National statistics

Sea passenger statistics 2018: Short sea routes (provisional)

Provisional statistics for passengers on international short sea (ferry) routes and passengers on major domestic sea crossings.

Documents

Sea passenger statistics 2018: Short sea routes provisional tables

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Details

Changes to these statistics

The department carried out a review of the content of the annual sea passenger statistics including the data tables published as part of the release. See our summary of user feedback which sets out the changes made.

We welcome any feedback on the changes to the tables, by contacting us.

The number of UK sea passengers including vehicle drivers, their passengers and foot passengers on ferries and cruise ships.

In 2018:

  • international short sea passenger numbers increased 1% to 19.6 million, following 3 years of steady decline
  • passengers travelling between Dover and Calais accounted for 47% of all international short sea passengers
  • domestic short sea passenger numbers for major routes decreased 2% to 2.8 million
  • passengers travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland accounted for 73% of domestic short sea passengers on major routes

Sea passenger statistics for all routes, including cruise and long sea and other domestic routes, are scheduled to be published in November 2019.

Guidance on current and previous sea passenger statistics are available on the guidance page.

Contact us

Maritime and shipping statistics

Email maritime.stats@dft.gov.uk

Maritime statistics enquiries 020 7944 4847

Media enquiries 0300 7777 878

Published 20 February 2019