Cyprus Climbs To Third Place In EU Dangerous Goods Road Freight
Cyprus recorded the third-highest share of dangerous goods in road freight transport across the European Union in 2025, according to Eurostat, with such cargo accounting for 7.5% of total tonne-kilometres.
Only Finland, at 9.8%, and Ireland, at 7.8%, posted higher shares. At the other end of the scale, Lithuania recorded the lowest proportion at 0.7%, while Portugal and Slovakia each stood at 1.9%.
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Dangerous goods include items such as flammable liquids, toxic substances and explosives. Across the EU, they represented 4% of road freight transport when measured by tonne-kilometres.
Cyprus Freight Volumes Continue To Rise
The figures come against a backdrop of stronger road freight activity in Cyprus during 2025. According to the Statistical Service of Cyprus, the weight of goods transported by road within the island rose by 4.8% over the year, while freight moving to and from Cyprus increased by 10%.
The momentum was particularly visible at the end of the year. In the fourth quarter alone, domestic road freight volumes were up 19.4% year on year, while freight to and from the island rose 14.2%.
EU Road Freight Edges Higher
Across the bloc, 13.29 billion tonnes of goods were transported by road in 2025, up 1.8% from 2024. Measured by weight, metal ores, mining and quarrying products formed the largest category at 3.04 billion tonnes, or 22.9% of the EU total.
Food products, beverages and tobacco followed at 1.61 billion tonnes, while other non-metallic mineral products accounted for 1.6 billion tonnes. Both categories represented 12.1% of the total.
The ranking changes when freight is measured in tonne-kilometres, which captures both the weight carried and the distance travelled. In that measure, food products, beverages and tobacco led the way at 311.1 billion tonne-kilometres, equal to 16.6% of the EU total.
They were followed by grouped goods, which cover different types of goods transported together, at 237.1 billion tonne-kilometres, and agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing products at 206.3 billion tonne-kilometres.
Poland Dominates EU Freight Activity
Overall EU road freight activity reached 1,886 billion tonne-kilometres in 2025, up 0.9% year on year. Poland remained the bloc’s largest road freight operator by some distance, posting 381 billion tonne-kilometres, or 20.2% of the total.
Germany followed with 277.4 billion tonne-kilometres, ahead of Spain at 272.6 billion, France at 172.9 billion and Italy at 161.7 billion. Together, those five countries accounted for 67.1% of EU road freight activity.
Cyprus recorded about 1.1 billion tonne-kilometres in 2025, broadly unchanged from the previous year.
Most EU road freight remained domestic, accounting for 62.2% of total tonne-kilometres. International transport represented 24.4%, cross-trade 10.7% and cabotage 2.7%.
