Passenger-kilometers by rail in New Zealand
New Zealand: Passenger-kilometers by rail was 802.03 million million passenger-km in 2020. ▲ Rising
Passenger-kilometers by rail in New Zealand, 1995–2020
Source: International Union of Railways (UIC) and OECD, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in million passenger-km.
Analysis
New Zealand recorded 802.03 million million passenger-km for passenger-kilometers by rail in 2020. That is the highest value across all 8 years on record.
That represents a change of up 3.3% on the previous year and up 47.3% over five years.
Over the whole period, passenger-kilometers by rail in New Zealand peaked at 802.03 million million passenger-km in 2020 and was at its lowest, 321.00 million million passenger-km, in 1998.
New Zealand ranks 52nd of 101 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 365.25 million million passenger-km | 321.00 million million passenger-km | 396.00 million million passenger-km | 4 |
| 2010s | 688.12 million million passenger-km | 544.54 million million passenger-km | 776.56 million million passenger-km | 3 |
| 2020s | 802.03 million million passenger-km | 802.03 million million passenger-km | 802.03 million million passenger-km | 1 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
- 49 Bulgaria 1.21 billion million passenger-km compare
- 50 Malaysia 929.34 million million passenger-km compare
- 51 Ireland 870.00 million million passenger-km compare
- 53 Chile 738.00 million million passenger-km compare
- 54 Greece 653.00 million million passenger-km compare
- 55 Tunisia 633.33 million million passenger-km compare
More reference data data for New Zealand
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 10.93 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0459 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 45.99 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 12,595 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Manure applied to 402.67 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Manure Management 406.57 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Crop Residues 66.23 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Burning - Crop re 0.7851 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from N2O (AR5) - Agricultural Soil 12,188 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.52 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is passenger-kilometers by rail in New Zealand?
- Passenger-kilometers by rail in New Zealand was 802.03 million million passenger-km in 2020, according to International Union of Railways (UIC) and OECD, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest passenger-kilometers by rail recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 802.03 million million passenger-km in 2020.
- What is the lowest passenger-kilometers by rail recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 321.00 million million passenger-km in 1998.
- How does New Zealand rank for passenger-kilometers by rail?
- New Zealand ranks 52nd out of 101 countries with data for 2020.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from International Union of Railways (UIC) and OECD, via World Bank (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Passenger-kilometers by rail. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 8 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The number of passengers transported by rail, multiplied by the kilometers traveled. This is measured in passenger-kilometers.