The air transport sector registered the highest percentage growth in turnover when comparing 2002 against 2001, followed by the supporting and auxiliary transport activities by 45.2 and 29.7 per cent respectively. A drop of 2.3 per cent was reported for the water transport sector.

Turning to value added, the land transport, air transport and the supporting and auxiliary transport activities sectors all reported growth rates of 0.3,15.3 and 53.6 per cent respectively over 2001.There was a marginal decrease of 0.5 per cent in the water transport sector.

The gross operating surplus increased by 37.2 per cent or Lm44.0 million to Lm162.4 million during 2002 against Lm118.4 million recorded during 2001. The highest growth in gross operating surplus was registered by the air transport sector and amounted to Lm93.8 million in 2002 against Lm71.3 million the previous year.

A negative growth was registered by the water transport sector which generated Lm0.35 million less than in 2001.

Gross investments during 2002 amounted to Lm38.2 million against Lm9.5 million in 2001 and Lm11.2 million during 2000. Investment per head amounted to Lm1,178, Lm1,468 and Lm9,835 respectively during 2000, 2001 and 2002. A notable increase in investment was registered by the supporting and auxiliary transport sector during 2002, an increase of Lm24.6 million.

Personnel costs decreased by 7.6 per cent or Lm3.3 million in 2002 to Lm39.7 million against Lm43.0 million incurred during 2001. The highest personnel cost per head was registered by the supporting and auxiliary transport sector, while the least was recorded by the land transport sector.

The number of persons employed in all the sectors covered during 2002 was estimated at 8,422 persons against 9,611 employed during the previous year. A decline in employment was registered by all transport sectors excluding the air transport sector.