Press release No. 193 of 9 May 2022
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 decreased by a calendar and seasonally adjusted 0.8% in April 2022 compared with March 2022. The calendar adjusted truck toll mileage index was down by 1.5% on April 2021. Truck mileage on motorways provides early information on the current economic development in the industry.
Largest decline in Thüringen
The truck toll mileage index is suitable as an early indicator of the short-term economic development not only for the whole of Germany but also for 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. The largest month-on-month decrease in truck toll mileage in April 2022 was recorded in Thüringen (-3.1%, calendar and seasonally adjusted).
Largest increase on March 2022 recorded for cross-border journeys from and to Poland
Truck toll mileage indices are also available for cross-border journeys for the first time for reference month April 2022. They measure the number of journeys into and out of Germany. The highest month-on-month growth in calendar and seasonally adjusted terms was recorded at the Polish border (+1.1%). The largest decrease in cross-border traffic was observed from and to the Czech Republic (-1.2%). Relatively strong decreases were also recorded for cross-border truck traffic from and to Switzerland (-0.9%) and from and to France (-0.8%).
From now on, the website of the Federal Statistical Office will show the indices by cross-border journeys every month at the same time as the existing truck toll mileage index. The time series containing unadjusted as well as calendar and seasonally adjusted values starts in July 2018.
Information on the connection between truck traffic and short-term economic development:
Economic activity produces and requires transport services. There is therefore a clear relationship between the truck toll mileage index and indices on economic activity, in particular the industrial production index. The truck toll mileage index thus provides a rough approximation of the development of industrial production. As it is available about a month earlier than the production index, it is suited as an early indicator of the current economic development. Results can however not be broken down by the economic activities.
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. The Federal Statistical Office processes the index to obtain a seasonally adjusted short-term economic indicator for Germany and its 16 Länder.
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 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 42191-0010 (truck toll mileage index for the Länder), 42191-0002 (truck toll mileage index, cross-border traffic), 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 in the Dashboard Deutschland (only in german) (www.dashboard-deutschland.de) and in the Experimental data (EXDAT) section (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:
tel: +49 221 5776 4206
www.bag.bund.de
