Less coal transported by rail to Germany in 2024
The decline in rail transport is entirely due to a fall in goods transported by rail from the Netherlands to other countries. Outbound freight transport fell by 9.3 percent to 21.7 million tonnes in 2024. However, coal remains the commodity most commonly transported by rail.
The total weight of goods transported to the Netherlands rose by 2.4 percent to 10.3 million tonnes. Transit trade (whereby goods are loaded and unloaded in other countries but pass through the Netherlands) increased, as well as domestic transport.
| Jaar | Outbound freight (million tonnes) | Inbound freight (million tonnes) | Transit trade (million tonnes) | Domestic freight (million tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 21.7 | 10.3 | 3.2 | 2.6 |
| 2023 | 24.0 | 10.1 | 3.0 | 2.3 |
| 2022 | 27.2 | 10.5 | 3.6 | 3.2 |
| 2021 | 25.8 | 10.2 | 3.5 | 3.1 |
| 2020 | 23.4 | 9.3 | 4.1 | 3.2 |
| 2019 | 25.9 | 9.2 | 4.3 | 3.2 |
| 2018 | 24.7 | 9.9 | 4.1 | 3.2 |
| 2017 | 25.3 | 10.4 | 3.6 | 2.7 |
| 2016 | 27.5 | 9.9 | 2.4 | 2.9 |
| 2015 | 27.0 | 9.5 | 2.1 | 3.1 |
As in 2014, outbound goods destined for other countries saw the sharpest decline, from 27.0 million tonnes to 21.7 million tonnes in 2024. Transit trade increased the most, from 2.1 million tonnes to 3.2 million tonnes.
Coal transport continues to decline
The decline in outbound rail transport was mainly due to a fall in the number of coal shipments to Germany. This is because there was less demand for coal from coal-fired power stations, due to the increasing use of natural gas and energy from renewable sources. A total of 4.6 million tonnes of coal were transported in 2024, 2.9 million tonnes less than in 2023 and 5 million tonnes less than in the record year of 2022. As a result, coal transport fell from second to third place on the list of goods most commonly transported by rail.| Jaar | Containerised goods (million tonnes) | Metal ores and other minining and quarrying products (million tonnes) | Coal and lignite (million tonnes) | Chemical products (million tonnes) | Metals in their primary form (million tonnes) | Other products (million tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 18.4 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 3.1 | 2.1 | 4.7 |
| 2023 | 17.5 | 4.5 | 7.5 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 4.6 |
| 2022 | 19.8 | 4.8 | 9.6 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 4.7 |
| 2021 | 18.9 | 5.3 | 7.5 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 4.8 |
| 2020 | 17.6 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 3.7 | 2.4 | 4.4 |
| 2019 | 18.3 | 6.3 | 8.3 | 3.1 | 2.7 | 4.0 |
| 2018 | 19.7 | 6.0 | 6.1 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 4.4 |
| 2017 | 16.8 | 6.0 | 7.2 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 5.1 |
| 2016 | 16.8 | 5.9 | 9.5 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 3.9 |
| 2015 | 15.2 | 6.3 | 9.0 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 4.9 |
Nearly half of all goods transported by rail were carried in containers, which had a total weight of 18.4 million tonnes. The most common products transported in containers (from seaports by rail) were auto parts, plastic products, machinery, hardware and clothing.
In second place were metal ores and other mining and quarrying products, which rose by 7.2 percent to 4.9 million tonnes in 2024. Even so, this was still 1.4 million tonnes less than in 2014.
Germany is the most important trade partner for rail freight
Germany is the main trading partner in terms of both inbound and outbound freight transport by rail. Two-thirds of outbound goods in 2024 were destined for Germany and 37.9 percent of goods destined for the Netherlands were loaded in Germany. Italy, Austria, Poland and Czechia are next, but some way behind. However, Germany's share was lower than it was in 2014, while Austria and Poland have become more important as trading partners.
| Jaar | Germany (million tonnes) | Italy (million tonnes) | Austria (million tonnes) | Poland (million tonnes) | Czechia (million tonnes) | Belgium (million tonnes) | Other countries (million tonnes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 18.4 | 5.3 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.7 |
| 2023 | 21.3 | 5.3 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| 2022 | 23.6 | 5.7 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 2.1 |
| 2021 | 21.6 | 5.4 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 2.4 |
| 2020 | 20.0 | 4.6 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 2.2 |
| 2019 | 23.2 | 4.2 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 2.1 |
| 2018 | 22.1 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.9 |
| 2017 | 23.6 | 5.3 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 2.3 |
| 2016 | 24.6 | 5.7 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.8 |
| 2015 | 24.9 | 4.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 2.2 |