Accredited official statistics

Port freight annual statistics 2024: Route information

Published 30 July 2025

You can use our maritime interactive dashboard to explore port freight trends

These are accredited official statistics and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in December 2018. For more information, see the About these statistics section.

Port freight trends by route

Total international traffic (imports and exports combined) increased by less than 1% in 2024 to 334.5 million tonnes. Domestic traffic decreased by 6% to 86.1 million tonnes. Chart 12  displays this trend in a line chart which shows that in 2024 international exports decreased 1% from 2023, continuing the general downward trend seen from 2000. International imports increased by 1% in 2024. Historically, imports are consistently higher than exports but decreased sharply during both the 2008 recession and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Chart 12: Major port international freight by direction and domestic freight from 2000 to 2024 (PORT0205)

International freight

Definitions

Short sea: maritime traffic that moves cargo along a coast without having to cross an ocean. This consists of traffic to and from European Union (EU) and ‘Other Europe and Mediterranean’ (Extra-EU) countries. 

Deep sea: maritime traffic that crosses oceans. This consists of traffic to and from countries in Africa, America, Asia and Australasia. Mediterranean countries are classed under short sea in the port freight series, this includes North African countries which are on the Mediterranean coastline (such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt).

Transshipment: these statistics collect the port of loading or unloading of the cargo, which may not be the port of ultimate origin or destination. For example, if a ship carrying cargo from Asia unloads/loads the cargo at a European port which is then put on another ship to the UK, our statistics will state the port of load as the European port, rather than the port in Asia.

Of all international freight traded with the UK, around 85% by weight and around 55% by value were moved by sea. Sea transport is typically used for heavier, lower value goods. These figure have been calculated using HMRC Trade data. More information on comparisons between these port freight statistics and HMRC trade data can be found in the notes and definitions. These statistics will explore international freight moved through UK ports in 2024.

Chart 13 is a bar chart showing tonnage handled by UK ports by international region.

In 2024: 

• short sea trade accounted for 68% of international UK tonnage traffic (compared to 32% for deep-sea routes) 

• tonnage moved through ports in the European Union (EU) accounted for 53% of all international tonnage traffic and remained the largest region 

• all America routes had the largest absolute increase of 2.6 million tonnes (4%), followed by Other Europe & Mediterranean which increased by 1.8 million tonnes (4%) 

• all Africa (excluding Mediterranean countries) routes had the largest absolute decline from 2023, down 1.8 million tonnes (19%)

Chart 13: International freight tonnage by route, 2024 (PORT0204)

Charts 14 and 15 show trends in short sea and deep sea tonnage over the last decade. Overall, short sea tonnage traffic increased by less than 1%, up 1.1 million tonnes from 2023. Total deep sea traffic decreased by less than 1% in 2024, down 0.5 million tonnes. By contrast, unitised traffic increased in 2024 on both short sea routes ( 1%) and deep sea routes (6%).

Charts 14 and 15: International deep and long sea tonnage and unitised traffic from 2014 to 2024 (PORT0204)

Overall, the cargo group breakdown for short sea and deep sea trade largely followed the national picture. Liquid bulk was the largest category and accounted for 36% of total short sea tonnage and 48% of total deep sea tonnage traffic in 2024. Ro-Ro traffic accounted for the second largest proportion of short sea tonnage traffic (29%) in 2024, whereas container (Lo-Lo) traffic accounted for the second largest proportion of deep sea tonnage traffic (30%).

Short sea tonnage traffic

In 2024, short sea tonnage traffic had a slight increase of less than 1% (1.1 million tonnes), with imports and exports both increasing by less than 1%. Cargo moved on short sea routes showed different trends than those in the last few years. Short sea dry bulk traffic increased by 5% in 2024, after substantial declines the previous two years. This short sea increase contrasted the UK’s overall dry bulk decline. 

Liquid bulk moved on short sea routes had the largest absolute decline of any cargo group, down 1.1 million tonnes (1%), and both imports and exports contributed to the decrease. Exports of crude oil contributed most to the decline seen in liquid bulk on short sea routes, down 11% compared to 2023. The majority of this decrease was from exports on routes to the Netherlands, which fell 27%.  

Despite the overall decline in liquid bulk tonnage on short sea routes in 2024, exports of oil products had an increase of 11%. The Netherlands also mostly accounted for all the UK’s increased exports of oil products, which increased by 46% (2.7 million tonnes). The UK imported more oil products from Netherlands in 2024 than any other short sea country. DUKES reported that The Netherlands is a major oil trading hub and is the principle source of product imports for the UK, with increasing demand and therefore imports of oil after the ban on Russian oil. 

Short sea dry bulk had a 5% increase (1.9 million tonnes), which contrasted the 4% decline for all routes (3.5 million tonnes). Exports of Ores drove this increase, with Turkey being the largest partner country and also accounted for the largest increase (1 million tonnes) of all countries on short sea routes.  

More information on the decline in dry bulk trends can be found in the cargo information section.

Deep sea tonnage traffic

Deep sea traffic aligned with overall UK trends in 2024, with the largest declines in liquid and dry bulks and increases across containers and other general cargo.

Overall in 2024, the USA accounted for the largest proportion of  the UK’s deep sea tonnage traffic, 43.1 million tonnes (40%), followed by China at 12.7 million tonnes (12%). The USA was the UK’s biggest partner country for bulk traffic, where it accounted for 60% of all liquid bulks and 47% of dry bulks, of all deep sea routes.  

Contrasting overall deep sea route trends, the USA had substantial increases in both liquid and dry bulks. Imports of crude oil and oil products drove the overall 1.4 million tonne increase in liquid bulk trade with USA, in 2024. Imports of other dry bulk, which rose by 2 million tonnes (41%), accounted for almost all of the overall dry bulk increase on routes between the UK and USA. 

Container tonnage increased by 2 million tonnes on deep sea routes in 2024, driven by imports. This followed the steady increase in deep sea container tonnage, since 2022. Exports of container tonnage on deep sea routes declined slightly, by 2% from 2023. 

China was the largest deep sea partner country in 2024, and its container traffic increased by 1 million tonnes, the largest increase of deep sea countries. China accounted for half of the total container increase on deep sea routes. 

Deep sea unitised traffic 

Overall, deep sea unitised  container traffic increased by 8% in 2024, where both imports and exports increased. China handled 1.6 million units, half of all container traffic on deep sea routes, and accounted for the majority of the increase of all deep sea routes.  

Deep sea Ro-Ro units remained at 0.6 million units in 2024. Almost all Ro-Ro traffic on deep sea routes were import and export vehicles. Imported vehicles increased by 27 thousand units, whereas exported vehicles decreased by 24 thousand units in 2024.

Domestic freight  

Definitions

Coastwise:  traffic carried around the coast from one UK port to another, including domestic ferry services. Figures are double-counted in the port freight data for this type of traffic. For example, data of a shipment from Liverpool to Belfast is collected from both Liverpool’s and Belfast’s perspectives (one being an inward, the other record being an outward voyage). 

One-Port: traffic to and from offshore locations such as oil rigs and sea dredging. 

Main freight units:  a subset of unitised goods are main freight units – this group consists of all containers and those roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) units which are designed to carry freight (categories 51, 61 and 63 in the cargo categorisation flowchart). The purpose of the main freight unit classification is that it excludes those Ro-Ro units which are not freight carrying – such as passenger vehicles, trade vehicles, and other specialised vehicles and trailers.

Domestic tonnage traffic 

Tonnage carried on domestic routes continued to account for 20% of all traffic handled by UK major ports, totalling 86.1 million tonnes in 2024. This proportion has been similar since 2012. Coastwise traffic made up 83% of domestic tonnage in 2024. Both coastwise and one-port traffic declined by 6% in 2024, where coastwise traffic fell to 71.2 million tonnes and one-port traffic to 14.9 million tonnes. 

 Chart 16 is a line chart showing the trend in domestic traffic by coastwise and one-port over time. From 2005 to 2017, coastwise traffic broadly declined, mainly because of a fall in liquid bulk traffic, but from 2017 to 2024, the trend has remained relatively level. One-port traffic levels are lower and have broadly declined over time.

Chart 16: Domestic traffic by type from 2000 to 2024 (PORT0499)

Liquid and dry bulk tonnage followed similar patterns of overall UK traffic. Liquid bulk had the largest absolute decline of all domestic traffic, which fell by 3.6 million tonnes (11%) to 29.3 million tonnes in 2024. Most of the decrease was accounted for by a 3 million tonne decline in coastwise movements of liquid bulk. As discussed in the cargo information section, a reduction in the domestic production of crude oil has likely contributed to reduced UK domestic movements.

Domestic movements of dry bulks declined by 3.5 million tonnes (15%) to 22.8 million tonnes. This decrease was mostly accounted for by a 2.5 million tonne decrease in other dry bulk. London handled the most tonnage of other dry bulk on domestic routes, of any UK port. London also had the largest decline of domestic other dry bulk tonnage, down 1.1 million tonnes (14%), compared to 2023. 

Ro-Ro tonnage on domestic routes increased by 1.6 million tonnes (6%), more than the UK’s all route increase in Ro-Ro tonnage, which had a 0.7 million tonne increase. This suggests a shift towards Ro-Ro traffic being moved between UK ports, rather than internationally. For more detail on Ro-Ro trends, go to the cargo information page. 

Domestic container traffic saw a decrease of 36% between in 2024, continuing a long-term trend, which has seen it fall 83% since the peak in 2015. This contrasts with the relatively flat trend seen in international container traffic during the same period. The drop in container traffic for the latest year is driven by declines at Southampton, followed by Bristol.

Coastwise 

In 2024, 71.2 million tonnes of domestic traffic was coastwise traffic, which decreased 6% from 2023. The coastwise decrease of 4.8 million tonnes was largely driven by a 3 million decline in liquid bulk and a 2.9 million decline in dry bulk.

Most of the decline in liquid bulk was accounted for by a 2.6 million tonne decrease (19%) in coastwise movements of crude oil. All UK ports handling crude oil had a decline in domestic movements of this in 2024. 

Coastwise movements of dry bulk traffic decreased by 2.9 million tonnes (20%) in 2024 and all dry bulk categories declined. Other dry bulk contributed most to this decrease, down 1.8 million tonnes, followed by agriculture products down 0.7 million tonnes, from 2023. 

Road goods vehicles and unaccompanied road goods vehicles accounted for the 6% increase in coastwise Ro-Ro tonnage. Liverpool had the largest increase, of 26%, in domestic Ro-Ro tonnage moving through the port, followed by Cairnryan and Larne. For more detail on trends by Ro-Ro trends, go to the cargo information page. 

Belfast remained the most used port by tonnage, handling 11.5 million tonnes of domestic coastwise traffic in 2024, followed by Tees and Hartlepool (5.6 million tonnes) with second highest volumes. 

One Port 

One-port tonnage decreased 6% in 2024 to 14.9 million tonnes. One-port tonnage consists of traffic to and from offshore locations, including sea dredging and oil rigs. Crude oil one-port tonnage has declined considerably since 2000. The reduction in North Sea oil and gas production is likely to have been a contributory factor. Crude oil saw a further decline of 0.4 million tonnes across one port traffic in 2024, falling to less than 1 million tonnes for the first time in the time series. The decline in one-port tonnage in 2024 was also driven by a decrease of 0.7 million tonnes in other dry bulk, from dredging. 

 The largest fall was at London where other dry bulk fell by 13% (0.9  million tonnes). A decrease in other dry bulk accounted for the majority of London one port traffic decline, followed by a decrease in oil products.

Domestic unitised traffic

Domestic unitised traffic increased by 1% in 2024, to 3.8 million units. Ro-Ro units increased by 2% to 3.7 million units and the number of containers moved remained at 0.1 million units. 

Both road goods vehicles and unaccompanied road goods vehicles increased in 2024. Accompanied road goods vehicles increased by 8% to 0.8 million units and unaccompanied increased by 5% to 1.3 million units. The number of import and export vehicles had the largest decline of any unitised Ro-Ro category and decreased by 23%, to less that 0.1 million units. Passenger vehicles had the second largest decline, down 1% to 1.4 million units. 

Main freight unitised traffic, which consists of all container and Ro-Ro units which can carry freight, increased by 3% to 2.2 million units in 2024. In the same year, main freight traffic to the Republic of Ireland (ROI) deceased by 8% to 0.7 million units. Irish Maritime Development Office reported the decrease of Ro-Ro units in 2024 has resulted from small, but consistent declines in driver accompanied traffic, with unaccompanied RoRo traffic remaining stable. Port freight traffic showed a decrease of both accompanied and unaccompanied road goods vehicles in 2024 between the UK and Irish Republic, but accompanied had a larger decline.  

This trend of main freight units on domestic coastwise and routes with the Republic of Ireland is displayed in Chart 18.

Chart 18: Main freight units handled on Irish republic and domestic coastwise routes, 2000 to 2024 (PORT0499)

Background information

The tables give further detail of the key results presented in this statistical release. They are available from port and domestic waterborne freight statistics.

These notes provide further information such as definitions and a list of UK ports is available in the accompanying port list.

The background quality report provides further information on how the data is collected, quality assured and comparisons with relevant data sources.

Details of Ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release can be found on the pre-release access list.

Related data sources

His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes data on tonnage and value to a much more granular commodity level for goods traded internationally. Comparisons between port freight and this source, specifically for certain cargo categories, are explored further in our notes and definitions.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (formerly Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) publish the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) which covers the production and consumption of fuels and energy in the UK.

Information on freight moved by different modes, including a breakdown of domestic freight is available in Transport Statistics Great Britain.

Eurostat publish comparative port freight data for European Union countries, which can be used to compare UK ports to those in EU countries.

About these statistics

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in December 2018. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

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