EURACTIV PR

An easy way of publishing your relevant EU press releases.

New IRU Road Transport Indices from 51 countries forecast slight economic recovery

Date

04 Jan 2010

Sections

Transport

The IRU Road Transport Indices, a benchmark in GDP growth, new truck registration and road transport volumes now in 51 countries, forecast slight economic recovery at global level.

Geneva - The IRU has expanded the geographical coverage of its Road Transport Indices to 51 economies* including OECD states, as well as the EU, Balkan, BRIC and TRACECA countries. 

The IRU Indices provide historic data on GDP, road freight transport volumes and new vehicle registrations from 2005 onwards, while providing a one year forecast.  

For 2010, the IRU Indices forecast for OECD countries:

·         an average 1.1% increase in GDP, compared to an overall decrease of 3.8% in 2009; 

·         a 1.1% growth of transported tonnes, versus a 3.9% decrease in 2009; and 

·         a modest increase in new vehicle registrations of 0.9% reaching 1.3 million new registrations of trucks over 3.5 tonnes in 2010, which is still considerably below the level of the 2005 base year.

IRU Head of Sustainable Development, Jens Hügel, said, “After a year of economic crisis, there are clear signs that the economic decline will stop. However, it appears that transport operators are reluctant to invest in new vehicles, preferring instead to wait for more steady economic growth.”

For BRIC countries, IRU indices of road freight volumes show for 2010:

a 10% growth in China, versus 8% in 2009; 

a 7.3% increase in India, compared to a 5.8% growth in 2009; 

a 4.8% increase in Brazil vs. 0% in 2009; and 

a 4.9% increase in Russia, after a drastic decline of 8.6% in 2009. 

“It seems that ‘old’ OECD economies will not jumpstart the ‘global economic engine’, but rather the BRIC countries that were less severely impacted by the crisis than OECD countries,” Jens Hügel concluded. 

For country comparisons and comparative data, as well as IRU Indices methodology, please visit the IRU’s website (http://www.iru.org/index/indices-app).

* * *

* OECD:       Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,  Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,  United Kingdom, United States of America.

EU:               Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. 

BRIC:           India, China, Brazil, Russia.

Balkan:        Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia.

TRACECA:   Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

Press Office

International Road Transport Union (IRU)

3, rue de Varembé / B.P. 44 

CH-1211 Geneva 20

Switzerland

Tel: +41 22 918 27 07

Fax: + 41 22 918 27 41

Mailto: Press@iru.org 

Web: www.iru.org    

Jobs

The European Landowners Organization
EU Project and Policy Officer
ETF (European Transport Workers' Federation)
Policy Officer for Road
European Roma Grassroots Organisations Network
Junior Communications Officer
European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)
Registry Control Officer
GEOS Atlas
Junior Accountant
ESPON EGTC
Legal Advisor
Privacy International
Legal Officer