Israel: Rail lines (total route-km)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2021, Israel's rail lines (total route-km) rose 6.2% on 2020 (from 1,619 to 1,720).

Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2020), the average change was +4.3% and a typical year strayed about 8.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above 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 38.7% in 2004 and the biggest yearly fall was 9% in 2003. 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 68.91 a year. A straight line explains 98% 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.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 1,895 for 2024. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2019 to 2021 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 82.36, against 124.97 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2021, Israel had the 43rd highest value of the 61 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 Israel in the 2021 ranking

• Latvia — 40th of 61: 1,859
• Mongolia — 41st of 61: 1,821
• Tunisia — 42nd of 61: 1,777
• Malaysia — 44th of 61: 1,655
• Ireland — 45th of 61: 1,650
• Uruguay — 46th of 61: 1,498

What this measures

The total length of rail line in the country operated for passenger transport, goods transport, or both.

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.

All 27 values

Rail lines (total route-km) in nearby economies

• Algeria — 4,001 (2021)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 5,153 (2016)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 9,455 (2021)
• Morocco — 2,295 (2021)
• Pakistan — 7,791 (2019)
• Saudi Arabia — 2,939 (2018)
• Tunisia — 1,777 (2021)

More infrastructure data for Israel

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 2.56 million (2023)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 27.66 (2023)
• ICT service exports (BoP, current US$) — US$58.63 billion (2025)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 64.63% (2025)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 48,607 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 609.66 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 7.38 million (2023)
• Patent applications, nonresidents — 6,814 (2024)
• Patent applications, residents — 1,448 (2024)
• Industrial design applications, nonresident, by count

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 Israel's rail lines (total route-km)?

1,720 in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 181.97% from 610 in 1995 (4.07% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 1,720 in 2021 and the lowest 610 in 1995.

How does Israel rank?

43rd highest of 61 economies with data for 2021.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IS.RRS.TOTL.KM, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Railisa Database, International Union of Railways (UIC), uri: https://uic-stats.uic.org/ 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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