Accredited official statistics

Port freight annual statistics 2025: Overview of port freight statistics and useful information

Published 29 July 2026

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

Things you need to know

This statistical release provides information on freight handled at UK sea ports. Port freight statistics are based on a combination of data reported to the Department for Transport (DfT) by port authorities and shipping lines, or their agents.  

Ports are split into major and minor ports. In 2025, there are 51 major ports, which handle at least 1 million tonnes of cargo annually or are strategically important. Most of this publication covers major port data, as more detail is collected from these ports, such as cargo category and route taken.  

Cargo is categorised based on how goods are loaded onto or off the vessel.  

Definitions  

Unitised traffic: only container (Lo-Lo) and roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) freight services can be measured in units, which relates to how the cargo was contained. For example, a shipping container, a trailer, or a passenger car is 1 unit. Apart from passenger vehicles, all unitised traffic can also be measured in tonnage. All other categories (liquid bulk, dry bulk and other general cargo) are only measured in tonnage.  

Bulk cargo: unpackaged and transported in large quantities, either in liquid or granular form, in the hold of the vessel. Examples include crude oil, coal and gravel. This is typically dropped or poured into a hold, and is unloaded via suctions, screw or grabber. See the cargo categorisation guidance for detail on the categorisation of types of cargo.  

Inwards and outwards: refers to the direction of travel at UK ports, and includes both domestic (for example, traffic between Liverpool and Belfast) and international traffic (imports and exports). The port of loading or unloading is also recorded, which refers to the port where the cargo is loaded or unloaded from the ship. This may not be the port of ultimate origin or destination of the goods. For example, if a ship carrying cargo from Asia unloads 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. This practice of cargo changing ship is known as transhipment.  

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.

Overview of port freight statistics 

In 2025, all UK ports handled a total of 428.3 million tonnes. Tonnage showed little change, decreasing by less than 1% from 2024 to 2025, following a 1% decline the previous year. This is the lowest level since this current time series began in 2000. When looking at the extended time series (only available for all ports tonnage), 2025 is also the lowest level seen since 1981.

Major ports account for the majority of UK traffic, handling 419.5 million tonnes in 2025, compared to just 8.8 million tonnes handled by minor ports, as shown in Chart 1. Major port tonnage showed little change in 2025 (down less than 1% compared to 2024). Minor port traffic declined by 2% from 2024 to 2025.

While total port freight tonnage showed little change in 2025, this masks more substantial changes in different cargo groups with large increases in containers (up 10% from 2024), but declines in other cargo groups, following shifts in energy markets, global trade patterns (including UK exit from the European Union) and changes to UK port infrastructure. These changes are explored further in the cargo trends chapter and the international routes trends chapter.

Chart 1: Major and minor port traffic from 2000 to 2025 (PORT0101)

UK major port traffic 

Chart 2 shows that of total international and domestic traffic, imports accounted for the majority of UK major port tonnage traffic in 2025 (237.5 million tonnes), followed by exports (98.6 million tonnes), and finally domestic traffic (83.3 million tonnes). Compared to 2024, imports increased by 2% in 2025, while exports decreased by 4%. The higher volume of imports reflects the UK’s position as a net importer of goods, in line with ONS trade statistics of a consistent UK trade in goods deficit.

These contrasting trends in import and export tonnage traffic meant that, in 2025, overall international traffic remained at similar levels to 2024, increasing by less than 1% to 336.1 million tonnes. Domestic traffic fell by 3% in 2025, driven by a decline in coastwise movements of other dry bulk. These trends are explored further in the  international routes trends chapter and the domestic trends chapter.

Chart 2: Major port international freight by direction and domestic freight from 2000 to 2025 (PORT0205)

Chart 3 shows that London accounted for 13% of UK major port tonnage traffic handled in 2025, more than any other UK port and consistent with previous years. This was closely followed by Grimsby and Immingham, which accounted for 11% of tonnage traffic. Milford Haven, which accounted for 9% of tonnage traffic, overtook Southampton in 2025 to become the third largest port. This was driven by an increase in liquified natural gas (LNG) handled at Milford Haven (explored further in the cargo trends chapter). The top 10 sea ports accounted for 73% of all traffic at UK major ports in 2025.    

 Chart 3: Top 10 major ports by tonnage, 2025 (PORT0301)

Cargo group trends 

Chart 4 and Table 1 show trends in UK major port tonnage by cargo group. While overall tonnage showed little change in 2025 from 2024 (down less than 1%), the trends differ between cargo groups.  

 Chart 4: UK major port tonnage by cargo group from 2000 to 2025 (PORT0201)

Table 1: UK major port tonnage by cargo group in 2025 and percent changes from 2024  (PORT0201) 

Cargo Group	2025 tonnage (million tonnes)	% change from 2024
Liquid Bulk	160.0	-2%
Ro-Ro	97.0	-2%
Dry Bulk	78.7	-3%
Containers (Lo-Lo)	66.9	10%
Other General Cargo	16.9	-0.5%

Liquid bulk, the largest cargo category, has had a general downward trend since 2000. Consistent with last year, liquid bulk had the largest absolute decline of all cargo groups in 2025, down 3.1 million tonnes (2%) from 2024. This was driven by declines in crude oil because of the closures of Lindsey oil refinery at Grimsby and Immingham and Finnart oil terminal at Clyde. However, increases in other liquid bulk cargo types, in particular LNG, did offset the overall magnitude of this decline.

Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro-Ro) had the second largest decline of 2.3 million tonnes, down 2% from 2024 to 2025. 

Dry bulk had the third largest decline of 2.2 million tonnes, down 3% from 2024 to 2025. Decreases of ores contributed most to the total dry bulk decline, following the closure of Steelmaking operations at Port Talbot. For the first time, in 2025, wood pellets are presented as a separate cargo type within the dry bulk category (previously categorised under ‘other dry bulk’) to reflect increased interest of this type of cargo. 

Container (Lo-Lo) traffic had the largest absolute increase of any cargo group of 6.2 million tonnes, up 10% from 2024 to 2025. The increase was largely driven by increases in container traffic at London, following the opening of a new berth at London Gateway, which provided additional capacity to handle container volumes. 

Other general cargo remained broadly stable in 2025 compared with 2024 with less than a 1% decrease. From 2025, wind turbines are presented as a separate cargo type within the other general cargo category. This addition provides greater detail on wind turbine movements, which are linked to the growth of renewable energy infrastructure and the UK’s expansion of offshore wind capacity.  

Further details are reported in the cargo trends chapter. 

Port level cargo trends 

Chart 5 shows the top 3 major ports per cargo group by tonnage for 2024 and 2025.  

Chart 5: Top 3 major ports tonnage by cargo group, 2024 to 2025 (PORT0303)

London recorded the largest increase among the top 3 ports that handled container traffic, increasing by 38% from 2024 to 19.6 million tonnes in 2025. This increase was driven by the opening of a fourth berth at London Gateway, and brought London container traffic to similar levels to Felixstowe (19.3 million tonnes).

London remained the largest dry bulk handling port, despite a 6% decline from 2024 to 12.4 million tonnes in 2025. By contrast, dry bulk traffic increased at Grimsby and Immingham, rising by 26% from 2024 to 11.9 million tonnes in 2025, narrowing the gap with London.  

Milford Haven furthered its position as the UK’s largest liquid bulk port, with volumes rising to 37.5 million tonnes in 2025, a 17% increase from 2024. This increase was mostly driven by an increase in liquified natural gas (LNG) handled at the port.  

Ro-Ro traffic showed the least movement between 2024 and 2025 across the top 3 major ports. Dover remained the largest Ro-Ro port despite a 3% decline from 2024 to 18.5 million tonnes in 2025. By contrast, Grimsby and Immingham handled 2% more Ro-Ro in 2025 compared to 2024, rising to 16.3 million tonnes.

Further details are reported in the cargo trends chapter.

Background information 

The PORT data 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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