East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD): Railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km)

Key figures

Since 1995 it is up 184.37% from 1,702 in 1995 (4.87% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 6 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2017, East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD)'s railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) rose 68% on 2016 (from 2,880 to 4,839).

Across the 12 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2016), the average change was +11.5% and a typical year strayed about 26.4% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 68% in 2017 and the biggest yearly fall was 32% in 2016. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

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

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 17 values

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

• Algeria — 348 (2020)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 11,231 (2021)
• Israel — 1,956 (2021)
• Morocco — 4,464 (2021)
• Pakistan — 24,903 (2018)
• Saudi Arabia — 134.65 (2018)
• Tunisia — 633.33 (2021)

More infrastructure data for East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD)

• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 2.79 billion (2025)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 131 (2025)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 185 million (2025)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 8.7 (2025)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 7.11 million (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 32,423 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 921.72 million (2023)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 15.03% (2025)

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 East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD)'s railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km)?

4,839 in 2017, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 184.37% from 1,702 in 1995 (4.87% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 6,877 in 2005 and the lowest 1,702 in 1995.

Is the latest change in railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) unusual for East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD)?

In 2017, East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD)'s railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) rose 68% on 2016 (from 2,880 to 4,839). Across the 12 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2016), the average change was +11.5% and a typical year strayed about 26.4% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.1 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.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.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.