Brussels, 23/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Romania, Latvia and Estonia were the countries most severely affected by the fall in road freight transport resulting from the global economic downturn, according to information published by the EU statistical office (Eurostat) on Tuesday 22 March. In 2009, road freight transport fell by 39% in Romania, 34% in Latvia and 27.4% in Estonia compared with the previous year. In the European Union as a whole, road freight transport was down by 10% compared with 2008. Bulgaria (+16%) and Poland (+10%) were the only countries to record an increase in this period. Despite the crisis, road freight transport was the dominant mode of freight transport in all member states, except Estonia and Latvia. On an EU level, road freight transport is more than four times larger than rail freight transport. This form of transport saw a 17% fall across the EU in 2009. The largest declines were found in Bulgaria (33%), Belgium (29%), Luxembourg and Spain (both 28%). Four member states - Germany, Poland, France and the United Kingdom - accounted for just over half of total EU rail freight transport of 370 tkm (tonnes per kilometre) in 2009. (A.By./transl.rt)