Transport in foreign shipping traffic increased by 5 per cent in 2025

Exports in foreign sea transport increased and imports decreased

In 2025, foreign sea transport increased by 5 per cent compared to 2024. A total of 90.2 million tonnes of goods were transported. Exports went up by 11 per cent and amounted to 45.2 million tonnes. Imports decreased by one per cent and totalled 45.0 million tonnes. The volume of sea transport has last had significant growth in 2018.

The most transported goods in foreign shipping traffic were general cargo, oil products and crude oil, which make up 44 per cent of all transport. The most imported goods were crude oil, general cargo and ores and concentrates, and most exported were oil products, general cargo and paper. Compared to 2024, the biggest changes in imports concerned imports of crude oil, which grew by 19 per cent and imports of timber, which decreased by 22 per cent. As for exports, the biggest changes occurred in exports of oil products, which increased by 25 per cent and exports of fertilisers, which increased by 33 per cent.

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Measured by the volume of goods transported, the biggest port in 2025 was Sköldvik, through which 22.5 million tonnes of goods were transported, most of which were crude oil and oil products. The next most goods were transported through the ports of Helsinki, HaminaKotka, Raahe and Hanko.

Most sea transport between Finland and Sweden

In all, 47 per cent of goods imported in foreign shipping traffic came from ports in the Baltic Sea area and only 11 per cent from other than European ports. Altogether 54 per cent of export goods were exported to ports in the Baltic Sea area and 14 per cent were exported outside European ports. Combining imports and exports, most sea transport took place between Finland and Sweden in 2025, totalling 14.2 million tonnes. Most goods were imported from Norway, 10.3 million tonnes and most were exported to Germany, 8.2 million tonnes.

The volumes transported between Finland and Russia, which have decreased since 2022, decreased further in 2025. The volume of Russian transport totalled 0.07 million tonnes, which is only one per cent of the volume of transport in 2021.

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Transport performance increased by 5 per cent from the previous year

During 2025, the transport performance of foreign shipping traffic totalled 226 billion tonne-kilometres. The transport performance of exports amounted to 120 billion tonne-kilometres and that of imports to 106 billion tonne-kilometres. The transport performance of exports increased by 7 per cent and that of imports by three per cent compared to 2024. Changes in the import and export countries and transport volume of goods are directly reflected in the transport performance.

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Transit transport through Finnish ports increased by 33 per cent

Transit transport through Finnish ports totalled 3.5 million tonnes in 2025. Most of this was transit exports, 3.2 million tonnes. Transit imports amounted to 0.3 million tonnes. The majority of transit exports, 93 per cent, consist of fertilisers. One-half of transit imports are general cargo.

The volume of transit transport increased by 33 per cent compared to 2024. The volume of transit exports increased by 32 per cent and that of transit imports by 49 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

The volume of goods transported in 2025 in containers and transport equipment totalled 27.2 million tonnes, which is 30 per cent of all goods transported in foreign shipping traffic.

A total of 11.2 million tonnes of goods were transported in containers through Finnish ports in 2025. The volume was eight per cent higher than in 2024. The number of containers transported was 0.8 million, which corresponds to 1.4 million TEU containers.

A total of 16.0 million tonnes of goods were transported in goods transport equipment, which is two per cent more than in 2024. 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 grew slightly

In 2025, the number of passengers in foreign shipping traffic increased by two per cent compared to 2024. A total of 13.9 million persons were transported in passenger traffic. Of the passengers in shipping traffic, 96 per cent travelled on routes to Estonia and Sweden. In all, 7.5 million passengers travelled between Finland and Estonia and 5.8 million between Finland and Sweden. A total of 0.2 million passengers travelled between Finland and Germany.

In 2024, altogether 181,327 passengers of foreign cruise ships arrived in Finland, which is 20 per cent fewer than in 2024.

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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 2025, no goods were transported at all through the Saimaa Canal.