Rail freight volumes across the European Union fell by 1.8% in 2025, to 368.2 billion tonne-kilometres, according to new data from Eurostat.
The decline, from 375.1 billion tonne-kilometres in 2024, marks the fourth consecutive annual fall in the amount of freight transported by rail, however notable differences were evident across Member States.
Germany leads the way
Germany remained by far the largest contributor to EU rail freight performance, accounting for 123.5 billion tonne-kilometres, or 33.5% of the EU total.
Poland was second with 54.3 billion tonne-kilometres, representing 14.7% of the total, while France contributed 34.4 billion tonne-kilometres, or 9.3%.
Together, these three countries accounted for more than half of the EU’s rail freight performance.
Increases and decreases
Some 16 EU countries reported declines in rail freight last year, compared with the previous year, while eight reported increases.
Ireland recorded the largest decline, with rail freight performance down by more than a third (35.2%). Latvia followed with a decline of 18.8%, while Estonia’s performance fell by 17.3%.
At the other end of the scale, Greece recorded the largest increase, at 9.3%, followed by Portugal at 8.4% and France at 6.6%.
On a per-capita basis, Luxembourg recorded the highest volume per capita, at 10.7 tonnes, followed by Austria at 10.5 tonnes and Lithuania at 8.5 tonnes. The lowest rates were observed in Ireland (0.03 tonnes per capita), Greece (0.06) and Spain (0.5).
Cyprus and Malta were not included in the study, as both countries don’t feature any railways, Eurostat noted. Read more here.
