Port accessIn 2024, figures for freight traffic in the Port of Bilbao showed a positive trend. 34.4 million tonnes of goods were exported or imported through the Port of Bilbao in 2024, up by more than 1.6 million tonnes on 2023 figures, without taking into account local traffic and provisioning. In percentage terms, growth in the Port of Bilbao stood at +5%, higher than the average of the 48 ports considered to be of general interest, which stands at +2.7%.
In terms of types of goods, there was a fall in natural gas and containers, while bulk, roll-on/roll-off goods and passenger traffic showed significant growth.
Bulk liquids rose 4.5%, with growth of around 1 million tonnes. The goods showing the greatest growth were chemical products, diesel oil and crude oil, while natural gas fell by 19%. In this regard, it is important to highlight that temporary decreases in traffic as important as natural gas, by 831,000 tonnes, are not foreseeable, as they are closely linked to economic developments, geopolitical uncertainties and other variables.
Bulk solids, on the other hand, increased by 10%, mainly on the back of non-metallic minerals and chemical products, and breakbulk figures were up 4%. Within this section, Ro-Ro cargo with Atlantic Europe increased by 29% in terms of tonnes and 22% in terms of ITUs (intermodal transport units), reaching 45,620 units, in line with the criteria of the European Union, which is looking to decarbonise transport by taking freight traffic off the roads and shifting it to more sustainable water-borne traffic, whilst at the same time maintaining and/or improving its competitiveness. In this sense, road freight already accounts for 35% of conventional goods, and 3.5% of the total.
Nearly half of the traffic through the Port of Bilbao (46%) originates from or goes to Europe, while the other half is long-distance traffic: 17% to North America, 14% to South America, 13% to Asia, 9% to Africa and 1% to Central America.
The top five export markets are the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and the United States, while the top five import markets are Russia, the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela. In 2024, the country with the highest growth rate was Guyana, attributable to the 945,000 tonnes of crude oil imported from this country. Conversely, the country which lost the most traffic was the United States, down -15%. Traffic between the Port of Bilbao and the United States amounted to 614,275 tonnes, with diesel oil, crude oil, natural gas and soya beans as the main imports into Bilbao and gasoline, chemicals and iron and steel products as the main exports.
In terms of passenger traffic, during the 2024 season, 280,000 people have passed through the port on cruise ships and ferries (up +4% and 11,161 people more than the previous year, record numbers for the second consecutive year). 147 ferry crossings with the United Kingdom and Ireland and 81 cruise ships called at the Port, with figures for the cruise season being the best since the exclusive facilities were opened in Getxo.
Despite the positive trend in traffic in 2024, the Port Authority maintains its ambitious targets set out in its 2023-2026 Strategy Plan, and will continue to work to deliver its strategic objectives.
