Overview Of Maritime Passenger Trends

Recent Eurostat data indicate that Cyprus handled just 9,000 maritime passengers in 2024, one of the lowest figures in the European Union. This contrasts sharply with pre‐pandemic levels, when Cyprus saw more robust traffic, reaching 53,000 passengers in 2019. The fluctuations—with a notable dip to 5,000 during the height of the COVID crisis in 2020—illustrate the sector’s gradual, although uneven, recovery.

EU Recovery And Comparative Analysis

Across the EU, maritime travel is rebounding with 412.3 million passengers recorded in 2024, marking a 4.8 percent increase of 18.8 million passengers compared to 2023. However, when benchmarked against 2019, passenger numbers remain 1.4 percent lower, emphasizing persistent challenges in the recovery process. Further detail, as explained in Eurostat’s comprehensive article on maritime passenger statistics, underscores the importance of monitoring these trends.

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Country And Port Performance

A closer analysis reveals that ten EU countries, each with over ten million passengers, cumulatively accounted for 95.4 percent of all seaborne transport. Italian ports led the region by processing 93.5 million passengers, thereby commanding 22.7 percent of the EU’s total, followed by Greek ports at 81.1 million passengers (19.7 percent) and Denmark with 41.3 million passengers (10 percent).

Between 2019 and 2024, several nations recorded gains in passenger numbers—Greece saw an increase of 7.1 million (9.7 percent), Italy added 7 million (8 percent), and Malta experienced a substantial surge of 14.9 percent with 2 million additional passengers. Conversely, countries such as Sweden (an 18.7 percent drop), Finland (a 25.1 percent decline), and Germany (a 9.8 percent decrease) registered significant downturns.

Key Port Hubs And Future Outlook

The analysis of individual ports shows that the ten busiest EU passenger hubs handled 22.1 percent of the bloc’s total traffic, with seven of these ports located in the Mediterranean region. Notably, Messina emerged as the busiest EU passenger port in 2024 with 11.4 million passengers, followed closely by Reggio di Calabria (11.2 million) and Napoli (11 million), the latter posting the largest year-on-year increase of 18.5 percent (or 1.7 million more passengers). In contrast, Helsinki reported the steepest decline, with a 19.7 percent drop amounting to 2.3 million fewer passengers.

This diverse performance across regions underscores both the resilience and the vulnerability of EU maritime transport. As the sector continues to navigate post-pandemic disruptions, stakeholders will need to balance efforts to stimulate growth against the backdrop of evolving travel demands and economic pressures.