This is the latest in a series of Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) reports that provide information on Australian sea freight movements, vessel activity, the use of coastal trading licences, and the size and composition of the Australian trading fleet. This report contains statistics on maritime freight and shipping activities in Australia from 2011–12 to 2020–21.

The latest import and export data has been made available in machine readable form on the National Freight Data catalogue.

The aim of the Australian Infrastructure Statistics and Transport Yearbook is to provide a single, comprehensive annual source of infrastructure statistics for use by policymakers, industry leaders, transport analysts and the wider Australian community.

The publication is primarily a source of long-term, aggregate time series infrastructure statistics. Most statistics included in the publication are currently collected by BITRE or other Australian, state or territory government agencies.

Freight transport plays a significant and wide-ranging role across Australia’s economy. It includes the movement of Australia’s major bulk export commodities to ports for export, the transport of raw materials and semi-processed commodities to businesses for further processing and finished products to household consumers.

This report presents long-term forecasts of total Australian freight volumes for road, rail, coastal shipping and aviation between 2020 and 2050. The forecasts are based on a combination of statistical models relating to historical trends in freight volumes and economic activity and on informed assumptions about likely future long-term economic and demographic trends and international assumptions about likely future world demand for key Australian export commodities. This report updates BITRE 2019 aggregate freight forecasts.

In Australia, road transport is the predominant mode for moving freight between and within states. It is a vital link in various logistics chains, providing access for freight to ports and terminals and urban freight distribution between warehouses and retail outlets. It is also the dominant mode for moving freight over relatively short distances and where other alternatives are not readily available.

This report presents estimates and forecasts of interstate, intrastate and capital cities freight volumes for each state and territory in Australia. Estimates cover the period 1970 to 2020 and forecasts from 2020 to 2040. The forecasts are based on a combination of statistical models relating historical trends in road freight volumes and economic activity, informed by assumptions about likely future long-term economic and demographic trends.

This release provides statistics relating to the number of vehicles registered for road use in Australia on 31st January 2022. The statistics encompass all vehicles that were registered with an Australian state or territory motor vehicle registry for unrestricted use on public roads, and reported by jurisdictions to the National Exchange of Vehicle and Driver Information System (NEVDIS).  This is the first annual release of Road Vehicles Australia, which replaces the ABS Motor Vehicle Census, discontinued in 2021. More statistics are available on the BITRE website and data.gov.au. 

The Australian Government spent $77.7 million on the Bass Strait Passenger Vehicle Equalisation Scheme in the 2 years to June 2021 ($40.8 million in 2019–20 and $36.9 million in 2020–21).

Under the scheme passengers travelling with a vehicle across Bass Strait can receive a rebate applied against the vehicle fare charged by a ferry operator.

Waterline reports on trends in throughput, container handling productivity on the waterfront and landside of ports in Australia and the cost of importing and exporting containers via 5 container ports. It covers the loading and unloading of container ships and the transport of containers from container terminals.

This issue covers port terminal activity up to the June quarter 2021.

Trainline is a compendium of Australia's railways, providing insights, analysis and an understanding of the railway industry. Australia's railways are evolving, with changes within and outside the industry. These changes include logistics, commodity flows, technology, urban patronage and regional passenger services. The publication presents an overview and data on railway transport tasks performed; characteristics of the railways and train operators' rolling stock that runs; and aspects of railway performance including safety, environment and reliability.

The aim of the Australian Infrastructure Statistics and Transport Yearbook is to provide a single, comprehensive annual source of infrastructure statistics for use by policymakers, industry leaders, transport analysts and the wider Australian community.

The publication is primarily a source of long-term, aggregate time series infrastructure statistics. Most statistics included in the publication are currently collected by BITRE or other Australian, state or territory government agencies.

The Yearbook has 11 chapters:

1. bitre-yearbook-2021-4-freight.zip
   (171.72 KB)

Waterline reports on trends in throughput, container handling productivity on the waterfront and landside of ports in Australia and the cost of importing and exporting containers via 5 container ports. It covers the loading and unloading of container ships and the transport of containers from container terminals.

This issue covers port terminal activity up to the December quarter 2020.