Annual freight transport in United States of America

United States of America: Annual freight transport was 226,442 Tonnes-kilometres in 2021. β–Ό Falling

Latest (2021)
226,442 Tonnes-kilometres
Change on year
down 1.6%
World rank
2nd
of 21 countries
All-time high
948,616 Tonnes-kilometres
in 1983
All-time low
226,442 Tonnes-kilometres
in 2021
Years of data
44
1978–2021

Annual freight transport in United States of America, 1978–2021

200.0k400.0k600.0k800.0k1.0M1978199920211978: 788.9k Tonnes-kilometres1979: 777.1k Tonnes-kilometres1980: 921.5k Tonnes-kilometres1981: 926.7k Tonnes-kilometres1982: 923.7k Tonnes-kilometres1983: 948.6k Tonnes-kilometres1984: 867.1k Tonnes-kilometres1985: 892.0k Tonnes-kilometres1986: 848.1k Tonnes-kilometres1987: 856.7k Tonnes-kilometres1988: 819.9k Tonnes-kilometres1989: 706.5k Tonnes-kilometres1990: 699.5k Tonnes-kilometres1991: 733.1k Tonnes-kilometres1992: 733.4k Tonnes-kilometres1993: 654.7k Tonnes-kilometres1994: 668.1k Tonnes-kilometres1995: 642.9k Tonnes-kilometres1996: 595.8k Tonnes-kilometres1997: 510.8k Tonnes-kilometres1998: 459.7k Tonnes-kilometres1999: 427.4k Tonnes-kilometres2000: 414.4k Tonnes-kilometres2001: 400.8k Tonnes-kilometres2002: 385.0k Tonnes-kilometres2003: 407.2k Tonnes-kilometres2004: 411.5k Tonnes-kilometres2005: 384.8k Tonnes-kilometres2006: 331.6k Tonnes-kilometres2007: 332.9k Tonnes-kilometres2008: 303.5k Tonnes-kilometres2009: 286.6k Tonnes-kilometres2010: 280.8k Tonnes-kilometres2011: 263.1k Tonnes-kilometres2012: 229.4k Tonnes-kilometres2013: 239.2k Tonnes-kilometres2014: 251.8k Tonnes-kilometres2015: 256.4k Tonnes-kilometres2016: 250.7k Tonnes-kilometres2017: 257.0k Tonnes-kilometres2018: 253.5k Tonnes-kilometres2019: 239.5k Tonnes-kilometres2020: 230.2k Tonnes-kilometres2021: 226.4k Tonnes-kilometres

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Tonnes-kilometres.

Analysis

The most recent figure for annual freight transport in United States of America is 226,442 Tonnes-kilometres, measured in 2021. That is the lowest value across all 44 years on record.

The figure is down 1.6% on the previous year and down 13.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, annual freight transport in United States of America peaked at 948,616 Tonnes-kilometres in 1983 and was at its lowest, 226,442 Tonnes-kilometres, in 2021.

That places United States of America 2nd out of 21 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 44 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 783,030 Tonnes-kilometres 777,129 Tonnes-kilometres 788,930 Tonnes-kilometres 2
1980s 871,087 Tonnes-kilometres 706,464 Tonnes-kilometres 948,616 Tonnes-kilometres 10
1990s 612,524 Tonnes-kilometres 427,378 Tonnes-kilometres 733,360 Tonnes-kilometres 10
2000s 365,845 Tonnes-kilometres 286,579 Tonnes-kilometres 414,445 Tonnes-kilometres 10
2010s 252,129 Tonnes-kilometres 229,358 Tonnes-kilometres 280,822 Tonnes-kilometres 10
2020s 228,322 Tonnes-kilometres 226,442 Tonnes-kilometres 230,201 Tonnes-kilometres 2

Countries ranked near United States of America

  1. 1 China 10.92 million Tonnes-kilometres compare
  2. 3 Japan 153,059 Tonnes-kilometres compare
  3. 4 Australia 96,600 Tonnes-kilometres compare
  4. 5 Spain 49,938 Tonnes-kilometres compare

See the full ranking of 25 places β†’

More reference data data for United States of America

All data for United States of America β†’

Frequently asked questions

What is annual freight transport in United States of America?
Annual freight transport in United States of America was 226,442 Tonnes-kilometres in 2021, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What is the highest annual freight transport recorded in United States of America?
The highest recorded value was 948,616 Tonnes-kilometres in 1983.
What is the lowest annual freight transport recorded in United States of America?
The lowest recorded value was 226,442 Tonnes-kilometres in 2021.
How does United States of America rank for annual freight transport?
United States of America ranks 2nd out of 21 countries with data for 2021.
Is annual freight transport rising or falling in United States of America?
Over the last ten years it is down 13.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this United States of America data come from?
The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Annual freight transport. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV Β· JSON β€” 44 observations, free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Annual freight transport in United States of America. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 20 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/annual-freight-transport/united-states/

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/stat/annual-freight-transport/united-states/">Annual freight transport in United States of America</a> β€” 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

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