In 2016, Dutch transport companies recorded a 0.3 percent decline in turnover relative to the previous year. It was the first decline in turnover since 2009. While turnover fell in waterway transport and aviation, it rose instead in haulage (including rail and road transport). The strongest turnover growth in 2016 was recorded by removal and courier companies.

Dutch lorries carried 657 million tonnes of goods in 2016, 2.5 percent up from one year previously. The rise was entirely on account of domestic transport (+4%), while international road transport declined by 3.3 percent in 2016. Half of all goods in road transport are agricultural and food products or building materials.

Last year, the total volume of freight transport to and from Dutch airports grew again after a slight decrease in 2015. This growth was confined to transport within Europe. Intercontinental freight transport saw a 2.4 percent volume decline in 2016. Air cargo transport is predominantly intercontinental (86 percent), although this share has declined continually over the past few years.

The volume of goods carried by railway hauliers in 2016 exceeded 42 million tonnes. This represented an increase of 4.5 million tonnes over 2015. Railway transport has grown steadily since 2012, entirely on account of international transport. Between 2012 and 2016, outward transport grew by more than 11 percent and inward transport even by 20 percent.

In 2016, inland shipping companies carried 366 million tonnes in goods. Inward shipping accounted for 66.7 million tonnes; over 90 percent of these goods were transported over rivers from Belgium or Germany. Inward shipping from Belgium mainly consists of refined petroleum products. Shipments from Germany mainly include container goods and minerals such as sand and gravel.

After a three-year increase, the volume of goods unloaded at Dutch seaports declined in 2016 to 398 million tonnes, for example 2 percent less than one year previously. The bulk of goods unloaded at Dutch ports were crude oil and petroleum products with a volume of 164 million tonnes, representing a year-on-year decline of almost 3 percent. Another year-on-year decline among unloaded goods that year was in coal transport (-5 percent).