TRANSPORT, FIRST QUARTER OF 2026

The total number of passengers carried in the first quarter of 2026 amounted to 19.4 million, which was an increase of 2.8% compared to the first quarter of 2025. An increase was realised in road line transport by coaches, of 2.4%, as well as by Croatian shippers in seawater and coastal transport, of 5.6%. In railway transport, according to provisional data, 3.0% more passengers were transported. A decrease was recorded by Croatian air carriers, of 0.3%.

According to final data, from January to December 2025, the total number of passengers transported amounted to 88.2 million, which was 5.0% more than in the same period of 2024. An increase was recorded in the road line transport of passengers, of 5.3%, in railway transport, of 7.3%, in air transport, of 5.7%, and in seawater and coastal transport, of 0.6%.

A total of 29.7 million tonnes of goods were transported in the first quarter of 2026, which was a decrease of 8.2% compared to the first quarter of 2025. A decrease in the transport of goods was recorded by freight vehicles with Croatian plates, of 13.1%, and by Croatian air carriers, of 7.0%. An increase was recorded in inland waterway transport by ships under all flags, of 81.0%, by Croatian shippers in seawater and coastal transport, of 8.5%, in the transport of goods by railway carriers, of 3.8%, as well as in pipeline transport, of 0.1%.

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

It may happen that the sum total does not equal the sum of individual figures and that cumulative data do not always equal the sum of individual quarterly results due to the rounding of numbers.

The final quarterly data on the railway transport of passengers for 2026 will be published in May 2027 in Excel format on the website of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics https://podaci.dzs.hr/en/ under Statistics in Line "Transport".

The data on the traffic of ships, passengers and goods in seaports were published in the First Release TRAN-2026-3-1 "Traffic in Seaports", and the data on the traffic of passengers and freight in airports in the First Release TRAN-2026-2-1 "Traffic in Airports".

Sources and methods of data collection

The data on transport are collected through weekly, monthly and quarterly statistical surveys. The purpose of the surveys is to collect the data on the transport of passengers and goods and to calculate the performance indicators on transport expressed in tonne-kilometres and passenger-kilometres.

Observation and reporting units on road line passenger transport, urban transport, pipeline transport, seawater and coastal transport, and air transport are national carriers, that is, operators registered in the transport activity (section H of NKD 2025) in the Statistical Business Register of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

Observation units in the statistical survey on the road transport of goods are freight road vehicles (including road tractors) with a loading capacity of over 3 500 kg that are registered with the Ministry of the Interior. Reporting units are business entities (legal entities and natural persons) who own or just use a freight road vehicle selected by the sample.

The data on inland waterway transport have been collected via the Inland Navigation Information System (ISUP) of the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure.

Coverage

The data on the railway transport of passengers include the urban and suburban transport of passengers and passengers in transit through the Republic of Croatia. The data on the railway transport of goods relate to the operation of all railway carriers in the railway network of the Republic of Croatia.

The data on the road transport of goods refer to the operation of owners or users of freight vehicles included in the sample. In the quarterly dynamics, 2 600 vehicles have been selected in the sample. The data, that is, estimates with the variation coefficient values ranging between 10.0 and 30.0 are separately marked as less accurate values.

The data on the road line transport of passengers relate to the activity of business entities (legal entities and natural persons) engaged in the transport of passengers by coaches and holding the concession for performing the public line transport of passengers on international, inter-county and county lines.

The urban transport of passengers covers the organised public transport of passengers in cities with a population of over 40 000 and is conducted by business entities engaged in the urban transport of passengers (by trams and buses). Included are active business entities employing more than 10 persons, registered in the Statistical Business Register of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics in section H of NKD 2025, subclass 49.31.0 Scheduled passenger transport by road.

The survey on the seawater and coastal transport covers all business entities engaged in the public seawater and coastal line transport of passengers and business entities whose principal or subsidiary activity is seawater and coastal transport of goods. Cross-trade transport is included.

The data on air transport of passengers and freight are submitted by national air operators engaged in the commercial air transport of passengers and freight (goods and mail).

The transport via pipelines covers oil transport and gas transport. The data refer to activities of legal entities engaged in oil and gas transport via pipelines.

The data on the transport in inland waterways include the transport of goods on vessels under domestic and foreign flags in the territory of the Republic of Croatia. Transit is not included.

Definitions

International transport includes conveying between the place of embarkation/loading in the Republic of Croatia and the place of disembarkation/unloading abroad, or vice versa, as well as between two places abroad.

Transit implies transport through the Croatian territory in the same means of transport between two places (the place of embarkation/loading and the place of disembarkation/unloading), both located in another country or in other countries.

Cross-trade road transport implies international transport of goods performed by domestic operators with the place of loading and unloading being located in a foreign country.

Passenger-kilometre is a unit of measure representing the transport of one person over a distance of one kilometre. The calculation of passenger-kilometres for the rail transport takes into account only the distance travelled in the territory of the Republic of Croatia.

Tonne-kilometre is a unit of measure representing the transport of one tonne over a distance of one kilometre. The calculation of tonne-kilometres for the rail transport takes into account only the distance travelled in the territory of the Republic of Croatia including transit. The calculation of tonne-kilometres for the inland waterway transport takes into account only the distance travelled in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, but transit is not included.

The road transport of goods and road tonne-kilometres relate to the movement of freight vehicles registered in the Republic of Croatia.

Published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Zagreb, Ilica 3, P. O. B. 80
Phone: (+385 1) 48 06 111
Press corner: press@dzs.hr

Persons responsible:
Edita Omerzo, Director of Spatial Statistics Directorate
Lidija Brković, Director General

Prepared by:
Snježana Kos, Korana Šakić Pokrivač, Lidija Pilat and Ninoslava Podnar

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