DFDS’ latest volume report for October 2025 shows a broad weakening in both freight and passenger areas. The company registered a 3.7% drop in total freight lane meters to 3.6 million compared to October last year. Adjusted for route changes, the decline is 5.7%.
Year-to-date, growth lands at -0.3% without adjustments and -1.6% adjusted, underscoring a weakened market across key European routes.
The decline was broadly distributed:
• The North Sea delivered lower volume than in 2024, affected by weakness on several routes.
• The Mediterranean lagged behind, partly due to reduced capacity in a market characterized by tougher ferry competition.
• The Channel was hit by a general slowdown in the Dover Strait.
• The Strait of Gibraltar also showed declines after capacity adjustments.
Only the Baltic Sea performed above 2024 levels.
Looking at the latest 12 months (November 2024–October 2025), total freight lane meters increased 1.0% to 41.5 million from 41.1 million the previous year, but on an adjusted basis there was a decline of 1.5%.
Passenger numbers painted the same picture. In October, the number of passengers fell 5.5% to 331,000 on an adjusted basis (and -27.8% without adjustments), particularly driven by lower volume across the Channel – especially in the bus segment – although the Strait of Gibraltar showed progress.
Adjusted year-to-date, passenger development is at -4.3%, while car travel fell 2.3% in October. On a 12-month basis, the passenger number reached 5.3 million, a drop of 18.0% from 6.5 million the previous year (-4.0% adjusted).
The adjustments in the report cover the sale of the Oslo–Frederikshavn–Copenhagen route at the end of October 2025, the exit from Tarifa–Tanger Ville at the beginning of May, and the addition of the Jersey routes from the end of March 2025.
-emte
