Statistical Abstract » Transport

This chapter contains a number of tables and charts providing data on rail, land, maritime and air transport in the ESCWA region. The data were compiled primarily from national sources, and also from publications of the League of Arab States, the GCC and the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics.

Table VII-1 provides data on rail transport for the years 1990 and 1995 and for the period 1997-2004, indicating the length of railway lines, the volume of goods transported and the number of passengers conveyed. In 2003, the total operational rail length in the ESCWA region, excluding Iraq and Jordan, amounted to some 13,700 kilometres (km). Passenger movements ranged from 525 million passengers/km in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2003 to more than 54 billion passengers/km in Egypt in 2004, while freight movements in 2003 ranged from 778 million ton/km net in Saudi Arabia to 4.5 billion ton/km net in Egypt.

Data on land transport, i.e. the length of asphalted, paved and unpaved roads, are presented in table VII-2 and the number of vehicles by type is shown in table VII-3. Both tables cover the years 1990 and 1995 and the period 1997-2004. In 2003, total road length in the region, excluding Iraq, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, amounted to some 404,800 km. In 2003, the total number of vehicles of various types in the region, excluding Iraq, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, came to about 7.5 million, of which 68 per cent were passenger vehicles, 28 per cent small and large freight carriers, and 4 per cent buses.

Data related to maritime merchant fleets in the ESCWA region for the years 1994, 1999 and 2004 are shown in table VII-4. In 2004, the total deadweight tonnage was 10.5 million tons and the total gross tonnage 6.9 million tons. Total gross tonnage in the ESCWA region decreased by 11 per cent during the period 1999-2004.

Table VII-5 provides data on sea-borne transport, including movements of vessels, goods and passengers, for the years 1990 and 1995 and the period 2000-2004. The available data show that Egypt recorded the largest share in terms of passenger movements for these years and Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates recorded the largest share in terms of movements of goods.

Data on air travel in the ESCWA region for 1990, 1995 and the period 2000-2004 are presented in Table VII-6. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates recorded the highest share of plane, goods and passenger movements among ESCWA members.