Transport in the Czech Republic Continues to Grow – Road Freight Remains Dominant

Passenger and freight transport in the Czech Republic continued to grow in 2025. Road transport, the number of air passengers and the number of electric cars increased particularly significantly.

Passenger and freight transport in the Czech Republic continued to grow last year. Road transport increased particularly significantly. At the same time, passenger rail transport stabilised and once again remained above pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.

This is according to the 2025 Transport Yearbook published by the Czech Ministry of Transport on its website. The annual overview contains data on developments across all modes of transport, infrastructure, the vehicle fleet, economic indicators, environmental aspects and traffic accidents.

“The complete data for 2025 show two fundamental developments in the Czech transport sector: road transport continues to grow, while the situation in passenger rail transport has stabilised,” Transport Minister Ivan Bednárik said.

Rail Passengers Travelled Longer Distances

Overall passenger transport performance continued to rise in 2025, as it had in the previous year. In passenger rail transport, the number of passengers carried increased slightly by 0.2 per cent compared with 2024.

Transport performance, measured in passenger-kilometres, increased by two per cent at the same time. This indicates that rail passengers travelled slightly longer distances on average than in the previous year.

Around two per cent more passengers were carried by bus. Figures also increased in local public transport. Transport operators carried 1.1 per cent more passengers, while transport performance rose by 6.5 per cent. Here too, passengers therefore travelled longer distances on average.

Czech airports also continued their growth. The number of passengers handled increased by 7.9 per cent to a total of 19.3 million.

In individual car transport, both the number of people carried and transport performance increased by four per cent compared with 2024.

More Than 560 Million Tonnes of Goods Transported

Freight transport also increased in 2025. A total of 563 million tonnes of goods were transported in the Czech Republic. This was five per cent more than in the previous year. Transport performance increased by 2.5 per cent to 89.5 billion tonne-kilometres. Growth was driven primarily by road freight transport. Inland waterway transport, by contrast, recorded a significant decline.

A total of 465.4 million tonnes of goods were transported by road, 5.1 per cent more than in 2024. Transport performance rose by 4.4 per cent to 73.4 billion tonne-kilometres. Road transport therefore remained by far the most important mode of freight transport. Around 83 per cent of the total volume of goods and 82 per cent of transport performance were accounted for by road transport. International road freight transport even increased by 30.8 per cent, or 19.4 million tonnes.

More Than 9.5 Million Vehicles Registered

According to the central vehicle register, the number of motor vehicles registered in the Czech Republic increased by almost 1.8 per cent in 2025. Including trailers and vehicles of all categories, more than 9.5 million vehicles were registered nationwide.

The number of passenger cars increased by two per cent to 6.8 million. At the same time, the ageing of the Czech vehicle fleet continued. The number of electric cars grew particularly strongly. It increased within one year from around 36,300 to 57,600 vehicles. This corresponds to growth of almost 59 per cent.

Lowest Number of Road Deaths Since 1961

Road safety developed positively. The number of people killed in traffic accidents in 2025 was lower than at any time since 1961.

“The development of the transport data collected shows that the mobility of people and goods continues to increase across virtually all modes of transport,” said Luděk Sosna, head of the Ministry of Transport’s strategy department. This was a positive signal for a functioning society and the country’s economic development.

The annual Transport Yearbook has been published since 1998. It is aimed, among others, at journalists, researchers, statisticians and interested members of the public.