National statistics

Waterborne freight in the United Kingdom: 2011

This statistical release presents information on freight moved within the United Kingdom by water transport in 2011.

From:
Department for Transport
Published
6 December 2012

Documents

Domestic waterborne freight: 2011

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Domestic waterborne freight: 2011 and XLS/CSV tables

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Details

This publication provides information on freight traffic moved within the United Kingdom by water transport, known as ‘domestic waterborne freight’. The statistics cover inland waters traffic, traffic carried around the UK coast (Coastwise), one-port traffic to and from offshore installations and sea dredging.

The statistics are produced from a combination of the sources for our ‘Port Freight Statistics’ and an independent survey of inland waterway operators.

Key points

  • Between 2010 and 2011, goods lifted for all domestic waterborne freight fell by 2%, the sixth consecutive year of decline. However goods moved for all domestic waterborne freight rose by 3%, the first annual increase since 2005.
  • Coastwise traffic (i.e. traffic carried around the UK coast) remains the largest component of domestic waterborne freight. Despite a fall in the amount of goods lifted by coastwise traffic, the amount of goods moved increased by 4.5% from 2010 to 2011.
  • In 2011, traffic on UK inland waters was stable compared to 2010, with 43.9 million tonnes lifted and 1.4 billion tonne-kilometres moved.
  • Despite a steady decline since 2002, there was an increase in one-port traffic (i.e. to and from offshore installations and sea dredging) in 2011 of 6%, from 20.3 million tonnes lifted in 2010 to 21.6 million tonnes lifted in 2011.

Technical information:

Information on Domestic Waterborne Freight statistics, including the pre-release access list and related technical documentation is available.

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Published 6 December 2012

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