Transport in foreign shipping traffic decreased by 1.5 per cent in 2024

Exports of foreign sea transport decreased and imports remained on level with the previous year

In 2024, foreign sea transport decreased by 1.5 per cent compared to 2023. A total of 86.0 million tonnes of goods were transported. Exports decreased by 3.7 per cent and amounted to 40.7 million tonnes. Imports went up by 0.5 per cent and totalled 45.3 million tonnes. The volume of sea transport has last had significant growth in 2018. The volume of transport was last lower than this in 2009.

The most transported goods in foreign shipping traffic were general cargo, oil products and crude oil, which make up 43 per cent of all transport. The most imported goods were crude oil, general cargo and oil products, and most exported were general cargo, oil products and paper. Compared to 2023, the biggest changes occurred in imports of crude oil, which decreased by 18 per cent and imports of oil products, which grew by 33 per cent.

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Measured by the volume of goods transported, the biggest port in 2024 was Sköldvik, through which 19.4 million tonnes of goods were transported, most of which were oil products and crude oil. The next most goods were transported through the ports of Helsinki, HaminaKotka, Raahe and Rauma.

Most sea transport between Finland and Sweden

In all, 69 per cent of goods imported in foreign shipping traffic came from ports in the Baltic Sea area and only 10 per cent from other than European ports. Altogether 56 per cent of export goods were exported to ports in the Baltic Sea area and 16 per cent were exported outside European ports. Combining imports and exports, most sea transport took place between Finland and Sweden in 2024, totalling 13.4 million tonnes. Most goods were imported from Norway, 9.2 million tonnes and most were exported to Germany, 8.0 million tonnes.

The volumes transported between Finland and Russia, which have decreased since 2022 as a result of the Russian war of aggression, remained low in 2024 as well. The volume of Russian transport totalled 0.2 million tonnes, which is only two per cent of the volume of transport in 2021.

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Transport performance decreased by 8 per cent from the previous year

During 2024, the transport performance of foreign shipping traffic totalled 215 billion tonne-kilometres. The transport performance of exports amounted to 112 billion tonne-kilometres and that of imports to 102 billion tonne-kilometres. The transport performance of exports decreased by 11 per cent and that of imports by four per cent compared to 2023. Changes in the import and export countries and transport volume of goods are directly reflected in the transport performance.

Transit transport through Finnish ports decreased by 20 per cent

Transit transport through Finnish ports totalled 2.6 million tonnes in 2024. Most of this was transit exports, 2.4 million tonnes. Transit imports amounted to 0.2 million tonnes The majority of transit exports, 86 per cent, consist of fertilisers. Good one-half of transit imports are general cargo.

The volume of transit transport decreased by 20 per cent compared to 2023. The volume of transit exports decreased by 16 per cent and that of transit imports by 52 per cent. Russia's attack on Ukraine has caused changes especially in Russian transit transport.

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

The volume of goods transported in 2024 in containers and transport equipment totalled 26.2 million tonnes, which is 31 per cent of all goods transported in foreign shipping traffic.

A total of 10.4 million tonnes of goods were transported in containers through Finnish ports in 2024. The volume was three per cent lower than in 2023. The number of containers transported was 0.7 million, which corresponds to 1.3 million TEU containers.

A total of 15.8 million tonnes of goods were transported in goods transport equipment, which is four per cent more than in 2023. A total of 3.0 million transport equipment was transported. Most transports concerned passengers’ cars, 1.9 million, lorries, 0.7 million, and lorry trailers, 0.4 million.

Number of passengers in foreign sea transport remained on level with the previous year

In 2024, the number of passengers in foreign shipping traffic increased by 0.5 per cent compared to 2023. A total of 13.5 million persons were transported in passenger traffic. Of the passengers in shipping traffic, 97 per cent travelled on routes to Estonia and Sweden. In all, 7.5 million passengers travelled between Finland and Estonia and 5.6 million between Finland and Sweden. A total of 0.2 million passengers travelled between Finland and Germany.

In 2024, altogether 146,752 passengers of foreign cruise ships arrived in Finland, which is 12 per cent fewer than in 2023.

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No goods were transported through the Saimaa Canal

Russia's attack on Ukraine in practice stopped goods transport through the Saimaa Canal in the early part of 2022. In 2023 and 2024, no goods were transported at all through the Saimaa Canal.