Chile: Railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2021, Chile's railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) rose 42.7% on 2020 (from 517 to 738).

Across the 19 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2020), the average change was +1.6% and a typical year strayed about 20.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.0 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 45.2% in 2017 and the biggest yearly fall was 51.4% in 2020. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2012 to 2021 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 1% of the movement over 10 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, Chile had the 28th highest value of the 47 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 2021 ranking

• Norway — 25th of 47: 1,780
• Bulgaria — 26th of 47: 1,205
• Ireland — 27th of 47: 870
• Greece — 29th of 47: 653
• Tunisia — 30th of 47: 633.33
• Slovenia — 31st of 47: 542

What this measures

Passengers carried by railway are the number of passengers transported by rail multiplied by 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 22 values

Railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) in nearby economies

• Argentina — 8,361 (2017)
• Mexico — 466 (2021)
• Uruguay — 8 (2015)

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, passengers carried (million passenger-km)?

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

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 7.11% from 689 in 1995 (0.26% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 1,063 in 2019 and the lowest 517 in 2020.

How does Chile rank?

28th highest of 47 economies with data for 2021.

Is the latest change in railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) unusual for Chile?

In 2021, Chile's railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) rose 42.7% on 2020 (from 517 to 738). Across the 19 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2020), the average change was +1.6% and a typical year strayed about 20.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.0 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IS.RRS.PASG.KM, 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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