Poland on top

Having emerged from the crisis in 2015, the European TRM recorded another year of strong growth in 2017, with +4.6% %, finally exceeding its pre-2008 crisis level. Domestic activity continued to grow at a rate of +3.6% in 2017. International activity performed almost as well as the previous year, with sustained growth of +6.5%, distributed unevenly at +1.81% for the EU15 and +9.56% for the NEMs. All international sub-activities are experiencing strong growth, but the prize goes to cabotage with a rate of nearly +17% over one year, provided by NEMs at a rate of 71%. France now has 40 times more cabotage than it provides.

Significantly, Poland achieved a breakthrough of more than +15% in one year, propelling the flag to the number one position in Europe and dethroning the historic leader, Germany. 2017 was also a good year for the major southern flagships, Spain, Italy and France, which ended the year with +6.5 %, +7.6 % and +6.26 % respectively, thanks in particular to the strong performance of their domestic markets. Germany declined by -0.83% due to a significant drop in its international business, down 5.9%.

Find all the figures and additional explanations in the 2017 European ranking, available for download.