India's railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) was 231,126 in 2021, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 76.38% from 978,508 in 2011 (13.44% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 231,126 | 2021 |
| Five years earlier | 1.14 million | 2016 |
| Ten years earlier | 978,508 | 2011 |
| Highest | 1.18 million | 2018 |
| Lowest | 231,126 | 2021 |
| Average since 2012 | 1.03 million | 2012–2021 |
| First recorded | 319,365 |
What the numbers say
In 2021, India's railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) fell 78% on 2020 (from 1.05 million to 231,126).
Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2020), the average change was +5% and a typical year strayed about 4.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 17.8 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 12.9% in 2007 and the biggest yearly fall was 78% in 2021. 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 21% 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, India had the 2nd 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.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| India | 231,126 | 2021 |
| South Asia | 576,540 | 2016 |
Closest to India in the 2021 ranking
- China — 1st of 47: 946,499
- Russian Federation — 3rd of 47: 103,447
- France — 4th of 47: 86,853
- Italy — 5th of 47: 27,693
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 27 values
| Year | Railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 231,126 |
| 2020 | 1,050,738 |
| 2019 | 1,157,174 |
| 2018 | 1,177,699 |
| 2017 | 1,149,835 |
| 2016 | 1,143,039 |
| 2015 | 1,147,190 |
| 2014 | 1,140,412 |
| 2013 | 1,046,522 |
| 2012 | 1,046,522 |
| 2011 |
Railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) in nearby economies
- Bangladesh — 10,040 (2016)
- Sri Lanka — 7,407 (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
Questions people ask
- What is India's railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km)?
- 231,126 in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1995?
- It is down 27.63% from 319,365 in 1995 (1.24% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 1.18 million in 2018 and the lowest 231,126 in 2021.
- How does India rank?
- 2nd highest of 47 economies with data for 2021.
- Is the latest change in railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) unusual for India?
- In 2021, India's railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) fell 78% on 2020 (from 1.05 million to 231,126). Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2020), the average change was +5% and a typical year strayed about 4.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 17.8 standard deviations below 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.
Legal entity
Devansh Yadav
Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
Governing law: Courts at Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
Phone: +91 8433475698
Legal: legal@analyzeit.in