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

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2021, Italy's railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) rose 24.4% on 2020 (from 22,269 to 27,693).

Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2020), the average change was −1.3% and a typical year strayed about 12.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.0 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 24.4% in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 60.6% 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 24% 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, Italy had the 5th 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 Italy in the 2021 ranking

• India — 2nd of 47: 231,126
• Russian Federation — 3rd of 47: 103,447
• France — 4th of 47: 86,853
• Spain — 6th of 47: 17,002
• Poland — 7th of 47: 15,844
• Switzerland — 8th of 47: 14,308

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

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

• Albania — 0.81 (2021)
• Armenia — 55 (2017)
• Austria — 8,433 (2021)
• Azerbaijan — 104 (2021)
• Belarus — 4,486 (2021)
• Belgium — 6,970 (2021)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 15 (2020)
• Bulgaria — 1,205 (2021)
• Croatia — 540 (2021)
• Czechia

More infrastructure data for Italy

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 20.3 million (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 34.21 (2024)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 185,458 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 1,121 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 20.26 million (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 78.67 million (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 132.58 (2024)
• ICT service exports (BoP, current US$) — US$10.55 billion (2025)
• ICT service exports (% of service exports, BoP) — 6.26% (2025)
• Individuals using the Internet (% of population)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Italy's railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km)?

27,693 in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is down 36.86% from 43,859 in 1995 (1.75% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 56,586 in 2019 and the lowest 22,269 in 2020.

How does Italy rank?

5th highest of 47 economies with data for 2021.

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

In 2021, Italy's railways, passengers carried (million passenger-km) rose 24.4% on 2020 (from 22,269 to 27,693). Across the 25 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2020), the average change was −1.3% and a typical year strayed about 12.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.0 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.

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