In terms of tonne-kilometres (tkm), European road freight transport increased by 4.5 % from 2016 to 2017. In 2017, the European road freight transport was the highest recorded over the last 5 years: it increased by 11.8 % from 2013 to 2017.

National transport in the EU, representing 63.5 % of total transport, recorded a 9.9 % increase from 2013 to 2017, while cross-trade and cabotage transport, representing 12.1 % of total transport, recorded a high and continuous increase of 38.5 % over this period.

EU-28 national and international road freight transport, covering goods loaded and unloaded, increased from 2016 to 2017 by 3.5 % and 4.6 % respectively. Cross-trade and cabotage both recorded substantial growth, of 8.5 % and 17.1 % respectively.

In 2017, Poland (17.5 % of EU total tkm) reconfirmed its position as one of the most significant countries for road transport in Europe. Lithuania (26.2 %), Cyprus (17.5 %), Greece (15.5 %) and Poland (15.3 %) were the Member States recording the highest rise in tkm performed from 2016 to 2017, while at the other end of the scale, Belgium registered a substantial decline (-13.4 %), followed by Czechia (-12.0 %) and Estonia (-7.8 %).

Seven EU Member States (Spain, France, Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovenia) registered increases in all transport types, with rises ranging between 4.4 % and 26.2 % in total transport. Croatia, Sweden and Lithuania recorded very strong growth for cabotage. In cross-trade transport, Italy, the United Kingdom and Ireland experienced considerable increases.

Among other countries with a large road transport industry, France, Spain and Italy saw rises ranging from 6.3 % to 7.6 %, driven by important increases in national transport, while Germany and the United Kingdom reported decreases of 0.8 % and 0.7 % respectively, due to decreases in national or international transport.