 13.3 billion tonnes of goods were transported by road across the EU in 2025. National transport accounted for the largest share of European road freight activity, representing 62.2 per cent of the total in 2025. National transport increased by 0.8 per cent in 2024 and by a further 2.2 per cent in 2025. International transport accounted for almost one quarter of total EU road freight transport, at 24.4 per cent, and recorded a modest 0.3 per cent increase in 2025 after declining by 1.5 per cent in 2024 compared with 2023. Cross-trade and cabotage together represented 13.4 per cent of EU road freight transport in 2025, but both declined during the year. Cross-trade transport fell by 3.7 per cent compared with 2024, while cabotage decreased by 3 per cent. Both had recorded increases in 2024, when cross-trade rose by 3.4 per cent and cabotage by 4.7 per cent. Among individual EU countries, Poland remained the largest contributor to road freight transport performance in 2025, accounting for 20.2 per cent of the EU total measured in tonne-kilometres. Germany followed with 14.7 per cent, while Spain accounted for 14.5 per cent. For Poland, international transport, cross-trade and cabotage together accounted for 60 per cent of its road freight performance, while national transport represented the remaining 40 per cent. Road freight activity varied significantly across the EU during 2025. Thirteen EU countries recorded declines compared with 2024, with the sharpest falls reported in Luxembourg at 14.1 per cent, Slovenia at 10.7 per cent and Estonia at 10.3 per cent. Eleven countries recorded increases, led by Ireland with a rise of 10.5 per cent, Portugal with 10.3 per cent and Croatia with 7.7 per cent. Road freight transport remained broadly unchanged in Bulgaria and Lithuania between 2024 and 2025. The longer-term picture was similarly mixed, with road freight transport falling in 10 EU countries between 2023 and 2024. The declines during that period ranged from 18.6 per cent in Bulgaria to 0.4 per cent in Austria and Belgium. Transport increased in 15 EU countries, with the strongest growth recorded in Slovakia at 15.9 per cent and the weakest in the Netherlands at 0.4 per cent, while Croatia remained stable. The type of goods being moved also provides an indication of the role road transport plays in the European economy. Food products, beverages and tobacco were the largest category by tonne-kilometres in 2025, generating 311.1 billion tonne-kilometres across the EU. Germany was the territory with the highest volume of freight transported by road when measured in tonnes. It was also particularly prominent in international road freight, being either the origin or destination of almost half of the 20 largest country-to-country road freight flows within the EU in 2025. Eurostat’s quarterly data show that national transport generally accounts for the largest share of European road freight, although international, cross-trade and cabotage operations remain significant components of the market. In the first quarter of 2025, for example, EU national road freight amounted to 288.438 billion tonne-kilometres, while international transport accounted for 125.005 billion and cross-trade and cabotage for a combined 63.893 billion. The corresponding figures in the second quarter were 296.243 billion for national transport, 114.029 billion for international transport and 65.212 billion for cross-trade and cabotage. In the third quarter, national transport reached 292.689 billion tonne-kilometres, international transport stood at 105.703 billion and cross-trade and cabotage at 60.898 billion. The fourth quarter recorded 295.146 billion tonne-kilometres of national transport, 115.763 billion of international transport and 63.008 billion of cross-trade and cabotage. Eurostat’s road freight statistics exclude Malta because of the methodology used for the data collection. The figures underline the importance of road transport even in a wider logistics system that also depends heavily on ports, airports and railways. According to shipping and logistics company DHL, the principal advantage of road freight is the extensive infrastructure available to trucks, pointing out that road networks form by far the largest inland transport infrastructure in Europe. “No other means of transport has access to a comparable infrastructure as trucks,” DHL says. The company also stresses that road freight is not dependent on logistical hubs such as ports, airports or railway stations, while almost any destination for goods can be reached by road. This flexibility also makes road transport an important link between different modes of transport. “In the vast majority of cases, they require additional road transport to get the goods from the (air) port or train station to the plant or warehouse or vice versa,” DHL says, referring to water, air and rail transport. DHL argues that the range and flexibility of road freight provide “almost unlimited possibilities for getting goods from one place to another”. For Cyprus, where international trade is heavily dependent on maritime connections, the latest increase in freight movements to and from the island highlights the continuing role of road haulage in connecting businesses, warehouses, ports and final destinations. The 9.3 per cent increase in freight transported to and from Cyprus in the first quarter therefore represents a significantly stronger rate of growth than the 2.3 per cent increase recorded for goods transported by road within the country. Taken together with Eurostat’s longer-term figures, the data point to a road freight sector that has continued to expand in Cyprus, albeit at a modest pace when measured by overall tonne-kilometres. The wider EU market also continued to grow in 2025, although the performance differed sharply between countries and types of road freight operation.