Transport sector falls during the coronavirus crisis
| News
Sales in the transport sector dropped sharply in April, according to preliminary statistics from Statistics Sweden. Mainly passenger transport has shown poor results during the coronavirus pandemic, but now goods transport is also seeing a downturn.
Total sales in the sector dropped by 23 percent in April compared with the same period last year. The development in goods transport is probably due to weak development in the manufacturing industry in April.
“In total, goods transport fell by 13 percent in April. Development in sea transport, air transport and shipping in particular was weak,” says Daniel Lennartsson, statistician at Statistics Sweden.
Passenger transport began falling as early as March, when sales dropped by 21 percent. In April, the downturn was 40 percent.
“Mainly air transport is affected, decreasing by no less than 88 percent in April. However, taxi and public transport also showed a downturn, decreasing by 44 percent and 15 percent respectively in April,” says Daniel Lennartsson.
Passenger transport by rail noted an upward development early in 2020, but turned downwards in March, and sales dropped by 32 percent compared with the same period last year. In April, the figures weakened further and decreased by 56 percent compared with 2019.
Transport sector sales development in percent, 2020 compared with the same period last year
| Jan | Feb | March | April | Weight* | |
| Transport by rail | 8 | 4 | -15 | -37 | 3.8 |
| of which passenger transport | 15 | 1 | -32 | -56 | 2.2 |
| of which goods transport | -2 | 8 | 8 | -10 | 1.6 |
| Public transport | 6 | 3 | -7 | -15 | 15.1 |
| Taxi | 1 | -1 | -22 | -44 | 3.6 |
| Freight transport by road | 0 | 0 | 4 | -2 | 23.4 |
| Sea transport | -14 | -13 | -13 | -47 | 7.6 |
| of which passenger transport | -24 | -24 | -18 | -58 | 4.1 |
| of which goods transport | -3 | -1 | -7 | -35 | 3.5 |
| Air transport | -4 | -1 | -51 | -85 | 7.8 |
| of which passenger transport | -4 | -1 | -54 | -88 | 7.4 |
| of which goods transport | -3 | -3 | -3 | -25 | 0.5 |
| Other supporting transportation services | 1 | -6 | -11 | -29 | 12.4 |
| Activities of other transport agencies (shipping) | -6 | -5 | 1 | -13 | 26.3 |
| Total | -2 | -3 | -8 | -23 | 100.0 |
| Passenger transport | 0 | -2 | -21 | -40 | 32.4 |
| Goods transport | -3 | -3 | 0 | -13 | 67.6 |
* Sector turnover as a percentage of total industry
Links:
Large downturn in sales in industry
Read more articles at scb.se on how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting society
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- daniel.lennartsson@scb.se
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