Ships remain the main way the European Union moves goods in and out of the bloc — last year more than 72% of all EU trade by volume went by sea. In Bulgaria, though, the picture looks different: by value, half of Bulgaria's exports outside the EU in 2025 went by road, not by water. The figures come from Eurostat, released for World Maritime Day.
Across the EU as a whole, the numbers are huge. Ships brought in 1.1 billion tonnes of goods worth 1.27 trillion euros. Exports by sea reached 0.5 billion tonnes worth 1.069 trillion euros. Sea transport makes up 73.3% of imports and 72.6% of exports by weight. By value, though, its share drops to 50.2% for imports and 40.4% for exports, because ships mostly carry heavy, cheap cargo.
Planes flip that pattern. Only 0.3% of EU imports and 2.9% of exports travel by air. Yet those shipments account for 20.7% and 29.1% of trade value. In short, planes carry little weight but expensive goods.
Trucks bring in 19.5% of the value of EU imports and 24.9% of exports. By weight, though, their share is much smaller — 6% of imports and 17.4% of exports. Trains still lag behind across the EU too, carrying just 1.2% of import value and 1.3% of export value.
Compared with 2024, the value of EU imports from outside the bloc rose 2.9%, and exports rose 2%. But sea transport's share of that value shrank for both imports and exports, while air and road transport gained ground.
Trucks carry half of Bulgaria's exports
Bulgaria follows the EU pattern when you look at the weight of goods, but by value, trucks lead. Bulgaria's imports from outside the EU reached 22.87 billion euros in 2025, up 7.6% from the year before. Exports fell 1.9% to 15.38 billion euros.
By weight, Bulgaria imported 20.85 million tonnes of goods, up 9.8% from 2024. Export volume, though, dropped 10.5% to 13.97 million tonnes.
For imports, sea transport still ranks first by value at 10.26 billion euros, or 44.9%. Trucks come next with 30.8%, then planes with 13.6%. Fixed transport installations, including pipelines, took 8.3%.
For exports, though, trucks come first — Bulgaria shipped 7.77 billion euros worth of goods by road, or 50.5% of the total value of exports outside the EU. Sea transport came second with 34.6%, and planes carried 11.1% of the value.
By weight, sea transport still leads by far — 59.3% of imports and 73.4% of exports went by water. Trucks carried 18.2% of import volume and 20.5% of export volume.
Over the year, the value of Bulgaria's road exports rose 9.2%, and air exports rose 12.5%. Sea exports, though, fell 15.6%, and rail exports dropped by almost 40%.
For imports, the sharpest jump came in goods moved through fixed transport installations — pipelines. Their value rose from 627 million euros in 2024 to 1.89 billion euros in 2025, more than tripling. All of that value comes from mineral fuels and oil products.
Eurostat's figures also point to a longer-term shift — trucks are steadily taking over more of Bulgaria's exports outside the EU. In 2007, their share by value was 34%; now it stands at 50.5%. Over the same period, sea transport's share fell from 47.5% to 34.6%, while planes' share rose from 5% to 11.1%.
Goods that leave Bulgaria by road include copper and copper products, weapons and ammunition, machinery, cars and car parts, electrical equipment and pharmaceuticals. By sea, Bulgaria mainly exports grain, fuels, ores and oilseeds, while by air it mostly ships electrical equipment and optical, measuring and medical devices.
Eurostat's data covers EU trade outside the bloc by transport type and goods category. The "other transport" category includes postal shipments, fixed transport installations, inland waterways, self-propelled movement and transport of unknown type.