In 2023, ports across the European Union recorded 395.3 million passengers, marking a 5.8% increase from 374 million in 2022, but still 5.5% below pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
According to Eurostat, 11 EU countries, each handling over 10 million passengers, accounted for 97% of all maritime passenger transport. Italian ports led the way with 85.4 million passengers (22% of the EU total), followed by Greece with 75 million (19%) and Denmark with 41.2 million (10%).
Passenger numbers increased in 16 of the 21 EU countries for which data was available. Italy (+6.5 million), Greece (+4.8 million), and France (+3.2 million) recorded the largest growth.
The top 10 busiest ports accounted for 22% of total EU maritime passenger traffic, with six in the Mediterranean, three in the Baltic, and one in the northeast Atlantic.
Messina in Italy remained the busiest EU passenger port with 11.3 million travelers, followed by Reggio di Calabria in Italy (11.1 million) and Piraeus in Greece (9.6 million).
