EU rail freight transport volume falls by 1.8% in 2025

Rail freight transport performance in the EU fell by 1.8% in 2025 to 368.2 billion ton-kilometers, marking the fourth consecutive year of decline, the bloc's statistical office announced on Monday.

The volume dropped from 375.1 billion ton-kilometers in 2024 to 368.2 billion ton-kilometers last year.

Germany remained the largest contributor to the union's rail freight transport performance with a 33.5% share, equal to 123.5 billion ton-kilometers.

Poland followed as the second-largest contributor with 54.3 billion ton-kilometers, while France ranked third with 34.4 billion ton-kilometers.

Eurostat data showed that rail freight transport performance decreased in 16 member states and increased in eight countries compared to 2024.

Ireland recorded the largest decrease at 35.2%, followed by Latvia at 18.8% and Estonia at 17.3%.

Greece posted the highest increase at 9.3%, while Portugal and France saw their figures rise by 8.4% and 6.6%, respectively.

Luxembourg registered the highest volume of rail freight transported per capita at 10.7 tons, followed by Austria at 10.5 tons and Lithuania at 8.5 tons.

Ireland recorded the lowest rate at 0.03 tons per capita, while Greece saw 0.06 tons and Spain posted 0.5 tons.