In its “Key figures on European transport 2025 edition” report, Eurostat shows how behaviour towards transport has changed. Across the European Union, passenger transport continues to be dominated by private cars. In 2023, cars accounted for 70.6% of all passenger-kilometres, a share that has remained remarkably stable over the past decade. While this figure dipped slightly before 2020, the pandemic temporarily pushed it above 80%, and the subsequent recovery has done little to challenge the car’s structural dominance.
Air transport, meanwhile, has staged a rapid and complete comeback. In 2024, EU airports handled 1.05 billion passengers, exceeding pre-Covid levels for the first time. Aviation now represents 14.7% of passenger transport, almost identical to its 2019 share. This recovery reflects both renewed leisure travel and the resilience of long-distance business mobility, reinforcing aviation’s central role in European connectivity despite its environmental cost.
Rail passenger transport has also recovered, though at a more measured pace. In 2024, rail travel reached 443 billion passenger-kilometres across the EU, above pre-pandemic levels. On average, Europeans travelled 958 kilometres per inhabitant by train for national journeys. Rail has strengthened its position slightly compared with cars and short-haul flights, but growth remains gradual and uneven between countries.
Luxembourg: high mobility, high dependence
Luxembourg reflects these EU-wide trends in an intensified form. With 670 passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants, it has the second-highest motorisation rate in the EU, despite free nationwide public transport and short travel distances. This figure highlights the continued centrality of the private car, driven largely by high income levels and massive cross-border commuting flows that reinforce car use on a daily basis.
At the same time, Luxembourg benefits from one of the densest rail networks in Europe, with more than 100 kilometres of rail lines per 1,000 square kilometres. Rail plays a key role in commuting and regional mobility, particularly for cross-border workers, even if international journeys are only partially reflected in national statistics. The coexistence of dense rail infrastructure and very high car ownership underlines the limits of the infrastructure-led modal shift.
Luxembourg’s air travel figures are even more striking. In 2024, the country recorded 7.5 air passengers per inhabitant, compared with an EU average of 2.3. This places Luxembourg among the most air-intensive countries in Europe. The figure reflects the country’s role as an international business and institutional hub, where air travel is less about tourism than about economic and political connectivity.
Taken together, these figures point to a broader European paradox. Passenger transport has recovered, rail is growing and public transport is more accessible than ever, yet cars and aircraft continue to dominate how people move.
