Drivers of goods energy consumption variation (EU)

The energy consumption for freight was in 2023 almost at the same level as in 2019 at EU level. This stability is explained by the fact that several factors that have contributed to increase consumption, i.e. modal shift to road transport and other effects (by respectively 2 Mtoe and 4 Mtoe), were largely counterbalanced by energy savings (6.5 Mtoe) and decrease in traffic (1 Mtoe).

Previously, the energy consumption of freight transport has slightly increased between 2010 and 2019 (+1.5%). This is the result of two opposite trends: the increase in traffic and modal shift changes have contributed to rise consumption (11 Mtoe and 1 Mtoe respectively) while energy savings have decreased consumption by 9 Mtoe.