China vs Japan: Relative share of passenger kilometers travelled by rail and road
China
1.47 trillion passenger-kilometers
in 2019
Japan
289.89 billion passenger-kilometers
in 2021
China rank
1st
Japan rank
3rd
Relative share of passenger kilometers travelled by rail and road over time
- China
- Japan
How they compare
China currently reports 1.47 trillion passenger-kilometers against 289.89 billion passenger-kilometers in Japan, a difference of 1.18 trillion passenger-kilometers.
That makes China's figure about 5.1 times Japan's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 33 shared years of data; in 1978 it was Japan ahead.
China ranks 1st and Japan ranks 3rd of 63 countries.
Across the 5 decades both report, China averaged higher in 2 and Japan in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | China | Japan | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 109.32 billion passenger-kilometers | 311.13 billion passenger-kilometers | 201.81 billion passenger-kilometers | Japan |
| 1980s | 189.97 billion passenger-kilometers | 322.32 billion passenger-kilometers | 132.36 billion passenger-kilometers | Japan |
| 1990s | 341.00 billion passenger-kilometers | 396.06 billion passenger-kilometers | 55.06 billion passenger-kilometers | Japan |
| 2000s | 603.27 billion passenger-kilometers | 391.31 billion passenger-kilometers | 211.96 billion passenger-kilometers | China |
| 2010s | 1.17 trillion passenger-kilometers | 419.46 billion passenger-kilometers | 749.28 billion 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 Japan?
- China, at 1.47 trillion passenger-kilometers against 289.89 billion passenger-kilometers in Japan as of 2019.
- What is the difference in relative share of passenger kilometers travelled by rail and road between China and Japan?
- 1.18 trillion passenger-kilometers, with China ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for China and Japan?
- 33 years are reported by both, from 1978 to 2019.
- How do China and Japan rank globally for relative share of passenger kilometers travelled by rail and road?
- China ranks 1st and Japan ranks 3rd 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.
Individual pages
About this data
Number of kilometers traveled by passengers by rail.