The analysis of infrastructure and energy in the Mediterranean is structured around five dimensions: logistics performance, maritime connectivity, renewable energy consumption, the diffusion of photovoltaic technologies, and the role of natural gas. The data reveal a persistent structural divide between the northern European shore — more advanced and integrated into global trade flows — and the southern and eastern shores, marked by infrastructure gaps and slower energy transitions. The Mediterranean emerges as a highly heterogeneous space, where competitiveness and sustainability develop at asymmetric speeds.
Analysis of maritime connectivity, logistics performance, and renewable energy consumption to examine integration in global transport networks, infrastructural efficiency and energy sustainability in Mediterranean countries. Significant differences between macro-regions.
In the Mediterranean context, infrastructure and energy represent two fundamental pillars of economic competitiveness and regional integration. On the one hand, the quality of logistics infrastructure and maritime connectivity determine the ability of production systems to effectively integrate into global trade flows. On the other, the transition to renewable energy sources is redefining the energy mix of the region's countries, influencing development models and energy security strategies. Analyzing these areas together allows us to grasp the interdependencies between sustainability, efficiency, and international openness, as well as the persistent disparities between the various macro-regions of the Mediterranean.
Logistics performance
Figure 1 shows the differences between Mediterranean and Southeastern European countries in terms of logistics performance, measured through an index that ranges from 1 to 5. This indicator, developed by the World Bank, assesses how efficient a country is in managing its logistics system — that is, the set of infrastructures, transport, customs, and services that enable the movement of goods and raw materials. A value close to 5 indicates a well-organized system capable of supporting trade and enhancing economic competitiveness; on the other hand, lower values indicate structural difficulties, slow processes, and higher transportation costs.
The first notable point is the clear superiority of Western Mediterranean and European countries. Spain, France, and Italy rank at the top, with values close to 4, followed by Greece, Israel, and Portugal, all above the 3.5 threshold. These results indicate the presence of advanced logistics systems, supported by modern port and intermodal infrastructures, good digitalization of processes, and high capacity for integration into global trade flows.
At an intermediate level are the countries of Southeastern Europe and the Middle East, such as Turkey, Slovenia, Croatia, Malta, Cyprus, North Macedonia, and Egypt, with values ranging from 3 to 3.2. These countries show growing logistics systems, but still face internal disparities and infrastructure limitations, especially in land connections.
Further down, we find Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Algeria, with values between 2.5 and 3. In these cases, the logistics system is often hindered by outdated infrastructures, long customs times, and higher transport costs, which reduce the competitiveness of exports.
At the bottom of the ranking are the more fragile or politically unstable countries, such as Syria and Libya, with values below 2.5. Here, logistics is strongly impacted by external factors — conflicts, political instability, lack of public investments, and difficulties in accessing global transport networks.
Figure 1 – Overall Logistics Performance Index. Year 2022 (score from 1 = low to 5 = high)
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Maritime connectivity
Figure 2 shows the trend of the Maritime Transport Connectivity Index for the year 2025 across several European and Mediterranean countries. This indicator measures each country's level of integration into global containerized maritime transport networks, highlighting how connected a country is to global trade flows by sea. The average value for 2023 for all countries served by regular lines is set at 100, and higher values indicate greater access to international markets and stronger participation in global production networks.
Data reveals that Spain continues to stand out as the country with the highest maritime connectivity in 2025, with values exceeding 350. This reflects the strategic role of its ports — particularly Algeciras, Valencia, and Barcelona — as international hubs in the western Mediterranean.
Italy and France follow, maintaining connectivity levels between 250 and 300, confirming their centrality in Mediterranean trade and in connecting Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. In these countries, the presence of well-infrastructured ports and a solid network of maritime services help support the competitiveness of exports.
Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco show a solid position, indicating continuous strengthening in international logistics chains, thanks in part to investments in the ports of Istanbul, Izmir, and Tanger Med.
An intermediate group, with values between 100 and 200, includes Greece and Malta: smaller economies, but with ports that act as regional hubs for distribution in the eastern and central Mediterranean.
Finally, countries with lower values, often below 100, include Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Montenegro, Albania, and Syria. The poor connectivity of these countries reflects structural limitations (such as small-sized ports, outdated infrastructure, or indirect access to the sea), and in some cases, the impact of political instability or conflicts.
Figure 2 – Connectivity Index for Liner Maritime Transport. Year 2025 (N.I. international average value in the first quarter of 2023 = 100)
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Renewable energy consumption
Renewable energy consumption in the Mediterranean (Figure 3) has seen a progressive and widespread increase over the past decades, marking one of the most significant transformations in regional energy systems. The chart highlights three distinct dynamics, reflecting the varying levels of maturity in electricity markets and environmental policies across different areas of the basin.
In Western European countries and the Balkans — including Portugal, Slovenia, Croatia, and Albania — the consumption of renewable energy as a share of total electricity capacity has shown steady and consistent growth over time. Many of these countries have surpassed the 50% renewable share, with particularly high levels in Albania, Montenegro, Portugal, Italy, Greece, France, Spain, and Croatia. The increase became more pronounced after 2015, when a combination of European incentives, climate targets, and a reduction in technological costs accelerated the adoption of wind and photovoltaic plants.
In the southern Mediterranean and the Middle East, the trajectory is different. In the first decade of the 2000s, the growth of renewable energy consumption remained very slow, hindered by financial, infrastructural, and regulatory constraints. However, starting from 2016, a clear acceleration is observed, driven by new national sustainable development programs and international investments in the sector. By 2024, Morocco, Jordan, and Turkey emerge as the most dynamic countries, with renewable shares nearing or exceeding 40%, and particularly strong growth after 2020.
Despite these advances, some North African countries, such as Libya and Algeria, remain in a state of stagnation, with values below 10%. In these cases, a lack of investments, dependence on fossil fuels, and the fragility of electricity grids slow down the transition to cleaner energy sources.
Overall, the Mediterranean presents a highly heterogeneous landscape: while Europe and some emerging economies are accelerating towards sustainability, others remain anchored to a traditional energy model, marking a gap that continues to separate the two shores of the basin.
Figure 3 – Share of renewable energy in electrical capacity. Years 2010/2024 (%)
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Solar energy consumption
Photovoltaics is currently the sector that most clearly highlights the diversity of energy transition pathways in the Mediterranean, reflecting economic, political, and technological differences between the two shores of the basin. Italy and Spain remain undisputed leaders: their expansion began as early as 2010, supported by European and national incentives that promoted the widespread deployment of solar plants. By 2024, Italy exceeds 35,000 MW of installed capacity, recording the highest expansion rate ever reached, while Spain consolidates its position as one of the leading European producers.
A second wave of development involves Turkey and France, which, although they started solar energy programs later, show impressive acceleration after 2015. Turkey, in particular, stands out for the speed with which it has integrated photovoltaics into its energy mix, driven by a growing domestic demand and a strategy aimed at reducing dependency on fossil fuel imports.
In the southeastern Mediterranean and the Balkans, however, growth is slower but steady. Countries such as Serbia, Bosnia, North Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Portugal, Malta, and Cyprus began investing in photovoltaics only in recent years, often starting from very low bases. In many of these contexts, infrastructure challenges, limited investment capacity, and regulatory uncertainties continue to hinder expansion.
Overall, a two-speed Mediterranean emerges: on one side, the European Union countries, racing toward decarbonization with significant investments and long-term policies; on the other, the southern and eastern shores, progressing more slowly, resulting in a growing lag in the pace of the energy transition. Photovoltaics thus becomes a visible indicator of this structural asymmetry, but also a sector where growth potential remains enormous, especially for the sunnier and still underutilized regions of the southern Mediterranean.
Figure 4 – Solar photovoltaics, installed electricity capacity. Years 2010/2024 (Megawatt, MW)
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Natural gas consumption
In the Euro-Mediterranean basin, natural gas continues to be one of the pillars of electricity production, but with deeply divergent trajectories across the different shores. In the eastern Mediterranean region, Egypt, Israel, and Algeria represent three emblematic cases of how geographical position and natural resource endowment can shape national energy strategies.
Egypt experienced explosive growth in gas-based electricity generation capacity after 2015, thanks to the discovery of the Zohr gas field and other offshore fields in the Eastern Mediterranean. Its strategic position – a crossroads between Africa, the Middle East, and energy routes to Europe – has turned it into a regional gas hub, attracting foreign investments and supplying both the domestic market and exports through LNG terminals.
Algeria, historically one of the main gas exporters to Europe, has progressively expanded its domestic gas-fired electricity generation capacity to meet growing domestic demand. The use of gas as the main source for electricity production reflects the intention to exploit an abundant and easily accessible resource, while keeping costs low and ensuring a continuous supply.
In the case of Israel, gas-based electricity capacity remains almost stable throughout the period considered, with limited variations and a much lower overall level compared to the main regional producers. Despite the limited growth, Israel, along with Egypt and Algeria, confirms the central role of natural gas in the energy mix of southern and eastern Mediterranean countries.
In all three cases, geographical position and the availability of local resources have made this source the most reliable for ensuring continuous production and energy supply security.
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Metadata
Indicators
Definition
Share of renewable energy in total final energy consumption. Renewable energy includes hydropower, solid biofuels, liquid biofuels, biogas, wind, solar, geothermal, tidal/wave/ocean and renewable municipal waste.
Sources
International Energy Agency (IEA), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), "Tracking SDG7: The Energy Progress Report"
Methodology
The data comes from the International Energy Agency's (IEA) global energy balances, with additional information on https://www.iea.org/reports/sdg7-data-and-projections; and the United Nations Energy Statistics Database (http://data.un.org/Explorer.aspx?d=EDATA); Both provide a breakdown of national energy flows by product over time. The indicator is calculated as the ratio of the final consumption of energy from renewable sources after the allocation of electricity and heat (AFECREN) to the total final consumption of energy (TFEC), calculated on the basis of the flows of the energy balances. The final consumption of electricity and heat is allocated to renewables based on the share of gross generation from renewable sources. In practice, this is done by calculating the percentage of electricity and heat produced by each renewable source, multiplying the final consumption of electricity and heat by these shares, and then allocating the resulting quantities
Installed electrical capacity from photovoltaic plants, expressed in megawatts. It measures the maximum power that can be delivered by solar systems connected to the grid.
Sources
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENASTAT)
Methodology
Energy capacity data represent the maximum net generation capacity of electrical systems and other installations used to produce energy. For most countries and technologies, these data refer to installed and grid-connected capacity at the end of the calendar year.
Installed electrical capacity from onshore wind farms, expressed in megawatts. It indicates the maximum power that can be produced by wind farms located on the earth's territory, connected to the electricity grid.
Sources
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENASTAT)
Methodology
Energy capacity data represent the maximum net generation capacity of electrical systems and other installations used to produce energy. For most countries and technologies, these data refer to installed and grid-connected capacity at the end of the calendar year.
Installed electrical capacity from hydroelectric plants, expressed in megawatts. It represents the maximum power that can be generated by exploiting water energy, through renewable plants connected to the grid.
Sources
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENASTAT)
Methodology
Energy capacity data represent the maximum net generation capacity of electrical systems and other installations used to produce energy. For most countries and technologies, these data refer to installed and grid-connected capacity at the end of the calendar year.
Installed electrical capacity of generation plants fuelled by fuel oil or petroleum derivatives, expressed in megawatts.
Sources
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENASTAT)
Methodology
Energy capacity data represent the maximum net generation capacity of electrical systems and other installations used to produce energy. For most countries and technologies, these data refer to installed and grid-connected capacity at the end of the calendar year.
Installed electrical capacity of natural gas-fired generation plants, expressed in megawatts. Indicates the power available from gas systems connected to the grid.
Sources
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENASTAT)
Methodology
Energy capacity data represent the maximum net generation capacity of electrical systems and other installations used to produce energy. For most countries and technologies, these data refer to installed and grid-connected capacity at the end of the calendar year.
Percentage share of renewable energy in installed electricity capacity and/or actual electricity production. It indicates how much renewable sources contribute to the national energy structure.
Sources
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENASTAT)
Methodology
Energy capacity data represent the maximum net generation capacity of electrical systems and other installations used to produce energy. For most countries and technologies, these data refer to installed and grid-connected capacity at the end of the calendar year.
Volume of shipments of diplomatic cargo and baggage carried at each stage of flight (operations of an aircraft from takeoff to the next landing), measured in metric tons per kilometer flown.
Sources
World Bank Development Indicators elaborations on International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) data
Methodology
Air transport data represent the total scheduled traffic (international and domestic) carried by air carriers registered in a country. Countries submit air transport data to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) based on standard instructions and definitions issued by ICAO. In many cases, however, the data include ICAO estimates for non-reporting carriers. Where possible, these estimates are based on previous communications complemented by information published by air carriers, such as flight schedules.
Domestic and international passengers of air carriers registered in the country.
Sources
World Bank Development Indicators elaborations on International Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) data
Methodology
Air transport data represent the total scheduled traffic (international and domestic) carried by air carriers registered in a country. Countries submit air transport data to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) based on standard instructions and definitions issued by ICAO. In many cases, however, the data include ICAO estimates for non-reporting carriers. Where possible, these estimates are based on previous communications complemented by information published by air carriers, such as flight schedules.
Notes
The data covers air traffic carried on scheduled services, but changes in air transport regulations in Europe have made it more difficult to classify traffic as scheduled or non-scheduled. Therefore, the recent increases recorded in some European countries may be due to changes in the classification of air traffic rather than actual growth. In the case of multinational air carriers owned by partner states, traffic within each partner state is indicated separately as domestic and all other traffic as international. "Foreign" cabotage traffic (i.e. traffic carried between pairs of cities in a State other than that in which the reporting carrier has its main office) is referred to as international traffic. A technical downtime does not entail the classification of a flight phase different from that which would have occurred if the technical downtime had not been carried out. For countries with few or only one air carriers, the addition or discontinuation of a domestic air carrier can cause significant changes in air traffic. Data for the transport sector are not always internationally comparable. Unlike demographic statistics, national economic accounts and international trade data, the collection of infrastructure data has not been "internationalized".
Composite index that measures the position of an economy within global liner shipping networks. It is calculated based on the number of ship stops, the container handling capacity of ports, the number of services and companies, the size of the largest vessel, and the number of countries connected through direct liner transport services. For each year, the value of the fourth quarter is considered.
Sources
United Nations on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Methodology
The composite index is calculated based on the number of vessels, the container handling capacity of ports, the number of liner maritime services, the number of companies, the size of the largest vessel and the number of countries connected through direct liner transport services. For each component, the country value is divided by the average value of the component in Q1 2023 and then the average of the six components for the country is calculated. The average of the components for a given country and quarter is then multiplied by 100. The result is an average index of 100 in Q1 2023. This scalat was applied in March 2024 for the entire series. (from Q1 2006). This is a change from the previous calculation methodology, in which the constituents and the index were scaled to the maximum value in Q1 2006.
Composite index that measures a country's perception of logistics based on the efficiency of the customs clearance process, the quality of trade and transport-related infrastructure, the ease of arranging shipments at competitive prices, the quality of logistics services, the ability to track and trace shipments, and the frequency with which shipments reach the recipient on time. The index ranges from 1 to 5, with a higher score representing better performance.
Sources
World Bank
Methodology
The indicator presents data from surveys on logistics performance conducted by the World Bank in collaboration with academic and international institutions and with private companies and private entities engaged in international logistics. The Logistic performance index (LPI) uses a structured online survey conducted on logistics professionals at multinational freight forwarders and major express couriers. Each respondent evaluates eight foreign markets based on six key components of logistics performance (the efficiency of customs clearance and border management, the quality of trade and transportation infrastructure, the ease of arranging shipments at competitive prices, the expertise and quality of logistics services, the ability to track and trace shipments, the frequency with which shipments reach recipients within delivery times planned or planned). The components are rated on a scale (from lowest score to highest score) from 1 to 5. The eight countries were chosen based on the most important export and import markets of the country in which the respondent is located, on the basis of a random selection and, for landlocked countries, on the basis of neighboring countries that are part of the connection lines with international markets. The method used to select the group of countries evaluated by each respondent varies depending on the characteristics of the country in which the respondent is located. If respondents did not provide information for all six components, interpolation is used to fill in the missing values. Missing values are replaced with the country's average answer for each question, corrected by the average deviation from the country's average in the questions it answered. The LPI is built from the six indicators using principal component analysis (PCA), a standard statistical technique used to reduce the dimensionality of a data set. In the LPI, the inputs for the PCA are the scores of countries to the questions covering the six main components, averaged across all respondents providing data on a given foreign market. Scores are normalized by subtracting the sample mean and dividing by the standard deviation before performing the PCA. The result of the PCA is a single indicator – the LPI – which is a weighted average of these scores. The weights are chosen to maximize the percentage of change of the original six LPI indicators.
Passengers transported by rail represent the product of the number of passengers transported and the kilometres they travelled.
Sources
World Bank
Methodology
Passenger kilometres are calculated by multiplying the railway distance travelled between origin and destination by the number of passengers making that journey. The variable refers to all passengers, regardless of the fare paid, including those who travel for free, but excluding train staff. The number of passengers is counted as the number of passenger journeys, where a journey is the movement from a place of origin to a place of destination using the railway, and can be composed of a single leg or several consecutive legs, provided that they are made by the same means of transport, so that the destination of one leg coincides with the origin of the next. A trip is considered to have ended in the event of an overnight stay, or, for convenience, when there is a change of mode of transport or company. Passenger kilometres therefore represent the total distance travelled by all passengers: for example, one person travelling 20 km contributes 20 passenger-kilometres, while four people travelling 20 km each contribute 80 passenger-kilometres.
The total length of the railway network operating in the country, whether used for passenger transport, freight transport, or both.
Sources
World Bank
Methodology
Railway lines represent the length of the rail network available for rail service, regardless of the number of parallel tracks. Only routes open to public passenger and freight transport are included, while private railways dedicated to specific uses (e.g. transport of resources) are excluded. The lines are classified by gauge: N (standard gauge 1,435 m), L (broad gauge, indicated exactly), E (narrow gauge, indicated exactly). The length of the network is calculated considering the active sections, including those present in the capital expenditure accounts, while only the sections that are permanently out of use, i.e. no longer maintained in operational conditions, are excluded. Temporarily inactive routes continue to be counted. The length is measured in the center of the sections, from the center of the passenger or service buildings of the stations indicated as independent points of departure or arrival. If the rail network boundary falls on an open section, the measure extends up to that point. When multiple lines converge and use the same main section, it is counted only once, except in cases where there are separate tracks normally assigned to the individual lines, which are then counted separately. In the case of parallel tracks (e.g. service tracks), only the length of the main line is considered. The lines operating only in certain periods of the year (seasonal lines) are in any case included in the year-end measure.
Port container traffic measures the flow of containers from land to sea transport modes, and vice versa, in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a standard-size container. Data refer to coastal shipping as well as international journeys. Transshipment traffic is counted as two lifts at the intermediate port (once to off-load and again as an outbound lift) and includes empty units.
Sources
World Bank
Methodology
The TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) is the international standard unit used to measure container capacity and port traffic volume, and corresponds to a 20-foot container length, which is the minimum reference size. Containers can vary in length (from 20 to over 50 feet), but the TEU is used as a conversion unit: for example, two 20-foot containers are equivalent to a FEU (Forty-foot Equivalent Unit). Container ship capacity and port handling are commonly expressed in TEUs.
