France inland waterway freight: total tonnes transported
France inland waterway freight: total tonnes transported stood at 11,406 thousand tonnes in Q2 2026, according to Eurostat – inland waterway transport, quarterly (iww_go_qnave), data from VNF / SDES. It is one of the indicators in the Inland waterway freight table (Value · Quarterly), with a complete series running from Q1 1982 to Q2 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Inland waterway freight table
| Indicator | Q2-2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4-2025 | Q3-2025 | Q2-2025 | Q1-2025 | Q4-2024 | Q3-2024 | Q2-2024 | Q1-2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonnes transported | |||||||||||
| Total transport | 11,406 | 11,431 | 12,747 | 11,956 | 11,108 | 11,120 | 11,641 | 11,235 | 12,678 | 11,852 | |
| National transport | 5,369 | 5,321 | 5,977 | 5,854 | 5,253 | 5,243 | 5,454 | 5,382 | 6,110 | 5,996 |
Understanding france inland waterway freight: total tonnes transported
Aggregate physical cargo weight lifted and discharged via navigable inland water channels is registered by this metric, summing national carriage, cross-border flows, and foreign-to-foreign transit consignments. Bulk commodities, heavy manufactured goods, and containerized freight are all enumerated in direct physical mass units, ignoring the specific distance traveled across the waterway network. This metric differs from distance-weighted measures by treating a short local movement identically to a long-haul journey, thereby reflecting raw cargo handling volumes rather than operational transport effort.
Interpreting this metric requires accounting for weather-related disruptions such as river flooding or low-water droughts, which routinely depress quarterly throughput regardless of underlying economic demand. Early releases incorporate provisional carrier declarations that face subsequent revisions once administrative validation concludes. Comparing figures against corresponding quarters from prior years helps mitigate regular weather seasonality, while contrasting tonnage with distance-weighted metrics clarifies whether cargo volume shifts stem from longer haul distances or heavier overall shipments.
Frequently asked questions
- What exact cargo weight does this series capture?
- It tallies the gross physical mass of all goods loaded and unloaded onto barges within domestic waterway networks, including domestic, international, and transit movements.
- Why might tonnage rise while transport performance falls?
- Tonnage counts physical weight regardless of distance, so an increase in short-haul shipments can raise total weight without increasing the total distance goods are hauled.
- How do weather events impact these quarterly figures?
- Severe droughts or floods restrict barge loading capacities and navigable channels, causing sharp quarterly drops in total weight transported independently of industrial demand.