The Bank of Italy conducts a sample survey on Italy's international merchandise transport since 1998. 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 2018, is available in the Statistics series.
The results of the survey, based on interviews with 197 transport operators, show stable freight rates on average in road transport and an upward trend in rail transport; sea freight rates decreased on average after the recovery in the previous year, while air freight rates increased in 2018. The market shares of Italian carriers increased on the previous year in all transport sectors, contributing to the reduction in Italy's merchandise transport deficit (-€5,5 billion).
