Carriage of goods by lorry, Q4 2007

During 2007, more than 261 million tonnes of goods crossed the Norwegian border, an increase of 1.2 million tonnes, or 0.5 per cent, from 2006. These figures include all modes of transport, also exports of oil and gas by ships and in pipelines. Lorries alone transported 14.8 million tonnes, 6.7 per cent more than in 2006, of which 12.1 million was transported by lorry across the national border. The remainder was transported by lorries or trailers on ferries.

Norwegian share steady

The statistics do not give information on the nationality of the lorries carried by ferry. 46.4 per cent of the goods that crossed the border on road in 2007 was transported by Norwegian lorries, an increase of 0.5 percentage points. The Norwegian lorries’ share of the border transport has remained steady around 46 per cent since 2003.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, Norwegian lorries were responsible for 46.2 per cent of the transport across the national border. This is 0.5 percentage points less than in the corresponding quarter in 2006. Despite the slight decrease, the quantity transported by Norwegian lorries increased by 9 per cent compared with the fourth quarter of 2006. In total, Norwegian lorries carried almost 1.5 million tonnes, of which exports accounted for 0.8 million tonnes and imports accounted for 0.7 million tonnes.

Swedish lorries accounted for 30 per cent of the road goods transport across the Norwegian border. This figure has remained stable in recent years.

Polish, Danish, Estonian and Lithuanian lorries had the largest increase in quantity of goods transported across the Norwegian border. In the fourth quarter of 2007, freight by lorries from these countries rose by more than 18 per cent compared with the fourth quarter of 2006. Foreign lorries import more than they export. However, it seems that Polish and Baltic transporters to a greater extent than before have full lorries on the return trip, as the quantity they export is increasing more than their imports. The Polish and Baltic lorries’ together account for 6 per cent of the Norwegian border transport.

Tables:

• Table 1 Imports and exports,by mode of transport. Tonnes
• Table 2 Carriage of goods by lorry across national border, by commodity and nationality of lorry. 2007. Tonnes
• Table 3 Carriage of goods by lorry across national border, absolute figures and per cent