Inland water transport ("Waterborne transport")

3.8% increase in Belgian inland navigation in 2024

Mobility
3.8% increase in Belgian inland navigation in 2024

In 2024, inland waterway vessels have transported a total of 166 million tonnes of goods, representing an increase of 3.8% compared to 2023. This is what emerged from the new results of Statbel, the Belgian statistical office.

Container transport by inland waterway vessels, on the other hand, continued its downward trend. In 2024, 15.6 million tonnes of goods were transported by container, representing a decrease of 2.5% compared to 2023.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, inland waterway vessels have transported 42.6 million tonnes of goods on Belgian inland waterways instead of 41.2 million tonnes in the third quarter of 2024. This is an increase of 3.4% compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 12.7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.

The container transport by inland waterway vessels fell to 3.7 million tonnes, i.e. a decrease of 4.7% compared to the previous quarter but an increase of 2.7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.

These figures relate to the inland navigation of all ships on Belgian inland waterways, including those from abroad.

Table
Content
Quarter Transported weight Tonne-km Transported weight per container
2018/Q1 39,348,692 2,052,342,115 5,741,358
2018/Q2 40,619,511 2,103,234,667 5,678,761
2018/Q3 35,978,379 1,874,090,340 5,070,671
2018/Q4 36,025,810 1,956,109,160 4,451,900
2019/Q1 38,026,266 1,941,049,596 5,215,364
2019/Q2 39,983,550 1,979,761,704 5,461,290
2019/Q3 38,371,338 1,910,982,385 5,365,233
2019/Q4 39,314,170 1,934,711,151 5,334,016
2020/Q1 39,684,955 1,795,401,808 5,321,651
2020/Q2 38,669,948 1,806,398,556 4,951,470
2020/Q3 38,253,924 1,814,393,276 5,362,097
2020/Q4 39,522,447 1,971,835,077 5,663,688
2021/Q1 39,111,167 1,961,175,897 5,547,540
2021/Q2 42,203,807 2,146,359,164 5,886,695
2021/Q3 41,612,502 2,034,123,285 5,756,399
2021/Q4 43,235,012 2,038,372,119 5,216,196
2022/Q1 42,617,037 1,985,472,371 5,122,911
2022/Q2 42,053,480 1,970,140,468 5,164,952
2022/Q3 38,516,883 1,796,776,265 4,168,805
2022/Q4 39,835,831 1,806,648,678 4,526,526
2023/Q1 41,797,662 1,821,785,809 4,441,915
2023/Q2 41,608,109 1,820,486,909 4,150,624
2023/Q3 38,796,979 1,660,159,882 3,802,151
2023/Q4 37,786,948 1,649,076,430 3,649,292
2024/Q1 39,873,791 1,702,602,845 3,943,528
2024/Q2 42,322,988 1,820,061,687 4,014,000
2024/Q3 41,198,870 1,825,545,698 3,933,459
2024/Q4 42,600,784 1,921,168,573 3,748,332
Source (mention obligatoire) : Statbel (Direction générale Statistique - Statistics Belgium)
*TEU:Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit.

Purpose and brief description

Inland water transport according to the period, the origin, the destination, the nature of the goods and the nature of the ship. Evolution of the Belgian inland waterway fleet (number, capacity, age, etc. of ships). Evolution of the Belgian inland waterway network.

Population

Transport of goods by inland waterway vessels between two ports of a national territory irrespective of the nationality of the vessel.

Periodicity

Quarterly

Release calendar

Availability of the results: 5 months after the reference period.

Remarks

In 2007, this method was adapted to a new Eurostat regulation concerning the goods classification. Therefore, the figures for 2007 and after can no longer be compared with the previous years.

Legal reference

Commission Regulation (EC) No 425/2007 of 19 April 2007 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1365/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council on statistics of goods transport by inland waterways.

Metadata