Chapter 8
This chapter provides data on airline activity, aircraft numbers, on time performance and airfare price indexes. Information is provided for both international and domestic airlines, as well as a breakdown of airport traffic by state.
- 616 thousand Australian domestic flights occurred in 2023–24. As with internal activity, the full recovery of the aviation industry to pre COVID levels has not yet occurred. At the height of the pandemic, domestic flights fell to 327 thousand, fewer than flight numbers in 1977–78.
- Sydney had the highest number of aircraft movements with 300 thousand in 2023–24.
- 11 832 Piston aircraft were registered as of 31 December 2023 which is 812 more than the year before. The number of helicopters registered increased from 2 351 to 2 593 over the same period.
- International flights from Australia are steadily recovering from the impacts of COVID. In 2023‑24 there were 196 thousand flights, up from only 45 thousand three years earlier.
Figure 17 shows Australia's top 40 airports by domestic and international passenger movements. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are the airports which experienced the most activity, with some regional airports outside of the top 30 entering and exiting the list.
Figure 17 Australia's top 40 airports in 2023–24, passengers
Figure 18 shows international and domestic revenue passengers. Since the early 80s, the number of fare-paying passengers, uplifted and discharged in Australia, was steadily increasing both domestically and internationally, before a sharp drop beginning in 2019–20. 2023–24 activity shows a strong trajectory to return to pre-COVID pandemic record highs in the coming years.
Figure 18 International and domestic airline revenue passengers
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Chapter 9: shipping
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- Shipping—Yearbook 2024 (136 KB) - Download Excel file
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This chapter provides information on Australian ships, cargo, ports and fleet including mileage, tonnage and number of vessels. The data is sourced from BITRE's Australian Sea Freight publication, BITRE's Waterline publication and BITRE estimates based on Lloyds List Intelligence Data.
- There were 53 Australian registered vessels in the Australian trading fleet, including small vessels, and 83 overseas registered vessels in 2022–23.
- Queensland had the largest discharged volume with 40 million tonnes in 2020–21. Following Queensland was New South Wales and Victoria with 33 million tonnes discharged each.
- Western Australian ports loaded 1 billion tonnes of maritime cargo in 2020–21, the largest volume in Australia. Next, Queensland and New South Wales loaded 289 million tonnes and 176 million tonnes respectively. Together the ports in these 3 states loaded 94% of Australia's maritime cargo by volume in 2020–21.
- 8.6 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) were exchanged at container terminals in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Fremantle and Adelaide in 2022–23.
Figure 19 Principal Australian ports, by commodity
Figure 20 provides a state breakdown of the number of cargo ships on coastal or international voyages that made port calls from 1999-00 to 2022-23. The majority of states saw increases during this time period. Queensland and Western Australia experienced the largest numerical increases and were consistently Australia's 2 most-visited states by cargo ships.
Figure 20 Number of cargo ships involved in coastal or international voyages that made port calls, by state/territory
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Chapter 10
This chapter provides data on Australian safety for road, aviation, rail and maritime transport. This includes data relating to crashes, fatalities, injuries and their rates of occurrence, as well as how this can differ for different demographics, states and territories (subject to data availability).
- In 2023, 1 258 people died in road crashes in Australia, down from 1 737 in 2001.
- 33 aviation fatalities occurred in Australia in 2023.
- Road crashes caused 40 000 people in Australia to be with hospitalized injuries in 2021 up from 27 000 in 2001.
- On Australia's railways, 15 people died and 63 were seriously injured in 2023 (excludes suspected suicide).
Figure 21 shows the number of fatal crashes over time (with road crashes on the left axis and marine and aviation crashes on the right axis). The average number of fatal road crashes (the number of crashes or accidents which resulted in at least one death) from 2010 to 2023 is 1109. In 2023 there was 1149 fatal road crashes. Fatal aviation crashes have remained between 14 and 23 since 2016. Marine fatal crashes have remained between 2 and 6 from 2010 to 2023.
Figure 21 Number of fatal crashes, by transport mode
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Transport Energy and Environment
Chapter 11
This chapter provides information on the Australian measures of transport energy and the environment. Data is sourced from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water's petroleum statistics and BITRE estimates.
- Road vehicles made up 84 percent of full fuel cycle greenhouse gas emissions from all domestic transport modes in 2023–24, compared to 9 per cent from aviation.
- The national average price for petrol was 196 cents per litre in the 2023–24 financial year.
- In 2023–24, domestic road vehicle full fuel cycle greenhouse gas emissions estimates (carbon dioxide equivalent) reached a record high level of 108 000 gigagrams of CO2 equivalent.
- In 2023–24, there was an estimated 58 billion litres of transport petroleum sold in Australia.
Figure 22 shows full fuel cycle greenhouse gas emissions by transport mode in gigagrams of CO2 equivalent. Transport emissions in Australia have risen steadily since 1974–75, except over the COVID-19 pandemic period, which saw them dip temporarily for road vehicles and domestic aviation. Domestic aviation emissions were most affected, almost halving from 11 116 gigagrams of CO2 equivalent in 2018–19 to 5 955 gigagrams of CO2 equivalent in 2020–21, while road vehicle emissions fell by roughly 3 per cent over the same period.
Figure 22 Transport full fuel cycle greenhouse gas emissions
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Australian Infrastructure and Transport Statistics Yearbook 2025: freight chapter
Chapter 1: Freight
- Australian Infrastructure and Transport Statistics Yearbook 2025 - Download full report PDF
- Freight—Yearbook 2025 (128 KB) - Download Excel file
Freight transport activity (Figures 1 and 2) is measured in terms of tonne kilometres (the number of tonnes moved by a vehicle multiplied by the distance the load travelled in kilometres). The Australian domestic freight task has experienced strong growth over the last 40 years, with road and rail freight now dominating domestic freight activity.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the total bulk and non-bulk freight task fell slightly, from 780 billion tonne kilometres in 2018–19 to 760 billion tonne kilometres in 2020–21. It has grown over the last three years and is estimated to have reached its highest point in 2024–25 at 786 billion tonne kilometres.
- Melbourne had the most metropolitan road freight estimated at 18.2 billion tonne kilometres in 2024–25.
- NSW’s estimated road freight for 2024–25 was the highest on record at 87.6 billion tonne kilometres.
Figure 1 shows a map of Australia's major domestic freight flows by transport mode (based on 2023–24 figures). Line and arrow thickness indicate the volume of freight carried on each route, not the value of freight or performance of supply chains. The map shows that the highest volume domestic freight route is iron ore transported by rail in the Pilbara region. This next largest individual flow is coal carried by rail in Central Queensland and the Hunter Valley, followed by bauxite shipped from Weipa and Gove to Gladstone.
Figure 1 Australian Freight Flows Map
Sources:
ABARES (2024), Agricultural Commodity Statistics, March 2024, ABARES, Canberra.
ABS (2002), Freight Movements, Australia, Summary, Mar 2001 (Reissue), Catalogue no. 9220.0, ABS, Canberra.
ABS (2015), Freight Movements Australia, 12 Months ended 31 October 2014, Catalogue no. 9223.0, ABS, Canberra.
BITRE (2022), Australia interstate, intrastate and capital city road freight forecasts - 2022 update, Research Report 155, BITRE, Canberra.
BITRE (2023), Australian Infrastructure and Transport Statistics Yearbook 2023, BITRE, Canberra.
BITRE (2024), BITRE estimates, BITRE, Canberra.
BITRE, Australian Sea Freight 2023–24, Statistical Report, BITRE, Canberra ACT.
DISER (2024), Resources and Energy Quarterly, December 2023, Office of the Chief Economist, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Canberra.
DITRDCA (2024), Coastal Trading Licensing System (unpublished data), Canberra ACT.
NFDH (2024), Freight Train Movement Data from ARTC, National Freight Data Hub, Canberra.
Qld DoR (2024), Coal production data, September 2023, Queensland Department of Resources, Brisbane.
Figure 2 illustrates Australian domestic freight activity by transport mode from 1974–75 to 2024–25. The chart indicates that rail and road account for the majority of domestic freight movement. In 2024–25, rail transported approximately 447 billion tonne kilometres of freight, while road accounted for approximately 253 billion tonne kilometres.
Figure 2 Australian domestic freight task, by mode of transport
Source: BITRE Estimates
Chapter 2
This chapter provides information on passenger transport activity, including nationally, by city pair, by capital city and by method of travel to work. The data in this chapter comes from a variety of sources, including BITRE estimates, ABS Census and Tourism Research Australia.
- 166 billion passenger kilometres were travelled by car on capital city roads in 2024-25, of a total of 280 billion passenger kilometres nationwide.
- 16 billion passenger kilometres were travelled on rail in 2024-25 compared to 18 billion in 2018-19, prior to any COVID impacts.
Passenger transport activity is measured by passenger kilometres (the number of kilometres travelled by passenger vehicles multiplied by the number of occupants in the vehicle). As shown in Figure 3, the passenger task is dominated by road transport, mainly passenger cars. Passenger travel on other modes has generally been increasing, albeit with a dip over the pandemic. Air travel fell most significantly, however by 2024-25, it had surpassed its pre-pandemic level. Prior to COVID, public transport use was growing relatively quickly, as shown in Figure 4. By 2024-25 it has returned close to its 2018-19 peak.
Figure 3 Total national motorised passenger travel, by mode
Source: BITRE Estimates
Figure 4 Australian capital city domestic passenger task, by mode
Source: BITRE Estimates
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Road-related Revenue and Expenditure
Chapter 3
This chapter provides information on the Government’s total expenditures and sources of revenue for road-related activities for the Commonwealth, state and local government (noting only expenditure is shown at the local level).
A general overview for the Commonwealth is presented first, before expenditures and revenues are broken down at state/territory level. A variety of sources are used for this data, including data from the Australian Tax Office, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts, the Commonwealth Budget, BITRE estimates and State and Territory Governments.
- The public sector (national, state and local) spent $44 billion on roads in 2023-24.
- $36 billion in road-related revenue was collected by all governments (excluding road-related revenue from the Goods and Services Tax, Fringe Benefits Tax and the Luxury Car Tax).
Public sector road-related expenditure over time can be seen in Figure 5.
Figure 5 Road-related expenditure, by level of Government (constant 2023-24 prices, adjusted by CPI)
Sources: ABS (2025), Consumer Price Index, Australia
ABS (2025), Government Finance Statistics, Australia
BITRE estimates
Figure 6 illustrates that the majority of revenue for the states/territories is vehicle registration fees, and Figure 7 shows how road-related excise and registration revenue has changed over time.
Figure 6 Selected road-related revenues
Sources: ATO (2025), Statistical Inquiry Service
ABS (2025), Consumer Price Index, and Taxation Revenue
Treasury (2022), Final Budget Outcomes 2021-22
State Governments and private toll-road operators
Figure 7 Road-related excise and registration revenue (2023-24 prices)
Sources: State and territory Governments, 2025
State Government reports and publications, 2025
ATO, BITRE estimates
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Chapter 4
This chapter provides information on Australian roads including length, use, the vehicle fleet, and the number of vehicle licences.
- An estimated 264 billion vehicle kilometres were travelled on Australia's roads in 2024–25.
- In 2024, there were 476,000 km of paved roads in Australia.
- 20 million Australians had vehicle licences at 2024–25.
- In 2024–25, Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) comprised 59% of new motor vehicle sales (excluding motorcycles) compared with only 33% ten years earlier.
Figure 8 shows total vehicle kilometres by vehicle type. Figure 9 shows Australia’s national road network. Total vehicle kilometres travelled fell significantly during the COVID pandemic, only surpassing their previous 2017–18 peak in 2023–24.
Figure 8 Vehicle kilometres travelled by vehicle type
Source: Table 4.2
Figure 9 Map of national road network
Source: DITRDCSA, 2022
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Chapter 5
This chapter provides information on rail expenditure, activity and network lengths. Estimates of passenger kilometres up to 2024-25 can be found in Chapter 2 - Passengers.
- People in Melbourne use light rail more than any other city with 155 million passengers in 2023–24.
- People in Sydney use heavy rail more than any other city with 352 million passengers in 2023–24.
- In 2023-24 there were $36 billion of public rail-related expenditure.
Figure 10 shows Australia’s network of railways by gauge and Figure 11 shows rail public transport patronage by million passenger movements. This refers to all trips on suburban rail networks and is based on reporting from train operators. Passenger movements were trending upwards in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide before starting to fall sharply in 2019–20 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2023–24 patronage numbers had generally still not returned to 2018–19 levels.
Figure 10 Australia’s railways, by gauge
Source: BITRE (2025), Trainline 12
Figure 11 Public transit patronage on heavy rail, Australian capital city networks
Sources: BITRE (2015), Long-term trends in urban public transport
BITRE (2025), Trainline 12
Prior Trainline publications
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Chapter 6
This chapter provides data on airline activity, aircraft numbers, on time performance and airfare price indexes. Information is provided for both international and domestic airlines, as well as a breakdown of airport traffic by state.
- 602 thousand Australian domestic flights occurred in 2024–25. As with international activity, the full recovery of the aviation industry to pre-COVID levels has not yet occurred. At the height of the pandemic, domestic flights fell to 327 thousand, fewer than flight numbers in 1977–78.
- 11,995 Piston aircraft were registered as of 31 December 2024, which is 163 more than the year before. The number of helicopters registered increased from 2593 to 2730 over the same period.
- Sydney had the highest number of aircraft movements, with 292 thousand in 2024–25.
- International flights from Australia, are steadily recovering from the impacts of COVID. In 2024–25 there were 209 thousand flights, up from only 45 thousand four years earlier.
Figure 12 Australia’s top 40 airports in 2024-25, passengers
Source: BITRE (2025) Aviation Statistics - Airport Traffic data
Figure 12 shows Australia’s top 40 airports by domestic and international passenger movements. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are the airports which experienced the most activity, with some regional airports outside of the top 30 entering and exiting the list.
Figure 13 International and Domestic airline revenue passengers
Source: BITRE (2025), Aviation Statistics - International Airline Activity
BITRE (2025), Aviation Statistics - Domestic Airline Activity
Figure 13 shows international and domestic revenue passengers. Since the early 1980s, the number of fare-paying passengers, uplifted and discharged in Australia, was steadily increasing both domestically and internationally, before a sharp drop beginning in 2019–20 and recovering to around pre–COVID levels by 2024–25.
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