Survey on International Merchandise Transport - 2017

The Bank of Italy conducts a sample survey on Italy's international merchandise transport. The survey, which contributes to the compilation of the “services” item of the balance of payments, collects data on freight rates broken down by mode of transport and type of load; moreover, carriers’ market shares by nationality of residence are estimated. The new annual report, referring to 2017, is available in the Statistics series.

The results of the survey, based on interviews with 162 transport operators, show a reduction in road and rail average freight rates and an upward trend in sea and air average freight rates for 2017. The market shares of Italian carriers increased on the previous year in the maritime sector and decreased in the road transport; Italy’s merchandise transport deficit worsened, reaching nearly €6 billion.