Transport in 2008: freight traffic down, passenger traffic still buoyant

The French transport sector registered a sharp downturn in 2008, with real production growth slowing from 3.8% to 0.6%. This loss of momentum was consistent with that of the total economy, which slowed from 2.8% to 0.7%. The main factor was the steep contraction in freight traffic, which lost 3.1% after rising 4.5% in 2007. Passenger traffic, by contrast, stayed on a robust growth track, accelerating from 3.5% to 5.0%. Auxiliary transport services suffered from the economic slowdown but less severely: their growth weakened from 3.3% to 1.3%. Transport-related CO2 emissions were down 3.6%. Transport-infrastructure investment, very largely concentrated in the public sector, remained high at €19.2 billion.