OTTAWA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Freight traffic volume received from U.S. rail connections in Canada fell 13.2 percent year over year to 3.6 million tonnes in May, the fourth straight month of double-digit declines in tonnage, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The figure was the lowest recorded for May in four years and came after large year-over-year decreases of 15 percent in March and 22.5 percent in April, said the national statistical agency.

According to the agency, in 2023 and 2024, traffic received from U.S. connections represented an average of 12 percent of total rail tonnage each month. It went down to 11.3 percent in January 2025, then to just over 10 percent in February and March. In April, it fell below 10 percent, then reached 10.9 percent in May.

The volume of cargo carried by Canadian railways edged up to 32.7 million tonnes in May, above the five-year average for the month, second only to the record high of 34.7 million tonnes set in May 2019, said the agency.

May's traffic increase was the result of higher volumes of domestic loadings, offsetting the decline in freight traffic from connections with American railways, said Statistics Canada. ■