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 go by sea, and Europe boasts some of the finest port facilities in the world. Nearly 400 million passengers embark and disembark in European ports every year[1]. Ports play an equally important role to support the exchange of goods within the internal market and in linking peripheral and island areas with the mainland of Europe. Ports are not only great for moving goods around, they also constitute energy hubs for conventional and renewable energies[2]. The EU port system is embedded within the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), whose maritime pillar comprises a wide network of strategically located ports. Among these, a subset is identified as ‘core ports’, which 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 energy transition.
The port activities sector comprises two main subsectors, further broken down into the following activities:
- Cargo and warehousing: port activities subsector comprising Cargo handling and Warehousing and storage activities.
- Port and water projects: comprising Construction of water projects and Service activities incidental to water transportation.
Ports are vibrant and diverse marketplaces, encompassing a broad range of industries and services located within ports or in proximity, which comprise a complex network of support activities, logistics, supply of essential services to ships, management of physical and technical infrastructure, and provision of specialized services. This includes for example:
- Cargo Handling and Storage (i.e. loading, unloading, and storage of goods, such as containers, bulk cargo, and project cargo; freight forwarding; logistics management);
- Passenger and Cruise Services (i.e. handling of seaborne passenger traffic, instrumental to coastal tourism);
- Bunkering and Fuelling (i.e. supply of electricity, fuel and other essential services to ships, such as water, provisions, and waste management);
- Port Infrastructure (i.e. physical, technical, safety, organizational structures such as buildings, equipment, facilities and systems required in a wide range of port activities and related services. Includes docking infrastructure, maintenance infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, navigation and safety infrastructure, security and surveillance infrastructure, energy and utilities infrastructure, ICT infrastructure, etc.);
- Terminal Operations (i.e. management and operation of terminals, such as container terminals, bulk terminals, ro-ro terminals, cruise and ferry terminals, offshore terminals);
- Other Port Services (e.g. customs brokerage, border control, cybersecurity, migration services, etc.).
In 2022, the GVA generated by the port activities sector amounted to EUR 33 billion, representing a 12% increase from 2021 and a 42% increase from 2009 (EUR 23.3 billion), in current prices. Reported turnover, at EUR 89.8 billion in 2022, marked the sharpest year-on-year increase (+19%) on record (+14.2 billion euro). This led to a considerable increase in gross profits, which reached the highest value on record (EUR 14 billion). According to preliminary estimations, the growth of the sector continued in 2023, albeit more moderately, with turnover reaching EUR 90.7 billion, and GVA increasing to EUR 33.1 billion. At the same time, gross operating profits are estimated to have slightly decreased to EUR 13.9 billion, representing a gross profit margin of 15.6% (compared to 16.1% in 2022).
In 2022, the port activities sector employed 423 thousand persons, i.e. 3% more than in 2021 (410.6 thousand persons). This trend appears to be confirmed in 2023, when it is estimated that the sector employed slightly more than 430 thousand persons (+1.6%). The average annual gross remuneration per employee increased from EUR 42 200 in 2021 to EUR 45 000 in 2022 (+6.6%), then decreased to almost EUR 44 700 (-0.6%) in 2023 (Figure 1).
Overall, the sector’s turnover has been growing steadily since 2011, except for 2018 and 2020. The large rebound registered in 2021-2022 shows that the sector has fully recovered from the impacts caused by COVID-19. In 2022, the port activities sector accounted for 8.5% of the jobs, 13% of the GVA and 11.5% of the 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 this order). After Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy (in this order) generate nearly 50% of the sector’s GVA (Figure 2).
Employment: as indicated, the port activities sector directly employed more than 423 thousand persons in 2022. It is estimated that the total number of people employed in EU ports under different contracts, including seasonal or part-time, is approximately 1.5 million. This includes both direct and indirect employment in various port-related activities across the 22 maritime Member States[3]. 62% of the workforce is employed in the Cargo and warehousing subsector, the vast majority of which (79%) 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 construction of water projects.
Gross value added: 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 EUR 12 billion GVA each, while Cargo handling and Construction of water projects generated approximately EUR 4 billion GVA each.
Over the past few years, several significant developments have taken place in the port activities sector in the EU in response to technological advancements, environmental challenges, and evolving trade dynamics. Some of the most relevant developments include:
Disparities in port performance and competitiveness: EU ports handle a significant proportion of the total port calls made each year around the world. In 2022, more than 12 million port calls took place globally, with almost 3 million (approximately 23%) located in EU and European Economic Area ports[4]. In 2023, the main EU ports registered 2.2 million calls from cargo and passenger vessels, representing a 1.5% rise from the prior year. 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 (374.0 million), with 11 Member States handling more than 10 million passengers each, totalling 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%). The ports of Messina and Reggio di Calabria (both in Italy) were the busiest, with 11.3 million 11.1 million passengers, respectively. They were followed by the port of Piraeus (Greece), with 9.6 million passengers (Figure 3)[5].
As regards seaborne freight, the 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 4). The Netherlands retained its position as the leading EU country 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 rise 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 5). Collectively, these three North Sea ports handled 22% of the total gross weight and volume of large containers[6].
As part of the transition towards a low-emission European port system, OPS has become a strategic infrastructure element 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, NOₓ, SOₓ, and particulate matter.
At least 44 ports across 15 EU Member States have already implemented OPS infrastructure, with a total of 352 berths equipped with shore-to-ship power supply facilities (Figure 6)[7]. 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. Furthermore, according to the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), 30% of cruise ships are plug-ready, representing 40% of sector capacity, while another 30% are scheduled for retrofit[8].
In recent years, the growing complexity of port operations and the increasing reliance on digital infrastructure have underscored the need for robust cybersecurity measures, enhanced surveillance and digital infrastructure[9], and coordinated response protocols[10] 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[11] and competitiveness[12]. It will build upon the work of the European Ports Alliance, which aims to strengthen security in all EU ports by tackling drug trafficking and organised crime[13]. The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in a Joint White Paper identifies seaports as important facilitators of military mobility across the EU and partner countries, as part of boosting the EU’s defence capability[14].
Significant investments have been made in upgrading and expanding port infrastructure to accommodate larger vessels and handle increased cargo volumes. This includes the construction of new terminals, the deepening and widening of navigation channels, and the enhancement of intermodal connectivity to facilitate the efficient movement of goods. Ports also have great potential to house the development of large-scale electricity storage which will be needed for balancing fluctuating supply and demand, and for facilitating the transportation of green hydrogen. The deployment of the green technology facilities, such as large-scale electricity storage and the abovementioned OPS, also requires considerable investments from both port authorities and ship owners. A similar trend is also applying to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)[15], which is experiencing a significant growth in Europe. The expansion of LNG as a transition fuel to meet the ambitious EU decarbonisation goals requires a parallel improvement of associated infrastructure, including the expansion of terminals, supply stations, and bunkering and trans-shipment services. Currently, there are 56 ports in Europe offering LNG bunkering services, with an additional 40 ports currently planning to do so.
This map shows LNG terminals in the EU member states that are currently operational, due for further expansion, under construction or at the planning stage. Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Croatia, Poland, Greece, Finland and Lithuania all have operational LNG terminals.
Although LNG storage capacity has remained relatively stable over the past decade, the RePower EU initiative has revitalized dormant regasification projects and initiated new infrastructure endeavours, ranging from the expansion of existing onshore infrastructure, to capacity upgrades or the deployment of offshore Floating Storage and Regasification Units. A number of planned investments are treated as EU projects of common interest, which benefit from streamlined procedures and, in some cases, co-financing through the Connecting Europe Facility.
Thanks to recent investments – with co-financing from the RePower EU initiative and the Connecting Europe Facility – the EU’s LNG import capacity grew by 40 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2023, and an additional 30 bcm is expected to become available in 2024. The EU is the largest LNG importer in the world. In 2023, the EU imported over 120 bcm. The largest LNG importers in the EU are France, Spain, Netherlands and Belgium and Italy[16].
The importance of these developments for the competitiveness of European ports and their role in the energy transition are also highlighted in non-legislative resolution on Building a comprehensive European port strategy adopted by the European Parliament in January 2024.