France cabotage road freight: tonne-kilometres
France cabotage road freight: tonne-kilometres stood at 568 million tonne-km in 2025, according to SDES – Service des données et études statistiques (Ministère de la Transition écologique). It is one of the indicators in the Freight transport (annual) table (Value · Annual), with a complete series running from 1999 to 2025. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Freight transport (annual) table
| Indicator | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total road freight transport | 172,907 | 174,015 | 169,240 | 173,353 | 174,853 | 169,663 | 174,061 | 171,875 | 167,691 | 155,843 | |
| International transport | 12,925 | 13,310 | 11,927 | 12,818 | 12,280 | 11,504 | 11,557 | 12,251 | 11,815 | 11,638 | |
| Cabotage | 568 | 576 | 473 | 601 | 626 | 559 | 361 | 315 | 282 | 249 |
Understanding france cabotage road freight: tonne-kilometres
Recording national haulage operators performing transport services entirely within a foreign country, this metric quantifies cabotage road freight performance in tonne-kilometres. It measures temporary transport operations executed inside a foreign national territory by resident carriers of the reporting country, excluding any cross-border trunk legs. This category isolates foreign domestic activities from international transit and domestic-market transport, highlighting the extent of cross-border market penetration by resident logistics firms. It serves as an indicator of international service mobility within foreign transport sectors.
Reading these figures requires careful attention to foreign regulatory frameworks, cabotage quotas, and licensing restrictions that can abruptly alter operational volumes. Revisions are frequent as statistical agencies reconcile foreign administrative records with domestic transport enterprise surveys. Analysts must avoid conflating cabotage with cross-trade or bilateral transport, as cabotage is strictly internal to a foreign state. Year-on-year comparisons provide the only reliable framework for evaluating structural engagement in foreign domestic transport markets, filtering out seasonal licensing adjustments and temporary operational constraints.
Frequently asked questions
- What defines cabotage transport in this dataset?
- Cabotage refers to transport services performed by a resident haulier entirely within the borders of a foreign country.
- Does this series include the international journey to reach the foreign country?
- No, the international transit leg is excluded, leaving only the transport executed within the foreign territory.
- How does cabotage differ from cross-trade transport?
- Cabotage occurs entirely within a single foreign country, whereas cross-trade involves transport between two different foreign countries.