The Netherlands remained the largest maritime freight transport country in Europe in 2022.
Rotterdam remained the biggest European port in 2022, followed by Antwerpen-Bruges of Belgium and Hamburg of Germany. The three ports generated a fifth of the overall seaborne freight transport in Europe.
While the sector generally rebounded last year after the Covid pandemic, there were also ports that suffered freight traffic declines. The biggest drop was registered by Piraeus, followed by Bremerhaven of Germany and Valencia of Spain.
At EU level, maritime freight traffic went up by 0.8% last year, to 3.4 billlion tons, after the pandemic caused a decline of 7.3% in 2020, followed by a 4% plus in 2021.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)