The number of transport passengers in Portugal increased in the third quarter at airports, trains and subways, having fallen in river transport, the National Statistics Institute (INE) announced this Friday, December 5th.
According to statistics on transport activity, published by INE, between July and September national airports handled 22.5 million passengers, an increase of 4.6% year-on-year, but which is below the 6.6% growth recorded in the previous quarter.
Lisbon airport accounted for 45.4% of the total passenger movement (10.2 million passengers), registering an increase of 2.4%, followed by Porto, which reached 5.1 million passengers (22.6% of the total, an increase of 6.3%).
In Faro, there was a movement of 3.9 million passengers (17.1% of the total, plus 5.0%), at Funchal airport 1.6 million passengers and in Ponta Delgada 1.0 million passengers
In the third quarter of this year, 62.5 million passengers traveled by train, which represents an increase of 14.3% compared to the same period last year, and 69.4 million passengers by metro, corresponding to an increase of 1.7%.
These year-on-year increases were higher than those recorded in the previous quarter, in which increases of 7.5% and 0.8% had been observed.
INE highlighted the growth in interurban traffic, which was responsible for 10.1 million passengers, more than doubling the volume handled a year before, and which maintains “strong growth in all quarters of 2025, after the introduction of the Green Rail Pass”.
After a 6.6% drop in the second quarter, international traffic by rail fell again in the third half of the year (-9.8%), with 37.2 thousand passengers transported.
Passenger transport by river fell 0.2% compared to the same period last year, to 7.9 million passengers, highlighting the 1.8% drop in the quarter on the connection between Terreiro do Paço and Barreiro, which handled 2.8 million passengers.
Regarding the transport of goods, INE points out that between July and September there were decreases by road (-5.3%) and air (-0.1%), and increases by rail (6.9%) and sea (3.7%).
National ports handled 21.6 million tons of goods, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%.
The port of Sines handled 11.1 million tons, 1.5% more than a year ago, followed by the port of Leixões (3.2 million tons, up 1.9%) and Lisbon (2.7 million tons, up 6.7%). In the port of Aveiro, after a decrease of 0.6% in the previous quarter, there was an increase of 17.6%.
In the period under analysis, gas transport by pipeline decreased compared to the same period in 2024, both at the entrance (-14.0%) and at the exit (-13.8%), while transport by oil pipeline showed an increase of 7.5%, reaching 893 thousand tons.