Number of passengers in foreign sea transport was 67 per cent of the pre-pandemic level in 2022

Imports in foreign sea transport increased by 12 per cent and exports decreased by nine per cent

The total volume of foreign sea transport remained nearly unchanged compared to the previous year. A total of 94.8 million tonnes of goods were transported. Imports increased by 12 per cent to 48.9 million tonnes, and exports decreased by nine per cent to 46.0 million tonnes.

The most transported goods in foreign sea transport were general cargo, oil products and crude oil, which make up 41 per cent of all transport. The most imported goods were crude oil, general cargo and ores and concentrates, and most exported were general cargo, oil products and paper.

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The busiest ports for goods transport were, in order, Sköldvik, HaminaKotka, Helsinki, Raahe and Hanko.

In all, 69 per cent of goods imported in foreign sea transport came from countries in the Baltic Sea area and only 11 per cent from other than European ports. Altogether 52 per cent of export goods were exported to the Baltic Sea area countries and 19 per cent were exported outside European ports.

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As a result of the Russian war of aggression, imports from Russia decreased in total by 67 per cent in 2022 and by 79 per cent compared to 2019 before the pandemic. A majority of imports from Russia consisted of crude oil, the imports of which decreased by 74 per cent compared to 2021. As a result, imports of crude oil, especially from Norway, have multiplied. In 2021, altogether 81 per cent of all crude oil imported to Finland was imported from Russia, but in 2022, the share of Russia was only 17 per cent.

Transport performance grew by 20 per cent from the previous year

During 2022, the transport performance of foreign sea transport totalled 267.4 billion tonne-kilometres. The transport performance of exports amounted to 145.5 billion tonne-kilometres and that of imports to 121.8 billion tonne-kilometres. The growth in the transport performance is mostly due to the large increase in the transport performance of imports, which was 75 per cent. In turn, the transport performance of exports decreased by five per cent. Changes in the import and export countries of goods are reflected directly in the transport performance.

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Transit transport through Finnish ports decreased by 38 per cent

Transit transport through Finnish ports totalled 5.1 million tonnes. Most of this was transit exports, 4.6 million tonnes. Transit imports amounted to 0.5 million tonnes The majority of transit exports consists of fertilisers, chemicals and coal and coke. These groups of goods form 89 per cent of transit exports. Over two-thirds of transit imports consist of general cargo.

The volume of transit transport decreased by 38 per cent compared to 2021. The volume of transit exports decreased by 39 per cent and transit imports by 16 per cent. Russia's attack on Ukraine has caused changes, especially in Russian transit transport.

Nearly one-third of the volume of goods was transported in containers and transport equipment

A total of 11.2 million tonnes of goods were transported in containers through Finnish ports in 2022. The figure was two per cent lower than in 2021. The number of containers transported was 0.8 million (1.4 million TEU containers). Measured in tonnes, exports of goods transported in containers went down by four per cent and imports grew by one per cent compared to 2021.

A total of 17.2 million tonnes of goods were transported by goods transport equipment and 3.2 million transport equipment were transported in total. Of goods transport equipment, lorries and lorry trailers were transported most, in all 1.2 million.

The volume of goods transported in transport equipment and containers totalled 28.4 million tonnes, which is 30 per cent of all goods transported in sea transport.

Number of passengers in foreign sea transport doubled compared to the previous year that was slowed down by the pandemic

In 2022, the number of passengers in foreign sea transport doubled compared to 2021. Despite the growing number of passengers, passengers made up only 67 per cent of the level of 2019 prior to the pandemic.

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A total of 12.8 million persons were transported in passenger traffic in 2022. Of the passengers in sea transport, 96 per cent travelled on routes to Estonia and Sweden. In all, 6.3 million passengers travelled between Finland and Estonia and 5.9 million between Finland and Sweden. A total of 0.2 million passengers travelled between Finland and Germany. No passengers travelled between Finland and Russia in 2022.

In 2022, a total of 171,878 passengers of foreign cruise ships arrived in Finland, which is considerably more than in 2021, but still only 28 per cent compared to the number of passengers in 2019 prior to the pandemic, which was 609,839.

Transport through the Saimaa Canal in practice stopped in early 2022

Russia's attack on Ukraine in practice stopped traffic through the Saimaa Canal in the early part of 2022. A total of 20,747 tonnes of goods were transported through the Saimaa Canal in foreign transport, which is under two per cent of the transport during the year before when 1,227,094 tonnes of goods were transported. Most traffic through the Saimaa Canal comprises foreign traffic.