Latvian rail freight continues trend of 25% volume drop

Rail freight in Latvia is continuing on its downward path. During the first nine months of 2024, the country recorded a drop of 25,5 per cent in its volumes. The final number amounted to 8,63 million tonnes. During the same period of 2023, Latvia transported 11,59 million tonnes of freight on its rail network.

Especially international transport and transit took a hit. The latter declined by 33,8 per cent, to 6 million tonnes. International transport fell by 29,8 per cent to 7,29. On the upside, domestic transport grew by 11,2 per cent, to 1,34 million tonnes, according to the Latvian transport ministry.

Effect of sanctions

Among transiting freight, it was mostly intermodal freight through the country’s ports that fell. This likely has to do with a drop in transit goods from Belarus and Russia, which often transited through Latvia’s port facilities prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions. In addition, Latvia banned agricultural imports from the two countries earlier this year, further reducing freight coming into the country.

The 25,5 per cent decrease in freight volumes on the Latvian rail network is in line with earlier developments. In 2023, volumes totalled 15,64 million tonnes, down 27,6 per cent from 2022.