In the 4th quarter 2015, goods handled in ports grew by 2.7%, slowing down in comparison with the previous quarter (+6.4%). In railway and in road modes, goods transported increased by 6.4% and 2.4% respectively in the 4th quarter 2015 (+0.3% and +5.3% in the 3rd quarter, in the same order). On the contrary, there was a reduction in the transport of cargo/mail (-8.0%) in air transport as in the 3rd quarter (-4.9%).
Passengers traveling by air increased considerably in the 4th quarter 2015 (+12.2%), 3.1 p.p. more than the growth recorded in the previous quarter. The transport of passengers continued to grow in heavy railway (+1.5% from +1.4% in the previous quarter) and in transport by light railway systems (+5.8%, +4.5% in the 3rd Q, by the same order), having stabilized in inland waterways (+0.2% from +5.3% in the preceding quarter).
In 2015 (preliminary results), the transport of goods in maritime transport and railway mode recorded increases of 7.7% and 7.8% respectively (+3.2% and +10.9% in the previous year). Also in road mode there was an increase (+2.1%), recovering from the slight reduction in 2014 (-0.9%). In airport infrastructures, there was a reduction in the movement of cargo and mail (-2.1%), in contrast with the preceding year (+5.9%).
In what concerns the preliminary results for 2015 on the transport of passengers, the emphasis went to the 11.0% increase in national airports, above the change rate of +9.4% in 2014. In heavy railway transport it raised 1.7% (+1.8% in the previous year) while in light railway systems grew by 2.8% (+1.9% in 2014). In inland waterways there was a recovery compared with the preceding year (+3.1% in 2015, after -0.4% in 2014).