A total of 3.4 billion tons of goods were transported through EU ports in 2023, marking a 3.9% decrease compared to 2022 but a 5.0% increase from 2013, according to Eurostat. Cyprus stood out as one of the few EU countries to report an increase in freight volume, recording a 6.2% growth.

The overall decline in freight traffic primarily affected major EU ports, with coal, crude oil, and natural gas making up 21.0% of the total goods handled. Other significant categories included petroleum products (16.1%), mining materials (7.2%), agricultural goods (6.8%), chemicals and plastics (6.4%), and food and beverages (4.7%).

In Cyprus, coke (coking coal) and petroleum products accounted for the largest share of transported goods at 42.5%, followed by non-metallic mineral products (9.2%), agricultural goods (6.6%), basic metals and metal products (3.9%), mining materials (3.4%), and secondary raw materials and waste (2.7%).

The Netherlands led EU maritime trade with 545 million tons, followed by Italy (501 million tons) and Spain (472 million tons). However, all three countries experienced reductions compared to 2022. Among the 22 EU countries with available data, 17 reported decreases in freight volume, with Estonia (-31.0%), Latvia (-21.5%), and Finland (-9.0%) seeing the largest declines.