Estonian transport enterprises had a difficult year
According to Statistics Estonia, the sharp decrease of freight volume of transport enterprises in Estonia continued in 2009. The freight turnover decreased by 13% and the economic crisis affected remarkably the road transport enterprises. Passenger transport did not change significantly.
The loss of transportation enterprises was 1.8 billion kroons in 2009. The net sales of transportation enterprises were 23 billion kroons, which was 21% smaller than a year earlier. The net sales of road transport enterprises decreased by more than a quarter.
The sales of carriage of goods were 12 billion kroons and the sales of carriage of passengers were 5 billion kroons. The sales of carriage of goods declined by nearly a quarter and the sales of carriage of passengers decreased by 17% compared to the previous year. In 2009, subsidies for passenger transport were nearly 1.4 billion kroons, which was 13% more than a year earlier. The number of persons employed in the Estonian transport enterprises decreased by 15% last year.
In 2009, the transport enterprises carried 75 million tonnes of goods, or 16% less than a year earlier. The freight turnover was 13 billion tonne-kilometres. International transport covered 84% of the total freight turnover and decreased by 8% during the year. The freight turnover was mainly influenced by road transport in international traffic, where the freight turnover decreased by almost a fifth. The freight turnover of domestic traffic decreased by about a third, of which 36% in road and 21% in rail transport.
In 2009, the number of passengers carried by Estonian transport enterprises was nearly 193 million, of whom 96% were carried in domestic traffic. The urban transport (i.e. buses, trams and trolleybuses) was used by almost 150 million passengers, as much as a year earlier. The domestic sea and rail traffic decreased by 7% in each and the number of passengers of domestic road transport decreased slightly. However, the number of passengers on domestic flights increased by 5%. The amount of passengers in international traffic was 7 million, which was 5% more than a year earlier. The number of passengers on international maritime transport rose by 13%, but decreased in international rail, air and road transport by 40%, 19% and 12%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Freight turnover is the volume of work done in the transport of goods. It is measured in tonne-kilometres. One tonne-kilometre (ton-km) is the transport of one tonne of goods one kilometre away.
The freight turnover of Estonian transport enterprises, 2001–2009
