Accredited official statistics

Port freight quarterly statistics: October to December 2024

Published 12 March 2025

Overview of Quarterly Port Freight Statistics 

When comparing October to December 2024 with October to December 2023 through UK major ports (PORT0502): 

• total freight tonnage increased by 4% to 108.3 million tonnes 

• inward tonnage increased by 5% to 73 million tonnes 

• outward tonnage increased by 3% to 35.3 million tonnes 

• total volume of unitised traffic increased by 2% to 5 million units 

• inward units increased by 3% to 2.7 million units 

• outward units increased by 1% to 2.3 million units 

When comparing the rolling year to December 2024 with December 2023 through UK major ports: 

• total tonnage decreased by 1% to 422.8 million tonnes 

• total volume of unitised traffic increased by 2% to 21.1 million units 

Detailed final annual statistics for 2024 will be published in Summer 2025. 

Chart 1: Quarterly port freight tonnage and units from 2019 (PORT0502)

Chart 1 shows UK quarterly major port freight tonnage and units from 2019 to 2024. 

Note: the 2021 and 2022 series have been removed from these charts for greater clarity because the trends are very similar to those seen in 2023.  

Chart 1 shows that in Q4 (October to December) 2024, tonnage levels increased by 4% compared to Q4 2023. The gap between 2019 and 2024 tonnage traffic was at 14% in Q1 but narrowed to around 8-10% for the rest of the year.

There is some evidence that tonnage is not likely to reach 2019 levels, following the United Kingdom’s (UK) exit from the European Union (EU), with the OBR Brexit analysis assuming that UK-EU trade will be around 15% lower in the long run than if the UK had remained in the EU. The OBR’s latest evidence on the impact of Brexit on UK trade, published in March 2022, also finds that the UK appears to have become a less trade intensive economy, with trade as a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) falling 12% since 2019, the largest fall of any G7 country. 

Chart 1 also shows that unitised port freight traffic, including passenger vehicles, has followed the seasonal pattern, and decreased by 19% following the summer peak in Q3 (July to September) 2024. However, unitised traffic is 2% higher than seen in Q4 2023. Similarly to tonnage traffic, the gap between 2019 and 2024 unitised traffic was at 17% in Q1 but narrowed to around 9-11% for the rest of the year. Sea passenger statistics are available in the sea passenger data collection. 

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. Since Q3 (July to September) 2022, where large amounts of data from a shipping agent is missing in the current quarter, a value has been imputed from the 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 certain shipments. During the annual validations process the Department carries out extensive matching between these 2 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 rather than PORT0503. It is also important to note that historical figures (prior to the release year) between PORT0502 and PORT0503 will not align due to grossing affecting the totals. 

Nevertheless, as with all the quarterly figures, these estimates are provisional until finalised with the annual publication in the following calendar year, for example 2024 estimates will be finalised in Summer 2025.  

Chart 2: UK major port freight tonnage traffic by cargo group since 2019 (PORT0503)

Chart 2 shows UK quarterly major port tonnage from Q1 (January to March) 2019 to Q4 2024 with different lines for the different cargo group estimates. All main freight cargo groups increased when comparing to the same quarter in the previous year. Liquid bulk is the largest category this quarter. Dry bulk is the main contributor to the UK’s overall increase in tonnage traffic this quarter compared to Q4 2023.  

Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro-Ro) freight and dry bulk often alternate as the second-largest group after liquid bulk; however, Ro-Ro freight has held the second spot consistently over the past five quarters. The trends of each cargo type are discussed in more detail below.    

Chart 3 shows how different cargo estimates have changed for the 3 UK major ports with the largest overall increases in tonnage handled from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024, and Chart 4 shows this for the 3 UK major ports with the largest overall decreases in tonnage handled. 

The figures in the charts in this release are timelier estimates. For high quality trend analysis of cargo groups, please use our 2024 port freight annual statistics when published in Summer 2025. 

Chart 3: The top 3 UK major ports with the largest overall increases in tonnage handled from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024, segmented by cargo group (PORT0503)

Chart 4: The top 3 UK major ports with the largest overall decreases in tonnage handled from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024, segmented by cargo group (PORT0503)

Note: some ports do not handle all of the cargo groups in the key. Cargo groups that are not handled at the port will not appear on these charts. 

Liquid Bulk 

Chart 2 shows that liquid bulk tonnage through UK major ports has increased by 5% to 42.1 million tonnes when comparing Q4 2024 with Q4 2023. 

Chart 3 shows that the increase in liquid bulk tonnage from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024 was largely driven by Liverpool, which recorded a 1.4 million tonnes increase (an 80% rise) - the largest increase among all UK major ports. Southampton also experienced a significant upturn, with liquid bulk tonnage rising by 1.2 million tonnes (a 32% increase), attributed to higher crude oil imports compared to Q4 2023. 

Dry Bulk 

When comparing Q4 2024 with Q4 2023, dry bulk tonnage increased by 15% to 20.9 million tonnes. As shown in Chart 3, this growth was largely driven by a 1.4 million tonne rise at London, representing a 59% increase. Despite Port Talbot experiencing a sharp decline of 1.6 million tonnes (a 99% drop) due to the closure of its blast furnaces, numerous smaller increases across the country contributed to the overall rise in dry bulk tonnage. 

Containers 

In Q4 2024, container tonnage increased by 13% to 16.5 million tonnes compared to Q4 2023. Chart 3 highlights that London played a key role in this growth, with a 0.8 million tonnes increase (a 20% rise) in container tonnage during this period - the largest increase among UK major ports – bringing its total container tonnage to 4.8 million tonnes. In Q4, the port launched its fourth berth for London Gateway, the world’s first all-electric berth.  

When measured in units, container traffic increased by 18% compared to Q4 2023, reaching its highest level since Q3 2021. As illustrated in Chart 5, this is largely attributed to a 92,000-unit increase at London and a 70,000-unit increase at Felixstowe.  

Ro-Ro Freight 

When comparing Q4 2024 with Q4 2023, Ro-Ro freight tonnage increased by 7% to 23.1 million tonnes. As shown in Chart 3, this was largely attributed to a 0.6 million tonnes increase (a 46% rise) at London and a 0.4 million tonnes increase (a 28% rise) at Liverpool. 

Ro-Ro freight unitised traffic increased by 5% compared to Q4 2023, driven by several smaller increases across UK major ports this quarter. 

Ro-Ro Non Freight 

In Q4 2024, Ro-Ro non-freight units declined by 15% to 2 million units compared to Q4 2023. Chart 6 highlights notable decreases at Tyne, Holyhead, and Bristol. Tyne reported a significant drop in the throughput of import/export motor vehicles at the port this quarter, while Holyhead was forced to close towards the end of Q4 due to the damage caused by Storm Darragh. 

Since Q3 2024, Ro-Ro non-freight unitised traffic has fallen by 43% which can be attributed to seasonal variation as shown in Chart 7. 

Chart 5: The top 3 UK ports with the largest overall increases in units handled from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024, segmented by cargo group (PORT0503)

Chart 6: The top 3 UK major ports with the largest overall decreases in units handled from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024, segmented by cargo group (PORT0503)

Note: some ports do not handle all of the cargo groups in the key. Cargo groups that are not handled at the port will not appear on these charts. 

Chart 7: UK major port freight unitised traffic by cargo group since 2018 (PORT0503)

Chart 7 shows UK quarterly major port units from Q1 2018 to Q4 2024 with different lines for the different cargo group estimates. The relative levels of Ro-Ro freight and Containers are generally stable over this period whilst Ro-Ro non-freight follows a seasonal trend. Between Q3 2024 and Q4 2024, Ro-Ro non-freight unitised traffic saw a 43% decrease which is driven by a decline in passenger vehicle traffic following the summer months. This trend is reflected through the increase in sea passengers during this period. 

Defintions 

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.

Liquid bulk: Consists of any liquid or liquid gas that is transported in a tank. 

Liquified natural gas (LNG): 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. 

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

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. 

Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro-Ro): 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: 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: 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: Road goods vehicles carrying freight accompanied by the driver on the sea crossing. 

Unaccompanied: 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.

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