DREM releases transport statistics for the first half of 2025

The Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DREM) today releases data for the first six months of 2025 concerning the different modes of transport.

Land transport – Transfers of ownership of used vehicles increased year-on-year, whereas acquisitions of new vehicles declined

According to data compiled by the Regional Directorate of Statistics of Madeira (DREM), bus passenger transport services recorded a total of 12.9 million passengers in the first half of 2025. Urban lines carried 8.2 million passengers, while interurban lines accounted for 4.6 million passengers. Year-on-year changes are not presented owing to the implementation of a new ticketing system in 2024. Indeed, the data for 2025 are not comparable with those of the previous year, thus resulting in a series break.

Between January and June 2025, over 739.4 thousand tickets were sold to users of the Region’s cable cars, representing an increase of 4.2% compared with the same period of 2024. Of the total tickets sold, 94.3% were for adults, 4.0% for children, and the remaining 1.6% for other types of users (e.g., farmers, residents, students, among others). During the same period, total revenue reached approximately 10.1 million euros, representing a 14.4% year-on-year increase. It should be noted that, in the second quarter of 2025, higher year-on-year increases were recorded both in the number of tickets sold (+4.7%) and in revenue (+19.3%).

In the first semester of 2025, the Registers of the Region recorded 8 048 transfers of ownership for used motor vehicles, of which 87.5% were passenger cars and 11.3% light commercial vehicles. In addition, 94 cargo vehicles were registered, corresponding to around 1.2% of the total. Compared with the first half of 2024, the number of registrations rose by 544, representing a year-on-year increase of 7.2%. In the second quarter of 2025, this indicator also registered an increase (+7.1%) relative to the same quarter of the previous year, a value very close to the cumulative growth.

According to information collected by ACAP – Associação Automóvel de Portugal, in the first half of 2025, there were 2 598 registrations of new vehicle acquisitions by residents in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (ARM), representing a decrease of 8.5% compared with the same period of 2024. Between April and June 2025, 1 239 vehicles were acquired, 256 fewer than in the second quarter of 2024, corresponding to a reduction of 17.1%. It should be stressed that this variable refers to acquisitions of vehicles by entities resident in the ARM, including car rental companies, and therefore does not reflect sales carried out by automobile dealerships operating in the Region.

Provisional data supplied by the Madeira Regional Command of the Public Security Police (PSP) indicate that, in the first half of 2025, there were 1 935 reported road accidents with police intervention, an increase of 9.6% compared with the same semester of the previous year. In total, there were 634 victims (118 more than in the first half of 2024), of whom 584 sustained minor injuries, 44 serious injuries, and 6 fatalities.

Air transport – Passenger traffic at the ARM airports rose by 11.6%

In the first half of 2025, the ARM airports recorded passenger traffic of approximately 2 686.5 thousand, representing a year-on-year increase of 11.6%. This growth resulted from a 12.2% increase at Madeira airport, while Porto Santo airport recorded a slight decline of 0.7%. In the second quarter of 2025, passenger traffic at the ARM airports increased by 15.5% year-on-year.

In the period under review, the occupancy of aircraft handled at the ARM airports stood at 84.6%, with Madeira airport recording 84.9% and Porto Santo airport 77.0%. In the same period of 2024, the occupancy of aircraft was higher overall (86.8%) and at Madeira airport (87.4%), while at Porto Santo airport it was lower (76.5%). In the second quarter of 2025, the occupancy of aircraft at the ARM airports stood at 86.3%, representing a decline of 2.4 percentage points (pp) compared with the same period of 2024. At Madeira airport, the rate was 86.7% (-2.7 pp compared with the second quarter of 2024), while at Porto Santo airport it stood at 79.1%, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 0.9 pp.

With regard to air cargo, in the first half of 2025, a decrease of 9.7% was recorded at the ARM airports compared with the same period of 2024. Loaded goods fell significantly by 48.8% year-on-year, whereas unloaded goods rose by 11.4%.

Maritime transport – Movement of goods traffic at ports increased by 3.6%

In the field of maritime transport, in the first half of 2025, a total of 174 cruise ships entered the ports of the ARM (35 more than in the same period of the previous year). The number of transit passengers (374 058) also rose compared with the same half of 2024 (+10.9%).

During the period under review, the Port of Funchal received 372 922 transit passengers, the vast majority (90.1%) originating from Europe. The predominant nationalities were German (42.7% of the total; +12.8% compared with the corresponding period), British (34.5%; -4.3%), Italian (1.8%; +72.4%), Spanish (1.7%; +249.9%), Austrian (1.3%; +35.6%) and Dutch (1.3%; +12.0%). It should also be noted that passengers originating from the American continent represented 9.0% of the total, recording an increase of 25.5% compared with the first half of 2024. The nationalities contributing most to this increase were Canadian (1.3% of the total; +26.1% compared with the first half of 2024) and Brazilian (1.2%; +396.5%). In contrast, the proportion of United States nationals declined, accounting for 5.5% of the total (-3.3% compared with the same period of 2024).

On the Madeira–Porto Santo line, the number of passengers amounted to around 146.4 thousand in the first half of 2025, representing an increase of 0.8% compared with the same period of 2024. In the second quarter of 2025, there were 118.7 thousand passengers on this route, corresponding to a year-on-year increase of 11.2%.

In the first half of 2025, the movement of goods traffic at the ARM ports recorded an overall positive change compared with the same period of the previous year, increasing by 3.6%. This growth resulted from a 4.6% increase in unloaded goods, as loaded goods registered a decline of 4.0%. In the second quarter of 2025, the total movement of goods traffic increased by 4.8% year-on-year.

From January to June 2025, 908 recreational vessels entered the Region’s marinas, with a total of 2 039 crew members and passengers, representing year-on-year increases of 4.6% and 3.0%, respectively. 

For more information, please consult:

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