February 18, 2023 - More than 342.7 thousand ships or 10.4 percent more than in 2021, entered Croatian ports last year, and there were 33.8 million passengers or 23.8 percent, which is still fewer passengers than in pre-pandemic 2019, by 4.9 percent, according to the data of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The total turnover of goods in seaports from January to December 2022 increased by 9.1 percent compared to 2019 and amounted to 23.6 million tons.

According to data from the CBS for the fourth quarter of last year, seaports achieved growth in the number of ships and passengers annually - 62.98 thousand ships or 4.9 percent more arrived than in the last quarter of 2021, writes Index.

The most passenger traffic recorded in Split

In the fourth quarter of 2022, 4.3 million passengers were boarded and disembarked in Croatian seaports, which is a 17.1 percent increase compared to the same period in 2021. However, statisticians note that compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, there was still a drop of 3.9 percent.

4.1 million passengers were transported on ferries and passenger ships in the fourth quarter of 2022, which is 14.5 percent more than in the same period of 2021.

Passenger traffic in seaports in the fourth quarter of 2022 was the highest in Split, with 707.7 thousand passengers or 21.9 percent more than in the last quarter of 2021. The port of Zadar followed with a total traffic of 423.2 thousand passengers or 15.7 percent more, and the third was the port of Preko (on the island of Ugljan) with 353.7 thousand passengers or 8.5 percent more than in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Increase in the number of vehicles on ferries

Data from CBS show that in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to the same period of the previous year, seaports also recorded an increase in the number of passenger vehicles and buses that were loaded and unloaded from ferries - more than 772 thousand passenger vehicles, an increase of 5.6 percent, while the number of buses increased by 16.3 percent, to 5,412.

Statisticians also note that of the total number of passengers in seaports, 168,000 of them were disembarked from cruise ships, which compared to the last quarter of 2021, is an increase of as much as 126.8 percent. According to data from CBS, the total turnover of goods in the fourth quarter of 2022 was 5.8 million tons, an increase of 6.3 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2021.

Growth in freight traffic

The CBS explains this with the growth of liquid cargo turnover by 21.8 percent (with a share in the total turnover of goods of 48 percent) and turnover of dry bulk goods by 2.6 percent (a percentage of the total turnover of goods of 29 percent) compared to the same the period of 2021. At the same time, on an annual level, tons of goods in containers decreased by 14 percent (with a share in the total turnover of goods of 15 percent).

Of the five ports that realise 90 percent of the total turnover of goods in seaports, statistics registered a noticeable increase in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 in the ports of Omišalj, by 28.4 percent (to 1.7 million tons). , and Ploče, by 17 percent (to 1.3 million tons).

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