According to current data released by the EU statistics office, Eurostat, rail freight transport in the EU fell by 1.8 percent. Total transport output decreased from 375.1 billion tonne-kilometers in 2024 to 368.2 billion tonne-kilometers. This marks the fourth consecutive year that the sector has experienced a decline.
Germany remained the largest player in the EU rail freight market, contributing one-third of the total output, which amounted to 123.5 billion tonne-kilometers. Poland followed with a 14.7 percent share (54.3 billion tonne-kilometers), while France secured the third position with 9.3 percent (34.4 billion tonne-kilometers).
While 16 EU countries saw a decrease in transport output compared to 2024, eight countries registered an increase. The sharpest declines were recorded in Ireland (-35.2 percent), Latvia (-18.8 percent), and Estonia (-17.3 percent). Conversely, the highest gains were observed in Greece (+9.3 percent), Portugal (+8.4 percent), and France (+6.6 percent).
When measured relative to the respective national populations, the per capita rail freight volume was highest in Luxembourg (10.7 tonnes), Austria (10.5 tonnes), and Lithuania (8.5 tonnes). The lowest per capita values were recorded in Ireland (0.03 tonnes), Greece (0.06 tonnes), and Spain (0.5 tonnes).
