Italian and Greek ports lead the EU in passenger traffic
Italian and Greek ports lead the EU in passenger traffic
  Infrastructure  |  Europe

Italian and Greek ports lead the EU in passenger traffic

According to Eurostat, Piraeus is the fourth busiest passenger port in the EU.
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RE+D magazine
27.11.2025
Italian and Greek ports recorded the highest number of maritime passengers in the EU, according to Eurostat data for 2024, recently released.

Specifically, in 2024, Italian ports recorded 93.5 million passengers, representing 22.7% of the EU total, followed by Greece with 81.1 million passengers (19.7%). Denmark ranked third with 41.3 million passengers (10%).

The three busiest passenger ports in the EU were all in Italy: Messina (11.4 million passengers), Reggio di Calabria (11.2 million), and Naples (11 million). Greece’s Piraeus came fourth with 10 million passengers.

Between 2019 and 2024, Greece gained 7.1 million passengers (+9.7%), Italy 7 million (+8.0%), and Malta 2 million (+14.9%). Conversely, the largest declines were recorded in Sweden (-5.7 million; -18.7%), Finland (-4.8 million; -25.1%), and Germany (-3.1 million; -9.8%).

In 2024, EU ports handled 412.3 million passengers. Passenger numbers were 18.8 million higher than in 2023 (+4.8%), although overall traffic remained slightly below 2019 levels (-1.4%).

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