Poland's share of EU road freight in 2025: Eurostat data

Three countries, almost half the market

Eurostat puts total EU road freight at 1,886 billion tonne-kilometres in 2025, up from 1,869 billion in 2024. Poland, Germany and Spain together accounted for 49.4% of that total (our sum of the published shares).

Eurostat counts transport by the country where the vehicle is registered, not where the kilometres are driven. A Polish truck running between France and Germany counts towards Poland's share.

Mostly outside Poland

For Poland, international transport, cross-trade and cabotage together made up 60.0% of road freight performance in 2025, and national transport 40.0%. Eurostat gives this country-level split only for Poland in its 2025 article.

The EU-wide split looks very different:

• National transport: 62.2% of EU tonne-kilometres
• International transport (to or from the country of registration): 24.4%
• Cross-trade and cabotage combined (work between or inside other countries): 13.4%

Compared with 2024, Eurostat reports national transport up 2.2% and international transport up 0.3%, while cross-trade fell 3.7% and cabotage fell 3.0%.

Long distances are Poland's home ground

Eurostat also breaks performance down by distance class. In the classes from 150 to 999 kilometres, Poland recorded 231 billion tonne-kilometres, ahead of Germany with 171 billion and Spain with 158 billion. These are partial totals for those distance classes, not each country's overall figure.

The journey data help explain why international work dominates the distance figures. Across the EU in 2025, the average laden journey was 142.3 km overall, but 593.5 km for international transport and 726.1 km for cross-trade, against 97.5 km for national transport.

Longer laden journeys go together with a lower share of empty running. Eurostat reports that 12.9% of vehicle-kilometres in international transport were driven empty in 2025, compared with 26.0% in national transport.

The eastern dimension

Road trade with Ukraine is part of the picture for Polish and Romanian hauliers. Citing Eurostat, the European Commission reported in September 2025 that Poland's road exports to Ukraine rose 85% between 2021 and 2024, Romania's 124% and Slovakia's 106%.

What it means for carriers and brokers

For Polish carriers, the figures show that most of their work is international and long-distance, often far from home. That makes the return leg critical: a truck that delivers in Spain, France or the Benelux needs its next load near the drop, not a long empty run back east. The guide to return loads in Europe and the guide to finding truck loads in Europe cover how to plan those legs.

For brokers and forwarders elsewhere in the EU, the data show how much of the long-distance road capacity working across the EU is registered in Poland. When covering an international lane, it is worth looking beyond carriers from the origin and destination countries. More background on the market is in the EU section.

The figures describe 2025. Eurostat plans its next update of the road freight statistics article for July 2027.