Burkina Faso: Rail lines (total route-km)

Key figures

Over five years it is unchanged at from 518 in 2016. Since 1995 it is down 16.72% from 622 in 1995 (0.7% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 3 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

From 2013 to 2021 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains less than 1% of the movement over 9 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2021, Burkina Faso had the 59th highest value of the 61 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Burkina Faso in the 2021 ranking

• Gabon — 56th of 61: 648
• Côte d'Ivoire — 57th of 61: 639
• Tajikistan — 58th of 61: 620
• Kyrgyz Republic — 60th of 61: 417
• Luxembourg — 61st of 61: 271

What this measures

The total length of rail line in the country operated for passenger transport, goods transport, or both.

Limitations: Data for transport sectors are not always internationally comparable. Unlike for demographic statistics, national income accounts, and international trade data, the collection of infrastructure data has not been "internationalized". The data from UIC is based on voluntary reporting by railway companies, and can show drastic increases or decreases for some of the years due to lack of reporting by some of the companies in that country.

All 24 values

Rail lines (total route-km) in nearby economies

• Botswana — 886 (2021)
• Cameroon — 884 (2021)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 3,641 (2021)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 639 (2021)
• Gabon — 648 (2021)
• Madagascar — 673 (2021)
• Mauritania — 728 (2021)
• Nigeria — 3,528 (2015)
• Sudan — 2,747 (2020)
• Tanzania — 2,701 (2017)

More infrastructure data for Burkina Faso

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 81,718 (2024)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 2,437 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 103,592 (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 27.46 million (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 116.59 (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 0.35 (2024)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 1.47 (2023)
• Individuals using the Internet (% of population) — 28.25% (2024)
• Scientific and technical journal articles — 519.72 (2023)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Burkina Faso's rail lines (total route-km)?

518 in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is down 16.72% from 622 in 1995 (0.7% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 622 in 1995 and the lowest 518 in 2013.

How does Burkina Faso rank?

59th highest of 61 economies with data for 2021.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Railisa Database, International Union of Railways (UIC), uri: https://uic-stats.uic.org/.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IS.RRS.TOTL.KM, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Railisa Database, International Union of Railways (UIC), uri: https://uic-stats.uic.org/ Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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