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

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Japan's railways, goods transported (million ton-km) fell 8.3% on 2019 (from 19,993 to 18,340).

Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was −0.9% and a typical year strayed about 3.5% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 3.2% in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 10.6% in 2018. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 19% 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 2020, Japan had the 3rd highest value of the 11 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 Japan in the 2020 ranking

• Kazakhstan — 1st of 11: 302,156
• Ukraine — 2nd of 11: 175,587
• United Kingdom — 4th of 11: 15,212
• Viet Nam — 5th of 11: 3,759
• Chile — 6th of 11: 3,585

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 26 values

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

• Australia — 453,091 (2021)
• China — 3.02 million (2019)
• Indonesia — 15,573 (2019)
• Korea, Rep. — 6,757 (2021)
• Malaysia — 817.65 (2020)
• Mongolia — 18,345 (2021)
• New Zealand — 4,444 (2021)
• Viet Nam — 3,759 (2020)

More infrastructure data for Japan

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 59.33 million (2023)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 47.7 (2023)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 975,616 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 8,474 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 120.31 million (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 221.92 million (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 178.43 (2023)
• Industrial design applications, nonresident, by count — 12,102 (2024)
• Industrial design applications, resident, by count — 20,675 (2024)
• Patent applications, nonresidents

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 Japan's railways, goods transported (million ton-km)?

18,340 in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is down 26.94% from 25,101 in 1995 (1.25% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 25,101 in 1995 and the lowest 18,340 in 2020.

How does Japan rank?

3rd highest of 11 economies with data for 2020.

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

In 2020, Japan's railways, goods transported (million ton-km) fell 8.3% on 2019 (from 19,993 to 18,340). Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was −0.9% and a typical year strayed about 3.5% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.1 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.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.

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.