Chile: Railways, goods transported (million ton-km)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Chile's railways, goods transported (million ton-km) rose 16.4% on 2019 (from 3,080 to 3,585).

Across the 9 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2019), the average change was −2.1% and a typical year strayed about 7.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 16.4% in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 19.3% in 2019. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 the straight-line trend is downward, about 83.25 a year. A straight line explains 58% of the movement over 10 observed years.

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

How it compares

In 2020, Chile had the 7th highest value of the 11 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 Chile in the 2020 ranking

• Japan — 3rd of 11: 18,340
• United Kingdom — 4th of 11: 15,212
• Viet Nam — 5th of 11: 3,759
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 7th of 11: 1,040
• Armenia — 8th of 11: 840
• Malaysia — 9th of 11: 817.65

What this measures

Goods transported by railway are the volume of goods transported by railway, measured in metric tons times kilometers traveled.

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.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a median.

All 11 values

Railways, goods transported (million ton-km) in nearby economies

• Argentina — 8,377 (2017)
• Mexico — 92,437 (2021)

More infrastructure data for Chile

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 1.74 million (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 8.79 (2024)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 144,494 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 1,499 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 21.32 million (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 26.22 million (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 132.66 (2024)
• ICT service exports (BoP, current US$) — US$764.07 million (2025)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 5.87% (2025)
• Patent applications, nonresidents

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Chile's railways, goods transported (million ton-km)?

3,585 in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2010?

It is down 6.47% from 3,834 in 2010 (0.67% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 4,119 in 2011 and the lowest 3,080 in 2019.

How does Chile rank?

7th highest of 11 economies with data for 2020.

Is the latest change in railways, goods transported (million ton-km) unusual for Chile?

In 2020, Chile's railways, goods transported (million ton-km) rose 16.4% on 2019 (from 3,080 to 3,585). Across the 9 yearly changes before that (2011 to 2019), the average change was −2.1% and a typical year strayed about 7.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IS.RRS.GOOD.MT.K6, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Railisa Database (UIC), International Union of Railways (UIC), uri: https://uic-stats.uic.org/select/; OECD Statistics, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 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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