China vs France: Relative share of passenger kilometers travelled by rail and road

China
1.47 trillion passenger-kilometers
in 2019
France
117.85 billion passenger-kilometers
in 2022
China rank
1st
France rank
4th

Relative share of passenger kilometers travelled by rail and road over time

  • China
  • France
0500.0B1.0T1.5T197019962022

How they compare

China currently reports 1.47 trillion passenger-kilometers against 117.85 billion passenger-kilometers in France, a difference of 1.35 trillion passenger-kilometers.

That makes China's figure about 12.5 times France's.

Across all 33 years both countries report, China has been ahead every year.

China ranks 1st and France ranks 4th of 63 countries.

China has averaged higher in every one of the 5 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade China France Difference Ahead
1970s 109.32 billion passenger-kilometers 53.66 billion passenger-kilometers 55.66 billion passenger-kilometers China
1980s 189.97 billion passenger-kilometers 57.81 billion passenger-kilometers 132.16 billion passenger-kilometers China
1990s 341.00 billion passenger-kilometers 72.03 billion passenger-kilometers 268.97 billion passenger-kilometers China
2000s 603.27 billion passenger-kilometers 91.20 billion passenger-kilometers 512.07 billion passenger-kilometers China
2010s 1.17 trillion passenger-kilometers 106.32 billion passenger-kilometers 1.06 trillion passenger-kilometers China

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher relative share of passenger kilometers travelled by rail and road, China or France?
China, at 1.47 trillion passenger-kilometers against 117.85 billion passenger-kilometers in France as of 2019.
What is the difference in relative share of passenger kilometers travelled by rail and road between China and France?
1.35 trillion passenger-kilometers, with China ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for China and France?
33 years are reported by both, from 1978 to 2019.
How do China and France rank globally for relative share of passenger kilometers travelled by rail and road?
China ranks 1st and France ranks 4th of 63 countries.
Where does this data come from?
OECD (2023); OECD (2024) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as Relative share of passenger kilometers travelled by rail and road. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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China vs France: Relative share of passenger kilometers travelled by rail and road. Statizoid, drawing on OECD (2023); OECD (2024) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 02 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/relative-share-of-passenger-kilometers-travelled-by-rail-and-road/china/france/

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About this data

Indicator
Relative share of passenger kilometers travelled by rail and road
Unit
passenger-kilometers
Source
OECD (2023); OECD (2024) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
63 places, 2,649 data points, 1970–2022
Last refreshed

Number of kilometers traveled by passengers by rail.