9 February 2024 Updated 12 February 2024

Passenger Transport Statistics (PT)

December 2023 and year 2023. Provisional data

Main results

The number of passengers using public transport increased by 12.1% in December, as compared with the same month of 2022.
The annual rate for city transport increased by 15.4% and for inter-city transport by 10.1%.
In the year 2023 as a whole the number of public transport passengers increases by 18.2%.

More information

Tables annex (includes information by autonomous community and type of transport)
Detailed results (monthly and annual data)

More than 430.0 million passengers used public transport in December, 12.1% more than in the same month of 2022.

The annual rate for city transport increased by 15.4% and for inter-city transport 10.1% . Within the latter, it is worth noting the 15.6% rise in the bus transport.

In the year 2023 as a whole, the number of passengers that used public transport exceeded 5,188.6 million, which represents an increase of 18.2% compared to 2022.

Annual evolution of passenger transport by mode of transport. December 2023

Percentage

{
    "mode": "table",
    "category": [
        "City",
        "Inter-city",
        "Special and unscheduled",
        "2022",
        "December",
        "2023",
        "January",
        "February",
        "March",
        "April",
        "May",
        "June",
        "July",
        "August",
        "September",
        "October",
        "November"
    ],
    "col": [
        [
            "0"
        ],
        [
            "1"
        ],
        [
            "2"
        ]
    ],
    "row": [
        [
            "3",
            "4"
        ],
        [
            "5",
            "6"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "7"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "8"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "9"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "10"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "11"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "12"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "13"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "14"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "15"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "16"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "4"
        ]
    ],
    "data": [
        "20.2",
        "26.3",
        "17.4",
        "34.9",
        "39.6",
        "10.2",
        "23.6",
        "24.5",
        "3.6",
        "21.5",
        "24.7",
        "8.8",
        "19.6",
        "18.6",
        "0.2",
        "19.9",
        "16.6",
        "1.9",
        "21.7",
        "18.5",
        "1.9",
        "24.1",
        "19.3",
        "2.5",
        "23.5",
        "22.1",
        "15.1",
        "17.0",
        "13.5",
        "-9.7",
        "18.4",
        "14.4",
        "-3.5",
        "16.2",
        "11.8",
        "-1.9",
        "15.4",
        "10.1",
        "-2.9"
    ],
    "title": "",
    "leftSideCols": 2,
    "rowsHeader": 1
}

City transport

City transport was used by more than 272.5 million passengers in December, 15.4% more than in the same month of 2022.

Metro transport increased by 11.8% in annual rate and City transport by bus increased by 18.2% in December.

Inter-city transport

More than 122.9 million passengers used inter-city transport in December, representing a 10.1% increase as compared with the same month of 2022.

By mode of transport, the bus transport increased by 15.6%, the maritime transport by 7.3%, and the rail transport by 4.6%, whereas the air transport decreased by 11.5%.

Inter-city transport by mode of transport and distance. December 2023

Annual rate. Percentage

{
    "mode": "table",
    "category": [
        "Passengers (thousands)",
        "Annual rate (%)",
        "Bus",
        "TOTAL",
        "Local",
        "Regional",
        "Long-distance rail",
        "Rail<sup>1</sup>",
        "High Speed",
        "Rest of long-distance rail",
        "Air (domestic)",
        "Mainland Spain",
        "Mainland - Rest of territory",
        "Inter-island",
        "Maritime (cabotage)"
    ],
    "col": [
        [
            "0"
        ],
        [
            "1"
        ]
    ],
    "row": [
        [
            "2",
            "3",
            ""
        ],
        [
            "",
            "4",
            ""
        ],
        [
            "",
            "5",
            ""
        ],
        [
            "",
            "6",
            ""
        ],
        [
            "7",
            "3",
            ""
        ],
        [
            "",
            "4",
            ""
        ],
        [
            "",
            "5",
            ""
        ],
        [
            "",
            "6",
            "3"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "",
            "8"
        ],
        [
            "",
            "",
            "9"
        ],
        [
            "10",
            "3",
            ""
        ],
        [
            "",
            "11",
            ""
        ],
        [
            "",
            "12",
            ""
        ],
        [
            "",
            "13",
            ""
        ],
        [
            "14",
            "3",
            ""
        ]
    ],
    "data": [
        "63,846",
        "15.6",
        "44,043",
        "13.2",
        "18,516",
        "22.0",
        "1,286",
        "13.1",
        "54,690",
        "4.6",
        "47,613",
        "4.9",
        "3,476",
        "-11.3",
        "3,600",
        "20.8",
        "2,806",
        "26.5",
        "794",
        "4.2",
        "3,607",
        "7.3",
        "1,411",
        "11.6",
        "1,729",
        "4.6",
        "467",
        "5.3",
        "785",
        "7.2"
    ],
    "title": "",
    "leftSideCols": 3,
    "rowsHeader": 1
}

¹Local rail includes RENFE and all autonomic rail operators. Long-distance rail includes AVE, AVLO, OUIGO and IRYO.

Special and unscheduled transport

More than 34.5 million passengers used special and unscheduled transport in December, indicating a decrease of 2.9% in annual rate.

The number of special transport passengers decreased by 8.7%, reaching more than 22.1 million users. Within this, school transport decreased by 7.4% and work transport did so by 12.2%.

Finally, unscheduled transport increased by 9.6% as compared with the same month of 2022, with more than 12.4 million passengers.

Results by Autonomous Communities

All the Autonomous Communities showed positive annual rates.

The highest increases were showed in Región de Murcia (57.2%), Canarias (35.9%) and Extremadura (27.1%).

In turn, Galicia (6.5%), País Vasco (8.4%) and Cataluña (14.5%) showed the lowest increases in bus transport.

City transport by bus¹. December 2023

Annual rate. Percentage

{
    "mode": "chart",
    "type": "barrashorizontalesprensa",
    "width": "170mm",
    "height": "130mm",
    "legend": false,
    "valueAxis": false,
    "tags": true,
    "series": [
        {
            "label": "Annual rate (%)"
        }
    ],
    "ticks": [
        "Galicia",
        "País Vasco",
        "Cataluña",
        "Aragón",
        "Madrid, Comunidad de",
        "Castilla - La Mancha",
        "NATIONAL",
        "Andalucía",
        "Comunitat Valenciana",
        "Castilla y León",
        "Asturias, Principado de",
        "Extremadura",
        "Canarias",
        "Murcia, Región de"
    ],
    "values": [
        [
            6.5,
            8.4,
            14.5,
            15.5,
            15.6,
            16.1,
            18.2,
            18.5,
            21.0,
            21.2,
            22.5,
            27.1,
            35.9,
            57.2
        ]
    ],
    "ratioMargen": 0.05,
    "angleTick": "0",
    "angleTag": "0",
    "colors": [
        "#559B98",
        "#89BEBA"
    ],
    "config": {
        "marcaTick": {
            "color": "#9e1834",
            "value": "NATIONAL"
        }
    }
}

¹In order to maintain statistical secrecy, data of Autonomous Communities of Illes Balears, Cantabria, Comunidad Foral de Navarra and La Rioja, and the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla are not separately published.

Metro transport increased in all cities with this type of transport as compared with the same month of the previous year. Málaga's metro registered the highest increase (139.4%), and Bilbao's registered the lowest (9.1%).

Revisions and data update

On the press release day, INE has updated PT data for the same month of the previous year. Results are available at INEbase.

Methodological note

The purpose of the Passenger Transport Statistics (PT) is to provide monthly information regarding the number of passengers transported by city transport (bus and metropolitan), inter-city transport (road, rail, air and sea) and special and unscheduled bus transport.

Road transport in researched through a simple survey. For rail transport, the number of passengers is calculated using the information provided by the railway operators (RENFE and other autonomous companies). The information for air transport is provided by Civil Aviation, and for sea transport, the number of passengers disembarked is compiled using information from State Ports.

Survey Type: ongoing monthly.
Population scope: companies involved in passenger transport irrespective of their main activity.
Geographical scope: the whole county.
Reference period of the results: month.
Reference period of the information: month.
Sample size: Approximately 1,500 companies.
Type of sampling: stratified random sampling of companies, by Autonomous Communities, number of employees and type of transport.
Collection method: fill in a questionnaire by respondent using one of the following methods: internet (IRIA system), email, fax, telephone or post.

Further information is available in the methodology and in the standardized methodological report.

INE's statistics are produced according to the European Statistics Code of Practice. For further information at Quality at INE and Code of Practice.

For further information see

Official INE account on @es_ine

All press releases at:: www.ine.es/en/prensa/prensa_en.htm
Press office:: (+34) 91 583 93 63 / 94 08 – gprensa@ine.es
Information area:: (+34) 91 583 91 00 – www.ine.es/infoine/?L=1