What is the difference in annual freight transport between Spain and United Kingdom?

26,138 Tonnes-kilometres, with Spain ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Spain and United Kingdom?

54 years are reported by both, from 1970 to 2023.

Where does this data come from?

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Annual freight transport. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Spain vs United Kingdom: Annual freight transport

Spain

49,938 Tonnes-kilometres

in 2024

United Kingdom

23,800 Tonnes-kilometres

in 2023

Spain rank

5th

United Kingdom rank

8th

Annual freight transport over time

Spain
United Kingdom

How they compare

Spain currently reports 49,938 Tonnes-kilometres against 23,800 Tonnes-kilometres in United Kingdom, a difference of 26,138 Tonnes-kilometres.

That makes Spain's figure about 2.1 times United Kingdom's.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 54 shared years of data; in 1970 it was Spain ahead.

Spain ranks 5th and United Kingdom ranks 8th of 21 countries.

Across the 6 decades both report, Spain averaged higher in 2 and United Kingdom in 4.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Spain	United Kingdom	Difference	Ahead
1970s	28,123 Tonnes-kilometres	30,520 Tonnes-kilometres	2,397 Tonnes-kilometres	United Kingdom
1980s	30,674 Tonnes-kilometres	55,410 Tonnes-kilometres	24,736 Tonnes-kilometres	United Kingdom
1990s	33,748 Tonnes-kilometres	53,020 Tonnes-kilometres	19,272 Tonnes-kilometres	United Kingdom
2000s	44,074 Tonnes-kilometres	57,430 Tonnes-kilometres	13,356 Tonnes-kilometres	United Kingdom
2010s	45,133 Tonnes-kilometres	31,260 Tonnes-kilometres	13,873 Tonnes-kilometres	Spain
2020s	46,043 Tonnes-kilometres	24,425 Tonnes-kilometres	21,618 Tonnes-kilometres	Spain

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher annual freight transport, Spain or United Kingdom?: Spain, at 49,938 Tonnes-kilometres against 23,800 Tonnes-kilometres in United Kingdom as of 2024.
What is the difference in annual freight transport between Spain and United Kingdom?: 26,138 Tonnes-kilometres, with Spain ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Spain and United Kingdom?: 54 years are reported by both, from 1970 to 2023.
How do Spain and United Kingdom rank globally for annual freight transport?: Spain ranks 5th and United Kingdom ranks 8th of 21 countries.
Where does this data come from?: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Annual freight transport. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Spain vs United Kingdom: Annual freight transport. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 20 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/annual-freight-transport/spain/united-kingdom/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/annual-freight-transport/spain/united-kingdom/">Spain vs United Kingdom: Annual freight transport</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator: Annual freight transport
Unit: Tonnes-kilometres
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence: OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage: 25 places, 933 data points, 1970–2024
Last refreshed: 20 August 2026

Freight transport by rail, road, inland waterways and pipeline.