Low water on the Danube cuts Austria's river freight, with August tonnage 74% below last year

27 October 2026

Statistics Austria reported on 5 October 2026 that low water levels slowed goods transport on the Danube in the summer of 2026. ORF's Lower Austria service reported on 6 October that freight traffic on the Austrian Danube in July and August fell by more than half against the summer of 2025, and that August tonnage was 74% lower than in August 2025. August was the second-lowest monthly transport volume since records began in the early 1990s; only January 1997, during an extreme cold snap with icing, was lower. Drought and low water were the cause, and ships that did sail carried smaller loads. Some freight shifted to rail and road. The Lower Austrian stretch of the river runs about 260 river kilometres and its main ports are Krems and Ennshafen, with agricultural products, chemicals and food the main cargo.