Sea passenger statistics: Overview 2022
Published 26 July 2023
© Crown copyright 2023
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sea-passenger-statistics-all-routes-2022/sea-passenger-statistics-overview-2022
For the 2023 release, we are moving the publication date to August and we would welcome any comments on the proposed change. If you have any feedback, please email sea passenger statistics.
About this release
This statistical release presents final statistics on sea passengers on both international and domestic routes to and from the UK for 2022.
International passengers are those that travel on international routes. These are broken down into short sea (ferry) routes and passengers on cruises and long sea journeys.
Domestic passengers travel on domestic routes, including domestic sea crossings (also referred to as domestic short sea routes), domestic cruises, river ferries and inter-island journeys.
These statistics include all vehicle drivers (including Heavy Goods Vehicle drivers), their passengers and foot passengers on ferries.
You can use our maritime interactive dashboard to further explore international sea passenger trends.
Overview of sea passenger statistics
Infographic 1: Breakdown of types of sea passenger routes
This statistical release presents the complete statistics on all sea passengers to and from the UK in 2022. It includes (infographic 1):
International routes: These include all passengers travelling on international short sea routes, cruises and long sea journeys to and from the UK.
Domestic routes: All other short sea passenger routes, including routes between Great Britain and the Orkney and Shetland Islands, domestic cruises, domestic river crossings and inter-island routes.
Summary of sea passenger statistics
International sea passenger numbers more than doubled to 14.3 million in 2022 compared to 2021. This follows a gradually declining trend in international sea passengers from 2010 to 2019, and a sharp decrease from 2019 to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. While this indicates a recovery towards pre-pandemic levels, international sea passenger numbers remain 31% below 2019.
Domestic sea passenger numbers increased by 26% to 37.4 million in 2022 compared to 2021. This follows a broadly stable trend in domestic sea passengers from 2012 to 2019, then a sharp decrease from 2019 to 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and an increase in 2021 and 2022. While this indicates a recovery towards pre-pandemic levels, domestic sea passenger numbers remain 11% below 2019.
Chart 1: UK domestic and international sea passengers, 2012 to 2022
For international passengers in 2022, compared to 2021 and 2019:
- the total number of international short sea passengers (on ferry routes) more than doubled to 12.2 million, but this remains 34% below 2019 levels
- cruise passengers increased tenfold to 2.0 million compared to 2021, however this is still a 8% decrease compared to 2019
For domestic passengers in 2022, compared to 2021 and 2019:
- the total number of sea passengers on domestic routes was 37.4 million, an increase of 26% on 2021, but remained 11% less than in 2019
- the number of passengers on river ferries increased by 31%, but remained 9% less than in 2019
- inter-island passengers increased by 23%, but remained 16% less than in 2019
- passengers on domestic sea crossings increased by 33%, and was 6% more than in 2019
Useful information
We would welcome any feedback on these statistics by email. We will attempt to address any comments in a subsequent release.
The data tables for sea passenger statistics are available.
Provisional summary totals for international sea passenger traffic are released monthly in SPAS0107.
Full guidance on the methods used in the publication of these releases, and the quality of the data, and known users and uses of the statistics are available.
The sea passenger statistics are National Statistics. This means they are produced to high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure they meet customer needs.
These statistics were designated as National Statistics in February 2013.
Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release are available.
Instructions for printing and saving
Depending on which browser you use and the type of device you use (such as a mobile or laptop) these instructions may vary.
You will find your print and save options in your browser’s menu. You may also have other options available on your device. Tablets and mobile device instructions will be specific to the make and model of the device.
How to search
Select Ctrl and F on a Windows laptop or Command and F on a Mac
This will open a search box in the top right-hand corner of the page. Type the word you are looking for in the search bar and press enter.
Your browser will highlight the word, usually in yellow, wherever it appears on the page. Press enter to move to the next place it appears.
Contact us
Sea passenger statistics
To hear more about DfT statistical publications as they are released, follow us on Twitter at DfTstats.