Africa accounted for 2% of total global air cargo market in June 2025.
During the month of June 2025, African airlines saw demand (measured by cargo tonne kilometres rise by 3,9% year-on-year, according to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Meanwhile, capacity (measured by available cargo tonne kilometres) increased by 6,2% year-on-year, although there was a -0.9ppt decline in utilisation for an average 42,1% cargo load factor, or portion of the available capacity taken up by the market.
By comparison, global demand for air cargo rose 0,8% y-o-y while capacity expanded by 1,7%, with a 45,5% average cargo load factor.
“Overall, air cargo demand grew by a modest 0.8% year-on-year in June, but there are very differing stories behind that number for the industry’s major players,” says Willie Walsh, director-general of IATA.
“Trade tensions saw North American traffic fall by 8,3% and European growth stagnate at 0,8%. But Asia-Pacific bucked the trend to report a 9% expansion. Meanwhile disruptions from military conflict in the Middle East saw the region’s cargo traffic fall by 3,2%.
“The June air cargo data made it very clear that stability and predictability are essential supports for trade. Emerging clarity on US tariffs allows businesses greater confidence in planning. But we cannot overlook the fact that the ‘deals’ being struck are resulting in significantly higher tariffs on goods imported into the US than we had just a few months ago.
“The economic damage of these cost barriers to trade remains to be seen. In the meantime, governments should redouble efforts to make trade facilitation simpler, faster, cheaper and more secure with digitalisation.”
IATA highlights several factors in the operating environment:
- Year-on-year, world industrial production rose 3,2% in May, and global goods trade grew by 3,5%.
- The June jet fuel price was 12% lower year-on-year, a fourth consecutive year-on-year monthly decline. It was, however, 8,6% up on May prices.
- Global manufacturing rebounded in June, with the PMI rising above the 50 mark to 51.2. The PMI for new export orders improved by 1.2 index points but remained in negative territory (49.3), under pressure from recent US trade policy shifts.