Brazil's Inland Waterway Transport Hits Five-Year High in 2025
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Brazilian inland waterway transport recorded its highest output of the last five years in 2025, with approximately 374,600 million useful ton-kilometers (TKU), representing growth of 9.81% compared to 2024. The figure comes from the study on inland waterway transport output measured in TKU, approved by the Board of Directors of the National Waterway Transportation Agency (Antaq) at its 619th Regular Board Meeting, held on September 24.
Growth across all modes analyzed
The report, which Antaq produces every two years and which updates data for fiscal year 2023, showed gains across the different waterway transport modes. Inland river navigation reached 42,700 million TKU, up 21.06% from 2024, while long-haul maritime transport via inland waterways grew 23.46%, to 44,980 million TKU. Cabotage, for its part, added up to 286,920 million TKU, an increase of 6.49%.
The Lower Amazon and Madeira, the most active corridors
Adding together inland navigation, cabotage via inland waterways and long-haul maritime transport on inland routes, output reached 114,590 million TKU in 2025, up 19.06% from the previous year. The Lower Amazon waterway accounted for 63.95% of that total, and together with the Madeira waterway it made up about 59.6% of inland navigation. Madeira recorded 12,800 million TKU, up 20.92%, with a share of roughly 30% of that segment. Growth of 195.04% on the Paraguay River waterway also stood out, while the Paraná-Tietê waterway fell 31.77%, differences that sources attribute to hydrological, operational and infrastructure conditions, as well as changes in cargo flows.
Antaq's perspective
Antaq director Wilson Lima Filho, who served as rapporteur for the study, noted that the TKU indicator allows for comparison across transport modes, assessment of capacity and efficiency, and provides input for infrastructure planning and sector regulation, in addition to offering insight into the intensity of use of waterway corridors and the connections between cargo origins and destinations.
Comparison with rail
The study also compared waterway output with rail output. In 2025, the combined total of inland navigation and cabotage reached 329,620 million TKU, growing 8.18%, while rail transport reached 408,200 million TKU, up 2.50%. Sources clarify that this comparison considers the aggregate output of both modes and does not constitute an assessment of efficiency, productivity or costs.
