In 2023, seaports in the EU handled 3.4 billion tonnes of cargo, down 3.9% from 2022. Coal, crude oil and gas accounted for the largest share of cargo (21%). Other key categories included petroleum products (16.1%), ore and mining products (7.2%), and agricultural and forestry products (6.8%).
The Netherlands remains the leader in cargo handling, accounting for 16.1% of the total (545 million tonnes), followed by Italy (501 million tonnes) and Spain (472 million tonnes). However, all three countries experienced a decrease in cargo turnover compared to 2022: by 7.6% in the Netherlands, by 1.7% in Italy and by 3.7% in Spain. Overall, a decline was recorded in 17 of the 22 EU countries.
Among the largest ports, Rotterdam (11% of the EU total), Antwerp-Bruges and Hamburg remain the leaders. The largest growth was demonstrated by Gdansk (+26.3%), Constanta (+17%) and Piraeus (+5.6%), while Amsterdam and Trieste experienced the largest decline – more than 12%.