Skip to content(if available)orjump to list(if available)

New OSM file format: 30% smaller than PBF, 5x faster to import

New OSM file format: 30% smaller than PBF, 5x faster to import

4 comments

·October 24, 2025
Visit

shoo

I was curious about the spec of this new GOB format, there's a comment down thread explaining that there isn't a spec yet but discussing some of the details of the format: https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/new-osm-file-format-30...

Aside from OSM specifics, performance friendly formats for spatial data that support spatial indexing can make huge impact on usability and productivity of applications. e.g. trying to view a large dataset in QGIS that has been saved as KMZ (zipped XML) can make QGIS basically hang for minutes, while the same dataset saved as something like flatgeobuf [1] can be loaded instantly.

[1] https://flatgeobuf.org/

PLenz

Does it work with osmium?

tobwen

My opinion: Without support in libosmium and GDAL, this will remain a marginal phenomenon.

Groxx

is there some reason to believe they will not support it?

because otherwise this is true of all new ̶s̶p̶e̶c̶s̶ edit: ideas (this isn't even a finished spec), and it implies absolutely nothing.