Press release No. 094 of 9 March 2022
Truck toll mileage index, February 2022
+0.6% on the previous month (calendar and seasonally adjusted)
+4.2% on the same month a year earlier (calendar adjusted)
+4.1% compared with the average of the period from March 2019 to February 2020
KÖLN/WIESBADEN – The Federal Office for Goods Transport (BAG) and the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) report that the mileage covered by trucks with four or more axles, which are subject to toll charges, on German motorways increased by a calendar and seasonally adjusted 0.6% in February 2022 compared with January 2022. The calendar adjusted truck toll mileage index was 4.2% higher than in February 2021. In seasonally and calendar adjusted terms, the index was 4.1% above the level prior to the Covid-19 crisis, when measured against the annual average before the crisis (March 2019 to February 2020).
Increase in Baden-Württemberg and Bayern, decrease in Sachsen and Nordrhein-Westfalen
The truck toll mileage index is suitable as an early indicator of short-term economic development in the whole of Germany and in some of the Länder. There is a clear connection between regional truck toll mileage and regional turnover in manufacturing especially in the non-city Länder with a stronger industrial character. This connection is less visible in the city states and the Länder characterised by less industry. In Baden-Württemberg and Bayern, truck toll mileage showed a significant increase of 1.6% on a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis and of 1.7% in February 2022 compared with the previous month. In contrast, the mileage covered in Sachsen decreased by 0.4%, in Nordrhein-Westfalen by 0.2%.
| Länder | % |
|---|---|
| Baden-Württemberg | +1.6 % |
| Bayern | +1.7 % |
| Hessen | +0.4 % |
| Niedersachsen | +0.7 % |
| Nordrhein-Westfalen | -0.2 % |
| Rheinland-Pfalz | +1.1 % |
| Saarland | +0.8 % |
| Sachsen | -0.4 % |
| Thüringen | +0.1 % |
Information on the connection between truck traffic and short-term economic development
Economic activity produces and requires transport services. Therefore, the truck mileage on motorways is closely connected with industrial production in Germany and provides early indications of short-term economic trends.
As part of truck toll collection, digital process data are generated, for example, on the mileage of trucks subject to toll in Germany. Using these data, the Federal Office for Goods Transport has developed the truck toll mileage index which reflects the development of mileage over time. Due to its rapid availability and economic meaningfulness, the Federal Statistical Office presents the index as a seasonally adjusted short-term indicator.
In addition to the monthly index, an experimental daily truck toll mileage index is published for the whole of Germany. Information on the daily index can be found in the article “Daily truck toll mileage index based on digital process data from toll collection system”, which was authored jointly by the Federal Statistical Office, the Federal Office for Goods Transport and the Deutsche Bundesbank and published in the 4/2020 issue of the WISTA scientific journal of the Federal Statistical Office. An explanatory video and a podcast (only in german) on the subject are also available on the website of the Federal Statistical Office. Background information for assessing the results on the Länder can be found in the article „Der Lkw-Maut-Fahrleistungsindex für Bundesländer: ein neuer Konjunkturindikator für die regionale Industrieaktivität“(only in german), which was published in the 1/2022 issue of WISTA.
More information:
The monthly results of the truck toll mileage index can be found in the GENESIS-Online database in Tables 42191-0001 (truck toll mileage index for Germany) and 42191-LM001 (truck toll mileage index for the Länder), on the Short-term indicators pages and in the Business Cycle Monitor of the Federal Statistical Office.
The daily figures of the truck toll mileage index for Germany are available on the Experimental data (EXDAT) pages (www.destatis.de/exdat) and, as a weekly update, on the Corona statistics special webpage of the Federal Statistical Office (www.destatis.de/corona).
As part of its "toll statistics", the Federal Office for Goods Transport has evaluated toll data since January 2008. Both the size of the toll road network and the permissible total weight of vehicles and vehicle combinations subject to toll charges have changed over time. The truck toll mileage index largely eliminates such structural changes so that short-term economic trends become clearer.
Further results of the toll statistics of the Federal Office for Goods Transport are available from its publications programme, including information on the mileage of trucks subject to toll broken down, for instance, by country of registration or pollutant category. Due to the broader range of data offered and the increased evaluation effort involved, the monthly toll statistics are usually published after the truck toll mileage index. The statistics are not adjusted for seasonal effects or structural changes in toll collection, as is done in the index calculation.
Bundesamt für Güterverkehr:
Michael Cox,
tel: +49 221 5776 4206
www.bag.bund.de
