Sea and coastal freight water transport revenue in Belgium 2012-2022

The Belgian sea and coastal freight transport industry is no longer as dynamic as it once used to be. Revenues have witnessed a sharp decline from 5.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2012 to 2.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, owing to the declining investments in sea port infrastructure, dearth in advanced cargo handling facilities, and the growing user preference towards road transport. A declining trend can also be witnessed in the country’s inland freight transport industry, due to the rising tonnage tax rates and longer transit times. As of 2018, the total freight transported by inland waterways amounted to 11.3 billion tonne-kilometers. In comparison, the total freight transported by road amounted to 32.6 billion tonne-kilometers, during the same period.

The port of Antwerp is the largest port in the country, handling a maritime cargo traffic of approximately 238 million tonnes in 2018. Some of the other significant ports in the country include the port of Bruges, the port of Brussels and the port of Ghent.