In 2024, GDP growth in Spain reached 3.2%, twice the level of the prediction by the consensus of economists in January 2024 (+1.6%) and more than triple the EU average (+0.9%). This growth was driven mainly by domestic demand (household consumption and investment), immigration and services (particularly tourism).
The healthy state of the Spanish economy seems to have benefited the road transport sector. After two consecutive years of decline, activity grew by 3.1% in 2024 to reach a new historical record: 271.6 billion tkm (b tkm). The activity on behalf of others increased by 2.8% and represented 94.7% of the total volume. The tonnage figures indicate a similar trend (+2.6% to 1.64 billion tonnes), while remaining very far from the record reached in 2007 (2.4 billion tonnes). This phenomenon is not specific to Spain; it is found across Europe.
The figures of the 1st quarter of 2025 are in line with those of the 2024 financial year. Traffic, expressed in tkm, increased by 4.8% compared to the 1st quarter of 2024 (+6.6% in tonnes).
According to the Sectorial Observatory DBK from INFORMA, a subsidiary of the public credit insurance company Cesce, the turnover of the RFT sector in 2024 is estimated at €17.87 billion, an increase of 2.4% compared to 2023. This figure indicates a slight slowdown compared to the increase recorded in 2023 (+2.6 %). But at the same time, road carriers have experienced an overall increase in their operating costs. According to data published in January 2025 by the RFT Cost Observatory, the annual cost of an articulated vehicle transporting goods increased by 2% between January 31, 2024 and January 31, 2025, reaching €158,685.
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Despite numerous initiatives taken by the Ministry of Transport, the share of rail in freight transport was limited to 4.3% in 2023, according to the Observatory of Transport and Logistics in Spain (OTLE), and it is likely to have decreased further in 2024 to below 4%. Rail freight represents little in the transport and logistics sector, with an estimated turnover of €1.1 billion, or 1.6% of the sector's overall turnover.
The National Institute of Statistics (INE) publishes data on rail freight, which, however, does not include figures for companies with traffic of less than 500 million tonne-km annually. According to this source, traffic reached 8.9 billion tkm in 2024, a decrease of 7.4% compared to 2023 (after -1.7% in 2023 compared to 2022). The year 2025 seems to indicate a turning point: during the 1st quarter, traffic increased by 1.9% (+12.1% in tonnage).
The National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) publishes quarterly data and an annual report. Traffic fell by 2.8% in 2024 to 9.2 billion tkm, according to a provisional calculation obtained by aggregating quarterly data. During the 1st quarter of 2025, the decline was halted with an increase of 0.8% in tkm and +1.9% in tonnes year-on-year.
One of the most surprising phenomena in the Spanish rail freight sector is the continued decline of the historic operator, Renfe Mercancías.
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CONTENTS
1. Spanish economic situation
2. A positive financial year for road freight transport
3. Rail freight: another negative financial year
4. Conclusion
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