National statistics

Port freight quarterly statistics: January to March 2023

Published 7 June 2023

About this release

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When comparing January to March 2023 with January to March 2022 through UK major ports:

• total freight tonnage decreased by 2% to 109.5 million tonnes

• inward tonnage decreased by 2% to 72.9 million tonnes

• outward tonnage decreased by 4% to 36.7 million tonnes

• total volume of unitised traffic remained stable at 4.5 million units

• inward units increased by 1% to 2.4 million units

• outward units decreased by 2% to 2.1 million units

When comparing the rolling year to March 2023 with March 2022 through UK major ports:

• total tonnage increased by 1% to 446.9 million tonnes

• total volume of unitised traffic increased by 8% to 20.3 million units

Detailed final annual statistics for 2022 and 2023 will be published in summer 2023 and summer 2024 respectively.

This chart shows UK quarterly major port tonnage and unitised traffic from quarter 1 (January to March) 2019 to Q1 2023 with tonnage and unitised traffic on separate charts, and a different line for each year. The Q1 data point for 2023 is slightly below previous years for the tonnage graph and is in-line with the 2022 Q1 point for the units graph.

Note, the 2021 series has been removed from these charts to make them easier to read.

The gap to the equivalent quarter in 2019 for tonnage traffic continued to increase, to 9% below pre-pandemic levels in Q1 2023. This is the third quarter in a row tonnage traffic has declined. For unitised traffic, the gap has grown since last quarter (to 20% below Q1 2019), although unitised traffic for Q1 2023 is similar to Q1 in 2022 (at 4.5 million units). Whilst unitised traffic shows the same pattern inwards and outwards, inwards tonnage this quarter was down 7% on Q1 2019 and outwards tonnage was down 13%. The difference in outwards tonnage was the largest gap to the equivalent quarter in 2019 recorded yet.

Port freight trends by cargo type estimates

Method and Coverage

We are trialling publishing estimates of cargo groups alongside the quarterly port freight statistics in PORT0503. The estimates are based on total tonnage and units provided by the port which are validated to a high standard and published as provisional national statistics in PORT0502. These totals are then split by cargo group based on data provided by shipping agents. If no shipping agent data is received for a port, then no estimates can be created. In Q4 2022, for the second time, where large amounts of data from a shipping agent is missing in the current quarter, a value has been imputed from equivalent quarter in the previous year to allow for more accurate national trend analysis. This method is still under development and any feedback from users is welcome at Maritime.Stats@dft.gov.uk.

The agents and ports data might not always match due to missing agent data, or differences in how ports and agents categorise a certain shipment. During the annual validations process the Department carries out extensive matching between these two data sources and queries the data providers to finalise the annual dataset. During quarterly validations, only high-level matching is conducted. Therefore, PORT0502 should always be used for accurate trend analysis.

As with all the quarterly figures, these estimates are provisional until finalised with the annual publication in the following calendar year, for example 2022 estimates will be finalised in summer 2023 and 2023 estimates finalised in summer 2024.

This chart shows UK quarterly major port tonnage from Q1 2019 to Q1 2023 with different lines for the different cargo group estimates. The relative levels of different cargo groups are generally stable over this period though Ro-Ro Freight and Dry Bulk frequently change places as the second largest group behind Liquid Bulk. This quarter Ro-Ro Freight was the second largest.

Liquid Bulk

Definitions

Liquid bulk consists of any liquid or liquid gas that is transported in a tank

Liquified natural gas (LNG) is natural gas which has been cooled to approximately -160°C, changing its state from gas to liquid. This enables transportation of gas by ship, as the volume is significantly reduced compared to the gaseous state

Liquid bulk tonnage through UK major ports has increased by 4% to 46.7 million tonnes when comparing Q1 2023 with Q1 2022. Medway saw a 0.9 million tonne (68%) increase in liquid bulk tonnage during this period, the largest increase in liquid bulk of any major UK port. This increase at Medway accounted for 50% of the UK’s overall liquid bulk increase. The port attributed this increase to an increase in LNG imports, matching the national trend in increased imports of LNG shown in the latest DESNZ energy trends statistical release.

The figures in this chart are timelier estimates, for high quality trend analysis of cargo groups, please use our 2021 port freight annual statistics.

This chart shows the change in port freight tonnage from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023, segmented by cargo group estimates, for the top 3 ports with the largest overall increases and decreases in tonnage handled. Medway, Southampton and Rivers Hull and Humber saw the largest increases and Liverpool, Grimsby and Immingham and Forth saw the largest decreases.

Dry Bulk

Definitions

Dry bulk is carried in the main cargo hold of bulk carrier vessels, for example coal, ores and scrap metal.

In Q1 2023, Dry Bulk tonnage decreased by 9% to 20.2 million tonnes when compared with the same quarter in 2022. Grimsby and Immingham port contributed 1.2 million tonnes (61%) of the 2.0 million tonne decrease, followed by Belfast, Tyne and London ports, contributing to the decline.

Lo-Lo

Definitions

Lift-on/Lift-of (Lo-Lo) Consists of container traffic. Container (Lo-Lo) traffic is measured in both tonnes and units, where 1 unit is 1 container, and tonnage measures the weight of the cargo being carried, excluding the weight of the container itself, so an empty container has a weight of 0.

Lo-Lo tonnage decreased by 9% to 14.5 million tonnes when comparing quarter 1 (January to March) 2023 with Q1 2022 through UK major ports. At Liverpool and Hull, Lo-Lo tonnage fell by 0.4 and 0.3 million tonnes respectively. Lo-Lo traffic declined by 0.2 million units (13%) in Q1 2023 compared to Q1 2022. Felixstowe contributed most to this decline, followed by Liverpool.

This chart shows the change in port freight unitised traffic from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023, segmented by cargo group estimates, for the top 3 ports with the largest overall increases and decreases in units handled. Dover, Bristol and Tyne saw the largest increases with Ro-Ro Non-Freight contributing most to the rise. Felixstowe, Liverpool and London saw the biggest decreases with Lo-Lo contributing most to the fall.

Ro-Ro

Definitions

Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro-Ro) is cargo that can be moved on to, or off, a vessel either by their own propulsion (such as a passenger car) or with assistance (such as an unaccompanied trailer). Detailed information is available in this category flowchart.

Ro-Ro freight traffic covers all Ro-Ro units that carry cargo, both accompanied and unaccompanied, it is measured in both tonnes and units, where 1 unit is 1 vehicle or trailer, and tonnage measures the weight of the cargo being carried, excluding the weight of the vehicle itself, so an empty unit has a weight of 0.

Ro-Ro non-freight traffic covers all other Roll-on/Roll-off traffic that does not carry cargo, such as passenger vehicles, import/export vehicles and unaccompanied caravans. Passenger vehicles are counted in units but do not have a tonnage as they are carrying no cargo, therefore Ro-Ro non-freight tonnage is mostly import/export vehicles.

Accompanied or self propelled are road goods vehicles carrying freight accompanied by the driver on the sea crossing.

Unaccompanied or non-self propelled are road goods vehicles without the accompanied cab, rolled on and off the vessel by port operations and collected by a new driver at the destination port.

Ro-Ro Freight

Ro-Ro freight tonnage has decreased by 4% to 23.4 million tonnes when comparing Q1 2023 with the same quarter in 2022. Liverpool contributed most to this decrease (59%) with a 0.5 million tonne (20%) fall since Q1 2022. Ro-Ro freight units have decreased by 3% (66,000 units) over the same period. The majority of this decrease is driven by a decrease of 52,000 units at Grimsby and Immingham. Ro-Ro freight units at Dover have increased the last two quarters, but previous quarters in 2022 have seen a decline in Ro-Ro freight units at Dover that may be related to a decline in demand for the landbridge as a route to and from the European Union (EU) following the UK’s exit from the EU as full customs control started on 1 January 2022. See Irish Maritime Development Office quarterly statistics for more information on landbridge traffic.

Ro-Ro Non-Freight

In Q1 2023, Ro-Ro non-freight units increased by 25% to 1.3 million when compared with the same quarter in 2022. The largest increases came from Grimsby and Immingham and Dover which saw increases of 76,000 and 58,000 units respectively when compared with Q1 2022, which accounted for roughly half of the total increase in Ro-Ro non-freight units. The increase in units at Dover was driven by a rise in passenger vehicles following the end of covid-related restrictions for travel, however non-freight units still remain 35% below the same quarter in 2019. Sea passenger statistics are available in the sea passenger data collection. The 16% decrease in Ro-Ro non-freight units between Q4 2022 and Q1 2023, can be attributed to a return to pre-pandemic seasonal variation, as shown in the chart below.

The figures in this chart are timelier estimates, for high quality trend analysis of cargo groups, please use our 2021 port freight annual statistics.

This line chart shows UK quarterly major port unitised traffic by from Q1 2019 to Q1 2023 with different lines for cargo group estimates. Ro-Ro Non-Freight peaks each year in Q3. Ro-Ro Freight and Lo-Lo show less quarterly variation.

Factors affecting port freight: coronavirus (COVID-19)

These statistics cover a period of government measures introduced to limit the impact and transmission of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A quarterly timeline of measures that are relevant to port freight traffic is shown in Further information and definitions at the bottom of this page.

Coronavirus has had a wide impact on UK society and economic activity since March 2020, with travel restrictions impacting unitised traffic particularly, especially passenger vehicles. Sea passenger volumes over this period are published in DfT’s Sea Passenger data collection and a detailed COVID-19 timeline is available in the monthly table SPAS0107. This section aims to provide a picture of the impact of coronavirus on port freight traffic since 2020.

Port Freight Traffic Forecasts were published in 2019 and therefore provide a pre-pandemic estimation of how port freight traffic was expected to evolve.

The different scenarios shown in the port forecasts were based on key economic drivers, namely OBR GDP forecasts, ONS population projections, fuel projections from the OGA, National Grid and DESNZ energy trends statistical release, and EIA Brent price forecasts. These forecasts presented low, central and high scenarios from 2017 up to 2050.

The impact of coronavirus on port freight can be estimated by comparing traffic statistics since 2020 to the port freight forecasts (adjusted as described in the below note on method). The comparison below shows that all four quarters of 2020 were lower than levels expected pre-pandemic, with the lowest point reached in the second quarter of 2020 (April to June). Both tonnage and units have seen a trend of recovery in 2021, 2022 and 2023, however still remain below levels expected pre-pandemic.

This chart shows the trend of actual quarterly tonnage and unitised traffic, in separate charts, against three forecasted traffic scenarios since 2018. Both charts show actual tonnage or unitised traffic below all three forecast scenarios from 2020 onwards.

Note on method:

For past years to 2020, the annual DfT port freight traffic forecasts were adjusted so that the central scenario is in line with published annual port freight figures. Annual figures from 2020 were scaled up based on the average adjustments made to the previous years. The low and high scenarios were then adjusted to keep the same yearly ratio to the central scenario. This is to adjust for the difference observed between actuals and forecasts for the years where the data has become available since forecasts were calculated.

The annual forecasts were broken down into quarters based on the quarterly trend observed in published port freight data in each year for 2017 to 2019. For 2020 onwards, an average quarterly trend over previous years was used to apportion the annual forecast. This is so that the comparison of quarters impacted by coronavirus can be made to the proportion of the annual forecasts we would have expected these quarters to represent.

Passenger vehicle numbers were not included in the port freight forecasts but are included in the quarterly port freight data. Published annual figures for passenger vehicles were added to the forecasts for 2017 to 2019. As a pre-pandemic forecast for 2020 onwards, 2019 passenger vehicles volumes were used. This is because the recent trend for passenger vehicles has been relatively stable (absolute volumes varying between 5.9 and 5.5 million units since 2012).

The above methodology ensures that the baseline used for 2020 onwards to assess the impact of coronavirus on these quarterly statistics has a comparable scope and reflects known trends since the forecasts were produced.

Further information and definitions

Unitised goods:

Goods which are lifted on or off the vessel in large (20 foot or longer) shipping containers or rolled on or off in 1 of a variety of self-propelled or towed units are said to be unitised cargoes. For these cargo types, the number of units as well as the weight of goods is recorded. The exception is passenger cars, which don’t carry cargo and therefore we collect only the number of units.

Tonnage:

Gross weight in tonnes, including crates and other packaging. The tare weights of containers, road goods vehicles, trailers and other items of transport equipment (the unloaded weight of the vehicle or equipment itself) are excluded.

Timeline of measures that are relevant to freight traffic:

First quarter: January to March 2020

March 2020:

Foreign and Commonwealth Office advised against all non-essential international travel. UK lockdown applied.

Second quarter: April to June 2020

Lockdown restrictions started to ease and continued to be gradually reduced throughout the next quarter.

June 2020:

Requirement to self-isolate introduced for persons travelling to the UK from outside the Common Travel Area.

Third quarter: July to September 2020

July 2020:

Introduction of travel corridors, allowing travel into the UK from countries on an exempt list without the need to self-isolate.

August 2020:

Belgium, France and Netherlands removed from the exempt list.

Fourth quarter: October to December 2020

October 2020:

New 3-tier system of restrictions for England introduced.

November 2020:

England lockdown applied.

December 2020:

Reduction of the self-isolation period for travellers returning from non-travel corridor countries, from 14 to 10 days. Introduction of test to release to shorten the self-isolation period for international arrivals and varying Christmas travel guidelines across the UK.

Stricter tier 4 restrictions brought in for the South-East, after the discovery of a new variant. In response to this new variant, restrictions were brought in by other countries, that all individuals including freight drivers needed a negative COVID-19 test.

Passenger and accompanied freight travel to France was stopped completely for 2 days, accompanied freight travel was only allowed following this ban with the driver receiving a negative test within the last 72 hours.

First quarter: January to March 2021

National lockdown comes into force on 5 January for the duration of the first quarter of 2021. The UK advised against all international travel unless it is for a permitted exempt reason, with all travel corridors being suspended. Pre-departure testing requirements for all inbound passengers to England were introduced, with passengers having to take a test up to 3 days before departure and provide evidence of a negative result before they travel. All inbound international passengers required to take 2 mandatory COVID-19 tests on day 2 and 8 of their quarantine with those arriving from red list countries required to quarantine in managed quarantine facilities.

Second quarter: April to June 2021

Non-essential international travel resumed from Monday 17th May 2021, with the introduction of the country traffic light system (red, amber and green lists).

Third quarter: July to September 2021

From 2 August 2021, passengers arriving from amber list countries, and territories, who are fully vaccinated residents in the UK, Europe and US are no longer required to isolate on arrival but must complete mandatory COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after their arrival. Norway and other European countries added to the Government’s Green list for travel on 8 August 2021.

Fourth Quarter: October to December 2021

October:

A new system of travel with countries identified as on “red list” and “rest of world” was implemented. Fully vaccinated travellers returning to England from “rest of world” countries (such as non “red list” countries) can replace day 2 PCR tests with lateral flow tests.

November:

In response to the omicron variant, fully vaccinated travellers returning to England from “rest of world” countries must self-isolate and take a PCR test before the end of day 2 after they arrive in England.

December:

All people aged 12 years and over must also take a PCR or lateral flow test before they travel to England from abroad. Similar rules also came in for travel to the rest of the UK.

In response to the omicron variant being widespread in the UK, all but essential travel from the UK to France was banned by the French Government.

First Quarter: January to March 2022

January:

People who qualify as fully vaccinated for travel to England no longer need a pre-departure COVID test or quarantine on arrival. Similar easings were also made in Scotland. France allows fully vaccinated travellers to enter France without a compelling reason and fully vaccinated travellers to France are not required to self-isolate on arrival.

February:

Fully vaccinated passengers no longer need to take a COVID-19 test when arriving in the UK. France announces that fully vaccinated travellers from the United Kingdom are no longer required to take a pre-departure COVID test.

March:

All remaining UK travel restrictions end.

Further information about these statistics is available, including:

• background information on quarterly port freight statistics

• notes and definitions for all port freight statistics

We are trialling this compact HTML format for our quarterly Port Freight releases, and we would like to hear your comments. If you have any feedback on our use of this format, or any questions about this release, please email Maritime Statistics

Please contact Maritime Forecasts if you have any questions about DfT port freight forecasts.

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