site.btaNumber of Transported Passengers, Transport Performance Up in Q1 of 2024, Y/Y

The number of passengers transported by passenger transport (land, water and urban electrical transport) in Bulgaria rose by 13.4% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the like period of 2023. The transport performance increased by 11.9% year on year, according to preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI) published Monday.

In the first quarter of 2024, the goods carried by freight land and water transport rose by 0.9%, while the transport performance declined by 5.3% in comparison with the previous quarter. Compared with the first quarter of 2023, the goods carried by freight land and water transport rose by 10.2%, whereas the transport performance dropped by 7.6%. The number of passengers carried by passenger transport (land, water and urban electrical transport) increased by 4.5% as did the transport performance, which recorded a 23% rise.

The goods carried by land transport in the first quarter of 2024 amounted to 28,178.7 thousand tonnes, which was by 10.3% more than the same quarter of 2023. The national carriages increased by 18.8%, while the international ones decreased by 4.3%. 

The transport performance stood at 8,959.9 million tkm, which was 8.2% less than in the last quarter of 2023.

The goods transported by sea and inland waterway transport were 86.4 thousand tonnes more than during the first quarter of 2023, due to the greater volumes of goods carried by inland waterway transport.

The transport performance, measured in tonne-kilometres, increased by 25.1%.

The number of transported passengers by land transport was 95,278.6, or 0.7% up on the same period of the previous year. Bus passenger numbers increased by 0.8%, while rail passenger volumes dropped by 0.9%.

The transport performance was 2,223.9 million passenger-kilometres, up by 22.5%.

There was an increase of 1.4 thousand passengers in the number of transported passengers by water transport, compared to the same period of 2023, due to the greater number of passengers carried by inland waterway transport. The transport performance fell to 1,800 thousand passenger-kilometers due to the shorter average distance travelled, the NSI reports.