Imports and exports are claiming larger and larger shares of total Ukrainian rail freight traffic. In 2024, both of those grew relative to the total volume and in nominal values. Exports on their own have now overtaken the volume of domestic traffic entirely.
Ukrainian Railways (UZ) reported that exports, as a share of the total freight volume of 174,9 million tonnes, grew to 48 per cent. That is up from the 38 per cent of 2023. The numbers are reported by Ukrainian media, citing a UZ Export Office meeting.
RailFreight.com inferred from incomplete but publicly available numbers that UZ has undergone rather explosive growth in terms of export volumes. Those amounted to approximately 53 million tonnes in 2023, but had grown to around 84 million tonnes in 2024. That is a growth of nearly 50 per cent.
Domestic traffic in decline
UZ also imported significantly more goods in 2024 compared to the year prior. The 6,81 million tonnes of 2023 are overshadowed by the 9,6 million tonnes of last year, up by 40,9 per cent. The share of imports grew to 5,5 per cent.
Domestic rail freight traffic in Ukraine showed a slight decline. In 2023, 84,9 million tonnes of freight were transported via the railways. In 2024, that amounted to 80,2 million tonnes, a decline of 5,5 per cent. The share of domestic freight decreased from 57,2 to 45,9 per cent.
Freight to Poland
One of the places that took in more Ukrainian freight was Poland. Nearly a quarter of the total export volume crossed Polish borders: 20,8 million tonnes of freight, up by 18 per cent from 2023.
The largest volume of freight was transferred through the Izov – Hrubeszów border crossing at 10,9 million tonnes, a growth rate of 11 per cent. The Yagodyn-Dorohusk border crossing saw an increase of 43 per cent, to 4,089 million tonnes. The most significant increase was recorded through the Rava-Ruska-Verkhrata crossing, with 575 thousand tonnes. While it is not much compared to some of the other crossings, it is 2,6 times more than in 2023.
Ukrainian Railways reportedly expects a contraction in its freight business in 2025, but it is nevertheless looking to attract new customers. To continue the growth trend, it has created a dedicated freight expansion department, according to Ukrainian media. Four specialists are supposed to get companies to start using rail for their transport needs.