Port activities
The Port activities sector plays a crucial role in the European economy. Europe's ports are vital gateways, linking its transport corridors to the rest of the world. 74% of goods entering or leaving Europe are transported by sea, and Europe boasts some of the most advanced port facilities in the world. Nearly 400 million passengers embark and disembark in European ports every year. Ports play an equally important role in supporting the exchange of goods within the internal market, and in linking peripheral and island areas with mainland Europe. Not only are ports fundamental for transporting goods, but they also serve as hubs for both conventional and renewable energy. The EU port system is embedded within the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), whose maritime pillar includes a wide network of strategically located ports. Among these, a subset is identified as ‘core ports’. These ports play a central role in both cargo transit and the deployment of clean infrastructure, such as onshore power supply (OPS) systems, and alternative fuel distribution, reinforcing Europe’s commitment to sustainable transport and the energy transition.
For the purposes of this Report, the Port activities sector comprises two main subsectors, further broken down into the following activities:
- Cargo and warehousing: comprising cargo handling, and warehousing and storage activities;
- Port and water projects: comprising construction of water projects and service activities incidental to water transportation.
Size of the EU Port activities sector
In 2022, the gross value added (GVA) generated by the Port activities sector amounted to € 33 billion, representing a 12%-increase from 2021 and a 42%-increase from 2009 (€ 23.3 billion), in current prices. Reported turnover, at € 89.8 billion in 2022, marked the sharpest year-on-year increase (19%) on record (€ 14.2 billion). This led to a considerable increase in gross profit, which reached the highest value on record (€ 14 billion). According to preliminary estimations, the growth of the sector continued in 2023, albeit more moderately, with turnover reaching € 90.7 billion, and GVA increasing to € 33.1 billion. At the same time, gross operating profits are estimated to have slightly decreased to € 13.9 billion, with a gross profit margin of 15.6% (compared with 16.1% in 2022).
In 2022, the Port activities sector employed 423 000 people – that is 3% more than in 2021 (410 600 people). This trend appears to be confirmed in 2023, when it is estimated that the sector employed slightly more than 430 000 people (+1.6%). The average annual gross remuneration per employee increased from € 42 200 in 2021 to € 45 000 in 2022 (by 6.6%), then decreased to almost € 44 700 (by 0.6%) in 2023 (Figure 27).
Figure 27 Size of the EU Port activities sector, 2009–2023: turnover, GVA and gross operating surplus (€ billion); people employed and average wage (€ thousand)
NB: Turnover and people employed in 2023 were estimated based on Eurostat’s preliminary data; GVA, gross operating surplus and average remuneration per employee were estimated assuming they follow the same trend as turnover.
Source: Authors’ own calculations based on Eurostat (SBS) data.
Overall, the sector’s turnover has been growing steadily since 2011, except for in 2018 and 2020. The large rebound registered in 2021-2022 shows that the sector has fully recovered from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the Port activities sector accounted for 8.5% of jobs, 13% of GVA and 11.5% of profits in the EU Blue Economy.
Results by sub-sector and Member State
Germany has the highest employment and GVA in the Port activities sector, representing more than one fifth of the sectoral workforce (22%) and GVA (21%) in 2022. Another 43% of the sector’s workforce is employed in France, Poland, the Netherlands and Spain (in order of contribution). After Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy (in order of contribution) generate 50% of the sector’s GVA (Figure 28).
Figure 28 Share of employment and GVA in the EU Port activities sector, 2022
Source: Authors’ own calculations based on Eurostat (SBS) data.
- Employment: the Port activities sector directly employed more than 423 000 people in 2022. 62% of the workforce is employed in the cargo and warehousing subsector, the vast majority of which (79%) are employed in warehousing and storage activities. One fourth of the sector’s workforce (25%) is employed in service activities incidental to water transportation, and the remaining 13% in the construction of water projects.
- GVA in 2022, the Port activities sector generated the largest GVA on record since 2009, almost equally shared between the cargo and warehousing (49%) and port and water projects (51%) subsectors. Service activities incidental to water transportation and warehousing and storage activities generated more than € 12 billion GVA each, while cargo handling and construction of water projects generated approximately €4 billion GVA each.
Trends and drivers
Disparities in port performance and competitiveness: EU ports handle a significant proportion of total port calls globally. In 2022, more than 12 million port calls were made worldwide, with almost 3 million (approximately 23%) occurring in EU and European Economic Area ports. In 2023, the main EU ports registered 2.2 million calls from cargo and passenger vessels, representing a 1.5%-increase from the year before. According to Eurostat, a total of 395.3 million passengers embarked and disembarked in EU ports in 2023, corresponding to a 5.8%-increase from 2022 (374 million), with 11 Member States handling more than 10 million passengers each, equating to 97% of all EU seaborne passenger transport. Italy's ports led the way with 85.4 million passengers (22% of the EU's total), followed by Greece with 75.0 million (19%) and Denmark with 41.2 million (10%).
Figure 29 Passengers embarked and disembarked in the top 15 EU ports, 2023 (thousand people)
Source: Eurostat (mar_mp_aa_pphd), last updated 6 December 2024.
As regards seaborne freight transport, EU ports handled a total of 3.37 billion tonnes (gross weight) in 2023, marking a 0.4%-decrease from 2022 (3.51 billion tonnes) (Figure 30). The Netherlands retained its position as the leading EU Member State for maritime freight transport, with the ports of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Zeeland handling 565 million tonnes in total (16% of the EU total). This represents a 9-million-tonne-increase from 2021. The top three EU ports in 2022 were Rotterdam (401.6 million tonnes), Antwerp-Bruges (242.2 million tonnes), and Hamburg (99.6 million tonnes) (Figure 31). Collectively, these three North Sea ports handled 22% of the total gross weight and volume of large containers.
Figure 30 Gross weight of goods handled in all EU-27 ports (thousand tonnes), 2007–2023
Source: Eurostat (mar_mp_aa), last updated 25 November 2024.
Figure 31 Gross weight of goods handled in the top 20 EU ports (thousand tonnes), 2023
Source: Eurostat (mar_mg_aa), last updated 25 November 2024.
Between 2000 and 2018, the port area in Europe increased by 12.5%, with the most prominent expansion in absolute terms in the north-east Atlantic Ocean (53 km²) and in relative terms in the Black Sea (17%). This expansion underscores the increasing importance of ports as territorial and logistical nodes.
Key regulatory drivers for this transition are the following:
- The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (Regulation EU 2023/1804) requires ports included in the TEN-T to have clean infrastructure such as OPS systems, refuelling points for alternative fuels (hydrogen, liquified natural gas, methanol), and charging solutions for intermodal transport.
- The FuelEU Maritime Regulation (Regulation EU 2023/1805) regulates the use of renewable fuels by maritime transport, with a direct operational dimension in ports, requiring them to have the facilities necessary to supply ships with these new fuels. It has applied since 1 January 2025 and obliges passenger and container ships over 5,000 gross tonnes calling at core TEN-T ports to use OPS systems or alternative zero-emission technologies from 2030.
- The regulation on the European maritime single window environment (Regulation EU 2019/1239) introduces a mandatory digital system for managing documentation for all port operations. From August 2025, ports will need to become integrated in this single window, replacing fragmented systems with a single interoperable channel for maritime data reporting.
- The regulation on electronic freight transport information (Regulation EU 2020/1056) establishes the obligation for the digital exchange of data across all transport modes, including maritime/port operations.
- The Network and Information Systems (NIS2) Directive (Directive EU 2022/2555) considers ports to be critical infrastructures, requiring them to implement cybersecurity plans, periodic audits, specialised training, and incident response mechanisms.
- The directive on port reception facilities for ship-generated waste (Directive EU 2019/883) continues to be a key instrument for ensuring the proper management of the waste generated by ships in ports, including oily waste, ballast water, scrubber waste, and solid waste.
The transformation of the EU port sector reflects a broader shift toward the integration of logistics, energy systems, digitalisation and sustainability. This evolution aligns port development with the EU’s long-term economic and environmental objectives, consolidating their role as critical infrastructure for climate-neutral and resilient maritime transport.
As part of the transition towards a low-emission European port system, OPS has become a strategic element of infrastructure in 2025 for the decarbonisation of berth operations. This technology allows ships to connect to the land-based electricity grid while at berth, eliminating the need for auxiliary diesel generators and significantly reducing local emissions of CO₂, nitrogen oxides (NOₓ), sulphur oxides (SOₓ), and particulate matter.
At least 44 ports across 15 Member States have already implemented OPS infrastructure, with a total of 352 berths equipped with shore-to-ship power supply facilities (Figure 32). In the cruise sector, six European ports had at least one OPS-enabled berth as of April 2023, with four additional installations funded and 14 more planned.
In recent years, the growing complexity of port operations and the increasing reliance on digital infrastructure have highlighted the need for robust cybersecurity measures, enhanced surveillance and digital infrastructure, and coordinated response protocols to enhance overall resilience. In 2025, the Commission will present an EU port strategy, looking at all major issues facing ports, with a focus on security and competitiveness.
Figure 32 European ports with OPS infrastructure and number of berths with OPS connections
Source: European Commission, ‘Maritime’, European Alternative Fuels Observatory, 2024, https://alternative-fuels-observatory.ec.europa.eu/transport-mode/maritime-sea.