Railway Passenger Traffic by Country

Railway passenger traffic measures the volume of passenger travel by rail, expressed in million passenger-kilometers. A passenger-kilometer represents one passenger transported over one kilometer, so the indicator reflects both the number of rail journeys and the distances traveled. It is a key indicator of the size and use of a country's passenger rail network. The statistics are based on data from the World Bank World Development Indicators dataset. The dataset covers 78 countries and territories, with observations available through 2021.

Countries With the Highest Railway Passenger Traffic in 2021

China recorded the highest railway passenger traffic in 2021 at 946,499 million passenger-kilometers. India ranked second with 231,126 million, followed by Russia (103,447), France (86,853), and Italy (27,693). Spain (17,002), Poland (15,844), Switzerland (14,308), Iran (11,231), and the Netherlands (10,900) complete the top ten.

Railway Passenger Traffic by Country

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#	Country	Latest Data (million passenger-km)	Year
1	China CN	946,499	2021
2	Japan JP	263,211	2020
3	India IN	231,126	2021
4	Russia RU	103,447	2021
5	South Korea KR	100,381	2019
6	France FR	86,853	2021
7	Germany DE	58,822	2020
8	Indonesia ID	29,066	2019
9	Italy IT	27,693	2021
10	Pakistan PK	24,903	2018
11	United Kingdom GB	24,188.5	2020
12	Spain ES	17,002	2021
13	Brazil BR	16,486.4	2019
14	Poland PL	15,844	2021
15	Switzerland CH	14,308	2021
16	United States US	12,460	2020
17	Iran IR	11,231	2021
18	Netherlands NL	10,900	2021
19	Ukraine UA	10,696	2020
20	Türkiye TR	10,683	2021
21	Bangladesh BD	10,040	2016
22	Australia AU	9,327.6	2021
23	Kazakhstan KZ	8,649.3	2020
24	Austria AT	8,433.2	2021
25	Argentina AR	8,360.8	2017
26	Sweden SE	8,008	2021
27	Belgium BE	6,970	2021
28	Czech Republic CZ	6,820.2	2021
29	Denmark DK	6,560	2018
30	Thailand TH	6,020	2017
31	Romania RO	5,906	2019
32	Hungary HU	5,435.4	2021
33	Belarus BY	4,485.5	2021
34	Morocco MA	4,464	2021
35	South Africa ZA	3,502	2020
36	Uzbekistan UZ	3,130	2021
37	Portugal PT	2,912	2021
38	Finland FI	2,903	2021
39	Turkmenistan TM	2,340	2017
40	Slovakia SK	2052	2021
41	Israel IL	1956	2021
42	Norway NO	1780	2021
43	Vietnam VN	1516	2020
44	Bulgaria BG	1205	2021
45	Malaysia MY	929.3	2020
46	Ireland IE	870	2021
47	New Zealand NZ	802	2020
48	Chile CL	738	2021
49	Greece GR	653	2021
50	Tunisia TN	633.3	2021
51	Slovenia SI	542	2021
52	Croatia HR	540	2021
53	Canada CA	536	2021
54	Mexico MX	466	2021
55	Philippines PH	384	2016
56	Latvia LV	360.8	2021
57	Algeria DZ	348	2020
58	Lithuania LT	329	2021
59	Luxembourg LU	304	2021
60	Estonia EE	290	2021
61	Georgia GE	273.3	2021
62	Cameroon CM	225.4	2020
63	Serbia RS	191	2021
64	Saudi Arabia SA	134.7	2018
65	Azerbaijan AZ	104	2021
66	Mongolia MN	91	2021
67	Gabon GA	87	2020
68	Armenia AM	55	2017
69	Montenegro ME	27.8	2020
70	North Macedonia MK	25.3	2021
71	Moldova MD	23.3	2021
72	Tajikistan TJ	21.7	2020
73	Kyrgyzstan KG	21	2021
74	Zimbabwe ZW	17	2020
75	Bosnia and Herzegovina BA	15	2020
76	DR Congo CD	7.2	2021
77	Zambia ZM	4.2	2018
78	Albania AL	0.8	2021

Railway passenger traffic is dominated by a small number of large rail networks. China and India together account for most of the passenger-kilometers in the dataset, and the top three countries alone account for about 83 percent of the rail passenger traffic reported in 2021. Among the 47 countries and territories with 2021 data, 19 record traffic of at least 4,000 million passenger-kilometers.

Among selected major economies, China records by far the highest traffic in 2021, followed by India (231,126 million) and Russia (103,447 million). France (86,853 million) and Italy (27,693 million) lead Europe, while Japan, which does not report 2021 data, recorded 263,211 million passenger-kilometers in 2020, the last year for which data are available in the dataset.

Railway Passenger Traffic Around the World

In Asia, China (946,499 million) records the highest traffic in 2021, followed by India (231,126 million), Iran (11,231 million), and Kazakhstan (8,649 million, 2020 data). Japan recorded 263,211 million in 2020, the latest year available for the country.

In Europe, Russia (103,447 million) records the highest traffic, followed by France (86,853 million) and Italy (27,693 million). Germany (58,822 million, 2020 data) and the United Kingdom (24,188 million, 2020 data) also record substantial traffic, though their latest data points are from 2020.

In the Americas, the United States recorded 12,460 million passenger-kilometers in 2020, the latest year reported in the dataset, while Brazil recorded 16,486 million in 2019 and Canada 536 million in 2021. In Africa, Morocco (4,464 million, 2021) and South Africa (3,502 million, 2020) record the highest traffic in the region, while data coverage for the continent is limited.

In Asia-Pacific, Australia (9,328 million, 2021) and New Zealand (802 million, 2020) record lower volumes, while Indonesia (29,066 million, 2019) and Thailand (6,020 million, 2017) show the importance of rail in Southeast Asia.

Largest Changes in Railway Passenger Traffic, 2016–2021

India recorded the largest decline between 2016 and 2021, falling from 1,143,039 million to 231,126 million passenger-kilometers, down 911,913 million, followed by China (1,160,059 to 946,499 million, down 213,560 million) and Italy (52,178 to 27,693 million, down 24,485 million). These large declines reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions on travel, especially in international and long-distance rail.

Few countries recorded increases between 2016 and 2021. Türkiye recorded the largest increase, rising from 7,829 to 10,683 million passenger-kilometers, up 2,854 million, followed by Chile (583 to 738 million, up 155 million).

Railway Passenger Traffic by Country

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#	Country	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
1	China	1,160,059	1,266,681	1,361,715	1,438,606	328,251	946,499
2	India	1,143,039	1,149,835	1,177,699	1,157,174	1,050,738	231,126
3	Japan	431,799	437,363	441,614	435,063	263,211	-
4	Russia	124,461	122,920	129,370.7	133,380.9	78,134.7	103,447
5	France	104,207	110,568	107,958	112,384	64,859	86,853
6	Germany	94,197	95,530	98,170	102,026	58,822	-
7	South Korea	86,871	89,964	92,193	100,381	-	-
8	United Kingdom	78,228.9	79,496.2	80,980.2	82,550.4	24,188.5	-
9	Italy	52,178	53,231	55,493	56,586	22,269	27,693
10	Ukraine	36,839	28,075	28,685	28,413	10,696	-
11	United States	35,892.2	33,256	31,963	32,483	12,460	-
12	Spain	26,670	27,487	28,434	28,835	11,998.5	17,002
13	Indonesia	21,636	15,558	16,932	29,066	-	-
14	Pakistan	21,201	22,476	24,903	-	-	-
15	Switzerland	20,812	20,864.5	20,613	21,737	13,334	14,308
16	Poland	19,175	20,319	21,043	22,056	12,487	15,844
17	Kazakhstan	17,321.8	17,961.5	18,509.5	17,700	8,649.3	-
18	Netherlands	16,900	17,800	22,600	19,400	9,200	10,900
19	Australia	16,503.8	17,039.2	18,020.9	18,841.8	15,053	9,327.6
20	Brazil	15,648	15,807	16,422	16,486.4	-	-
21	Iran	12,982	13,270	15,239	14,875	5,170	11,231
22	Sweden	12,800	13,331	13,546.8	14,617.2	8,129	8,008
23	Austria	12,578	12,656.7	13,204.7	13,350	7,417	8,433.2
24	South Africa	11,837	9,821.3	7,113.7	5,504.4	3,502	-
25	Bangladesh	10,040	-	-	-	-	-
26	Belgium	10,025	10,167	10,500	10,849	7,397	6,970
27	Czech Republic	8,843.4	9,497.6	10,286	10,930.6	6,665.1	6,820.2
28	Argentina	8,065.4	8,360.8	-	-	-	-
29	Türkiye	7,829	8,465	8,938	14,259	8,297	10,683
30	Hungary	7,653.5	7,731	7,769.6	7,751.6	4,854.2	5,435.4
31	Denmark	6,653	6,623	6,560	-	-	-
32	Belarus	6,428	6,295	6,215.3	6,274.1	3,741.1	4,485.5
33	Thailand	-	6,020	-	-	-	-
34	Morocco	5,208	4,923	4,475	4,803	2,409	4,464
35	Romania	4,988	5,663	5,577	5,906	-	-
36	Portugal	4,146	4,391	4,487	4,964	2,552	2,912
37	Uzbekistan	3,934	4,294	4,329	4,385	1795	3,130
38	Finland	3,868	4,271	4,534	4,924	2,820	2,903
39	Norway	3,695	3,584	3,722	3,715	1804	1780
40	Slovakia	3,595	3,873	3,915	4,093	2,180	2052
41	Vietnam	3,416	3,657	3,542	3,185	1516	-
42	Israel	2,644.7	2,765.2	3,031.8	3,579.9	1,252.9	1956
43	Malaysia	2,344.2	2,468.1	2,317.1	2,200.1	929.3	-
44	Turkmenistan	2,336	2,340	-	-	-	-
45	Ireland	1990	2,121	2,281	2,399	834	870
46	Mexico	1481	1550	1591	1571	523	466
47	Bulgaria	1458	1438	1479	1,523.8	1119	1205
48	Canada	1408	1534	1530	1731	229	536
49	Algeria	1337	1550	1602	1454	348	-
50	Tunisia	1235	1164	1109	1023	581.2	633.3
51	Greece	1192	1109	1104	1252	640	653
52	Mongolia	956	973	-	1112	580	91
53	Croatia	836	745	756	734	449	540
54	Slovenia	680	650	656	698	397	542
55	Latvia	584	596	624	643	413	360.8
56	Chile	582.9	846.1	973	1063	517	738
57	Georgia	544.5	596.7	633.6	676.6	246.9	273.3
58	New Zealand	-	544.5	743.3	776.6	802	-
59	Azerbaijan	448	467	466	544	172	104
60	Serbia	438	377	347	285	157	191
61	Luxembourg	418	438	442	463	269	304
62	Lithuania	396	424	468	479	260	329
63	Philippines	384	-	-	-	-	-
64	Estonia	316	367	417	392	263	290
65	Cameroon	-	262.1	256.9	254.6	225.4	-
66	Gabon	127	174	176.3	171.3	87	-
67	Moldova	122	99	94.6	74.1	29.2	23.3
68	Zimbabwe	-	-	98	206	17	-
69	Montenegro	83.9	59.9	66.7	66.5	27.8	-
70	North Macedonia	83	59	64	62	25	25.3
71	Armenia	50	55	-	-	-	-
72	Saudi Arabia	-	49.7	134.7	-	-	-
73	Kyrgyzstan	40.8	43	35	37.1	6.8	21
74	DR Congo	28.4	22.7	29.5	27.4	5.4	7.2
75	Bosnia and Herzegovina	24	30	40	55.5	15	-
76	Tajikistan	18.4	28	33	28.1	21.7	-
77	Zambia	-	4.3	4.2	-	-	-
78	Albania	3.2	2.4	2.7	2	0.6	0.8

Methodology

The statistics are based on the World Bank World Development Indicators dataset, indicator IS.RRS.PASG.KM (Railways, passengers carried, million passenger-km). The main comparison uses 2021 data where available, but the latest available year is used for countries without a 2021 observation, and this is noted in the relevant sections (for example Japan 2020, Germany 2020, and South Korea 2019). Values are expressed in millions of passenger-kilometers. Missing observations are treated as missing, not as zero.