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

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2021, India's railways, goods transported (million ton-km) rose 1.7% on 2020 (from 707,665 to 719,762).

Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2020), the average change was +4.4% and a typical year strayed about 4.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 11.7% in 2018 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.2% in 2017. 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 the straight-line trend is upward, about 7,506 a year. A straight line explains 41% 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 2021, India had the 3rd highest value of the 49 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 India in the 2021 ranking

• Russian Federation — 1st of 49: 2.64 million
• United States — 2nd of 49: 2.24 million
• Australia — 4th of 49: 453,091
• Canada — 5th of 49: 430,170
• Germany — 6th of 49: 123,067

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 27 values

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

• Bangladesh — 1,053 (2016)
• Sri Lanka — 127.39 (2015)

More infrastructure data for India

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 39.24 million (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 2.7 (2024)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 1.23 million (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 1,807 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 180.42 million (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 1.15 billion (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 79.35 (2024)
• Industrial design applications, nonresident, by count — 4,210 (2024)
• Industrial design applications, resident, by count — 36,118 (2024)
• Patent applications, nonresidents

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

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

719,762 in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 188.41% from 249,564 in 1995 (4.16% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 738,523 in 2019 and the lowest 249,564 in 1995.

How does India rank?

3rd highest of 49 economies with data for 2021.

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

In 2021, India's railways, goods transported (million ton-km) rose 1.7% on 2020 (from 707,665 to 719,762). Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2020), the average change was +4.4% and a typical year strayed about 4.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

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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