What does the UK port freight tonnage table measure?

The UK port freight tonnage table reports annual physical cargo handled by UK ports, unitised freight volumes, and traffic moved on UK inland and coastal waters.

How is UK port freight traffic broken down?

The series details international imports and exports, domestic coastwise and one-port traffic, freight units including containers and trailers, and goods lifted or moved on UK inland waters.

How far back does the UK port freight series go?

Annual UK port freight tonnage and waterborne freight statistics are tracked from the first year 1965 and are updated with each release.

What units are used to measure UK port and waterborne freight?

Traffic in the UK table is measured in million tonnes for overall freight tonnage, thousands for freight units, and billion tonne kilometres for goods moved on waters.

UK port freight tonnage

Name: UK port freight tonnage
Creator: GOV.UK official statistics
License: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Freight tonnage through all UK ports each year since 1965, split between international imports and exports and domestic coastwise and one-port traffic; the same traffic counted in containers, trailers and road goods vehicles since 1970; and the goods lifted and moved on UK inland waters and coastal routes.

Source: GOV.UK official statisticsLast updated: Sep 08, 2026, 23:47Curated by Bui Thanh PhucAbout this data ↓

Indicator	2025	2024	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000	1999	1998	1997	1996	1995	1994	1993	1992	1991	1990	1989	1988	1987	1986	1985	1984	1983	1982	1981	1980	1979	1978	1977	1976	1975	1974	1973	1972	1971	1970	1969	1968	1967	1966	1965
Freight tonnage13
All port traffic	428.29	429.96	434.87	458.98	445.65	438.87	482.49	483.31	481.81	484.05	496.71	503.17	503.32	500.86	519.5	511.86	500.88	562.2	581.5	583.3	584.5	572.8	555.3	557.9	566.4	573.1	565.6	568.5	558.5	551.2	548.2	538.1	506.22	495.7	494.63	491.97	480.87	492.1	471.6	466.5	462.9	456.9	438.5	430.1	416.05	424.08	426.8	392.4	370.2	360.3	340.1	390.8	399.5	376.7	368.2	370	354.6	341.3	324.8	324.5	319.2
International imports	241.28	236.29	234.78	247.53	236.28	228.2	257.48	257.37	248.35	243.38	254.07	269.64	271.48	257.93	259	244.01	230.16	266	273.3	278.9	262.3	250.4	229.3	220.9	238.4	220.9	203.6	209.3	205.7	192.7	190.3	190.1	189.46	182.6	182.11	183.46	174.6	169.7	154.94	150.58	143.28	143.47	121.86	122.87	125.71	133.36	157.1	152.8	158.2	180	175.3	211.1	219.5	205	202	196.2	185.5	175.6	161.7	157.1	153.4
International exports	99.98	103.38	104.15	112.97	111.21	120.48	128.73	132.34	138.46	137.56	134.75	134.97	135.68	135.09	139.79	146.95	139.01	156.1	164.5	160.6	163.7	169.6	174	178.2	180.4	193.1	184.4	181.7	179.3	175.8	178.8	179	157.49	150.2	143.16	136.16	127.54	142.22	150.97	150.69	148.18	142.06	136.83	130.7	126.1	117.46	107.5	90.7	77.6	62.8	50.2	51.1	53.5	49.7	48.7	48	43.3	41.7	38	38.2	35.7
International, all traffic	341.26	339.67	338.92	360.5	347.49	348.68	386.21	389.71	386.8	380.94	388.82	404.61	407.16	393.02	398.79	390.95	369.17	422.1	437.9	439.5	426	420	403.3	399.1	418.7	414	387.9	390.9	385	368.5	369.1	369.1	346.95	332.8	325.27	319.63	302.14	311.91	305.91	301.27	291.46	285.53	258.7	253.57	251.81	250.81	264.6	243.5	235.8	242.8	225.5	262.2	273	254.7	250.7	244.2	228.8	217.3	199.7	195.3	189.1
Domestic coastwise, inwards	36.13	37.32	40.44	40.79	38.59	36.28	38.5	36.6	35.44	42.18	43.7	40.47	39	42.98	49.43	50.31	53.24	56.2	57.6	56.7	61.4	58.3	56.9	57.8	57.3	57.4	67	70.7	67.5	69.9	67.9	63.3	59.43	58.19	61.69	60.95	64.11	66.28	59.85	60.9	63.21	64.18	68.88	67.17	60.24	64.83	52.7	47.5	44.1	41.1	41.5	48.5	46.4	45.4	46	51.8	52.1	51.1	53.1	54.2	54.1
Domestic coastwise, outwards	37.01	37.27	38.92	39.73	39.85	36.14	38.07	36.41	37.54	40	45.59	40.31	39.22	43.49	49.79	50.21	54.32	57.9	57.2	56.5	64.9	59.7	56.1	57.3	54.9	61.9	71.1	71.9	72	75.3	72.1	64.8	62.03	60.79	62.75	61.46	64.77	65.06	61.19	63.67	66.34	66.29	71.26	71.32	68.16	69.81	67	62.2	56.3	50.9	48.9	56.9	57.3	51.8	52	56.2	56.9	56.6	56.9	59.7	60.4
Domestic one-port traffic	13.88	15.7	16.59	17.97	19.72	17.78	19.71	20.58	22.04	20.94	18.61	17.78	17.94	21.37	21.49	20.38	24.15	26	28.9	30.6	32.3	34.8	39	43.7	35.4	39.8	39.6	34.9	34	37.5	39.1	41	37.82	43.89	44.91	50.03	49.85	48.85	44.7	40.6	41.79	40.85	39.59	37.92	35.84	38.63	42.4	39.3	34	25.6	24.2	23.2	22.8	24.8	19.5	17.8	16.8	16.3	15.1	15.3	15.7
All domestic traffic	87.03	90.29	95.95	98.49	98.16	90.2	96.28	93.59	95.01	103.11	107.89	98.56	96.16	107.84	120.71	120.9	131.71	140.1	143.7	143.8	158.5	152.7	152	158.9	147.6	159.1	177.7	177.6	173.5	182.7	179.1	169.1	159.28	162.87	169.36	172.34	178.73	180.19	165.73	165.17	171.34	171.31	179.73	176.41	164.25	173.27	162.1	149	134.4	117.6	114.6	128.6	126.5	122	117.5	125.8	125.8	124	125.1	129.2	130.2
All inwards traffic	289.77	287.4	289.99	304.32	291.87	279.06	312.09	310.12	300.95	303.13	314.17	325.46	325.93	319.49	327.58	312.63	303.71	346.4	357.8	364.7	354	342.1	323.4	320.5	328.9	316.3	307	306.1	295	287.7	284.9	281.9	272.69	269.8	273.65	278.41	273.74	270.18	246.6	238.7	234.7	236.3	217.5	214.7	208.23	222.79	239.3	226.8	224	235.5	229.8	272.7	279.8	266.4	258.9	257.2	245.9	234.5	221.4	218.1	214.7
All outwards traffic	138.52	142.57	144.88	154.66	153.78	159.82	170.4	173.19	180.87	180.92	182.54	177.71	177.39	181.37	191.91	199.23	197.17	215.8	223.7	218.6	230.5	230.6	231.9	237.5	237.5	256.7	258.7	262.4	263.5	263.5	263.3	256.2	233.53	225.9	220.98	213.55	207.13	221.92	225	227.8	228.2	220.66	221.06	215.39	207.83	201.29	187.5	165.7	146.2	124.9	110.3	118.1	119.7	110.3	109.3	112.8	108.7	106.8	103.4	106.4	104.6
Domestic coastwise, all traffic	73.15	74.59	79.35	80.52	78.44	72.42	76.57	73.01	72.97	82.17	89.29	80.79	78.22	86.47	99.22	100.52	107.56	114.1	114.8	113.2	126.2	117.9	113	115.2	112.2	119.3	138.1	142.7	139.5	145.2	140	128.1	121.46	118.98	124.45	122.31	128.89	131.34	121.03	124.57	129.55	130.46	140.14	138.49	128.4	134.64	119.7	109.7	100.4	92	90.4	105.4	103.7	97.2	98	108	109	107.7	110	113.9	114.5
Domestic one-port, inwards	12.36	13.78	14.78	16.01	16.99	14.58	16.11	16.15	17.16	17.58	16.41	15.36	15.45	18.59	19.16	18.31	20.31	24.1	26.9	29	30.4	33.4	37.2	41.7	33.3	38	36.4	26.1	21.8	25.1	26.7	28.6	23.8	28.98	29.84	34.1	35	34.21	31.8	27.2	28.12	28.54	26.63	24.56	22.28	24.61	29.5	26.5	21.7	14.4	13	13.1	13.9	16	10.9	9.2	8.3	7.8	6.6	6.8	7.2
Domestic one-port, outwards	1.53	1.92	1.82	1.96	2.73	3.2	3.6	4.44	4.87	3.36	2.2	2.42	2.49	2.79	2.33	2.07	3.84	1.9	2	1.6	1.9	1.4	1.7	2	2.2	1.7	3.2	8.8	12.2	12.4	12.4	12.4	14.02	14.91	15.07	15.93	14.82	14.64	12.9	13.4	13.67	12.31	12.96	13.37	13.56	14.02	12.9	12.8	12.3	11.2	11.2	10.1	8.9	8.8	8.6	8.6	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.5
Freight units9
All freight units	164,717.8	160,844.5	157,671.45	161,431.2	159,131.36	161,616.88	171,563.6	176,557.14	172,162.7	172,360.5	167,571.79	161,433.73	152,519.78	149,927.16	156,040.92	153,739.78	147,098.97	161,948.28	166,155.86	158,949.16	154,380.74	149,669.45	139,374.15	138,564.54	135,915.3	137,768	136,827	132,115	128,935	115,058	113,387	108,357	99,409	94,129	88,197	86,619	85,272	78,801	65,136	59,351	56,905	53,796	49,931	45,587	42,909	41,738	41,778	39,299	35,502	32,669	29,082	30,640	28,456	22,460	19,307	16,893
All main freight units	158,882.06	155,060.85	151,692.09	156,058.96	154,464.3	156,868.85	165,154.05	169,774.79	165,926.09	165,465.06	160,421.18	154,211.64	145,693.57	144,046.01	150,385.82	147,859.83	141,927.75	155,342.04	158,583.33	151,580.36	147,467.59	142,968.88	133,038.46	132,434.06	130,043.24	132,039	131,919	127,312	124,383	110,784	109,398	104,193	96,049	90,907	84,966	83,250	81,680	75,257	61,860	56,326	53,826	50,968	47,078	42,912	40,159	38,964	38,476	36,030	32,522	29,903	27,041	28,257	26,092	20,847	17,956	15,701
Containers on Lo-Lo and conventional services	67,276.02	61,135.59	58,688.64	59,251.73	60,762.2	61,462.07	66,890.99	68,559.01	64,713.96	65,528.87	63,400.91	61,424.31	57,094.28	55,258.09	57,958.92	56,896.07	52,266.18	59,734.24	60,717.63	54,493.12	53,948.97	56,502.36	51,412.61	51,177.99	51,813.85	51,613	49,600	46,680	45,442	42,753	42,541	38,527	35,740	38,381	36,425	34,511	33,005	32,217	27,302	24,406	23,653	22,319	20,988	19,604	18,447	17,987	18,128	18,064	16,854	16,013	15,623	17,591	17,599	14,449	12,800	11,356
Containers on Ro-Ro services																											8,800	8,830	7,884	7,241	5,045	5,159	4,910
Road goods vehicles	37,482.01	36,890.31	36,966.88	35,380.53	35,149.92	39,801.29	43,421.05	44,653.16	46,530.63	47,056.3	45,971.41	44,293.25	41,805.08	40,943.96	42,509.08	42,545.32	44,396.9	48,693.68	48,232.6	46,591.6	44,853.98	42,896.4	38,759.48	39,119.05	37,705.62	35,852	73,519	71,802	71,057	60,790	61,194	59,649	54,506	51,580	47,704	47,842	47,659	41,959	33,571	30,936	28,694	27,040	24,606	22,027	20,605	19,903	19,273	17,064	14,794	13,225	10,811	9,986	7,798	5,674	4,413	3,506
Unaccompanied trailers	46,729.9	47,988.54	47,402.1	51,318.81	49,147.17	45,557.63	45,192.82	46,315.08	44,265.62	42,599.02	41,031.02	38,889.4	37,148.57	37,135.82	38,533.87	37,209.7	34,241.21	36,113.64	38,534.13	39,658.26	38,600.2	38,086.95	37,361.36	36,843.44	35,677.53	38,408
Rail wagons, port-to-port trailers and barges	7,394.13	9,046.42	8,634.47	10,107.89	9,405	10,047.86	9,649.19	10,247.54	10,415.88	10,280.87	10,017.85	9,604.68	9,645.64	10,708.14	11,383.95	11,208.74	11,023.46	10,800.48	11,098.97	10,837.38	10,064.44	5,483.17	5,505.01	5,293.57	4,846.25	6,166					618	858	893	946	837	896	1,016	1,081	987	985	1,480	1,609	1,484	1,281	1,108	1,074	1,075	902	874	664	607	680	695	724	743	839
Other unitised freight	281.07	435.6	505.91	415.21	390.05	139.76	244.29	110.05	138.2	182.22	114.19	257.23	473.62	339.11	366.74	1,171.78	1,167.48	1,462.71	1,640.96	1,803.22	1,513.42	1,432.93	1,496.7	1,437.19	1,848.81	1,646	942	992	1,050	1,006	1,093	1,394	935	982	880	1,111	1,096	1,337	1,425	1,276	1,322	1,197	1,182	1,185	1,551	1,441	1,625	1,821	1,620	1,641	1,158	1,645	1,477	786	722	744
Import and export motor vehicles	5,554.67	5,348.05	5,473.45	4,957.03	4,277.01	4,608.28	6,165.26	6,672.3	6,098.4	6,713.23	7,036.41	6,964.86	6,352.59	5,542.04	5,288.36	4,708.17	4,003.73	5,143.53	5,931.57	5,565.58	5,399.74	5,267.65	4,839.03	4,693.29	4,023.25	4,083	3,965	3,812	3,503	3,268	2,896	2,770	2,424	2,240	2,350	2,258	2,496	2,207	1,850	1,748	1,747	1,631	1,672	1,490	1,198	1,334	1,678	1,448	1,361	1,125	883	737	887	827	628	434
Goods lifted on inland and coastal waters8
All waterborne traffic	84.17	89.71	90.91	93.86	92.97	88.35	99.07	98.57	97.11	101.97	98.16	94.9	90.55	95.58	104.41	106.32	109.51	122.98	125.93	126.32	132.8	127.23	132.46	139.11	131.27
UK inland waters, total	40.08	45.36	44.58	45.97	45.89	42.95	51.46	50.68	51.22	50.76	47.03	46.87	43.03	43.18	43.86	43.78	41.44	51.91	52.01	50.97	48.72	44.62	47.39	48.95	53.49
Inland waters: internal, non-sea-going	2.32	3.19	2.84	3.17	3.2	3.64	3.79	3.15	3.65	3.39	3.57	4.96	5.25	3.66	3.48	3.46	3.27	3.69	3.36	3.56	3.4	2.6	3.18	3.96	4.26
Inland waters: seagoing coastwise	3.79	4.17	4.37	4.67	5	4.58	4.75	4.79	4.56	4.29	5.04	5.33	5.46	5.49	6.44	6.03	6.59	7.67	8.02	8.5	8.55	7.23	7.36	6.83	8.77
Inland waters: seagoing foreign	31.05	33.2	31.86	31.91	31.19	29.98	37.5	37.38	36.6	37.87	33.26	32.03	29.18	30.49	30.33	31.25	27.52	35.17	34.91	33.97	32.01	30.06	31.83	31.97	33.43
Inland waters: seagoing one-port	2.91	4.8	5.51	6.23	6.5	4.75	5.42	5.36	6.41	5.21	5.16	4.55	3.13	3.55	3.61	3.03	4.06	5.37	5.72	4.95	4.77	4.73	5.02	6.19	7.03
Coastwise between UK ports	37.04	38.02	40.79	41.03	39.29	37.06	38.26	37.33	34.6	39.7	42.61	40.03	38.36	42.61	49	51.29	54.58	58.14	58.78	58.15	65.08	59.79	58.5	59.5	58.5
One-port traffic at UK ports	13.76	15.3	15.43	17.76	19.3	17.67	19.52	20.71	22.26	21	18.71	17.88	17.75	18.82	21.6	20.31	24.14	25.97	28.88	30.65	32.31	34.77	38.95	43.68	35.08
Goods moved on inland and coastal waters8
All waterborne traffic	19.78	20.91	23.83	24.95	23.89	24.97	25.42	24.32	24.92	30.39	31.43	26.99	29.12	35.5	42.71	41.9	48.59	49.66	50.8	51.85	60.87	59.45	60.9	67.2	58.8
UK inland waters, total	1.2	1.38	1.36	1.41	1.41	1.38	1.68	1.59	1.62	1.59	1.48	1.49	1.38	1.37	1.45	1.41	1.29	1.72	1.74	1.68	1.63	1.52	1.62	1.7	1.84
Inland waters: internal, non-sea-going	0.06	0.07	0.07	0.08	0.07	0.15	0.17	0.09	0.1	0.11	0.12	0.17	0.21	0.16	0.14	0.12	0.13	0.16	0.14	0.16	0.17	0.15	0.18	0.18	0.19
Inland waters: seagoing coastwise	0.11	0.12	0.13	0.13	0.15	0.13	0.14	0.13	0.13	0.12	0.14	0.15	0.15	0.15	0.19	0.18	0.17	0.2	0.21	0.22	0.22	0.19	0.2	0.17	0.23
Inland waters: seagoing foreign	0.92	1	0.94	0.95	0.92	0.89	1.14	1.14	1.11	1.14	1	0.98	0.89	0.92	0.94	0.97	0.82	1.12	1.15	1.1	1.05	0.99	1.04	1.08	1.13
Inland waters: seagoing one-port	0.11	0.2	0.22	0.25	0.27	0.21	0.23	0.23	0.29	0.22	0.22	0.19	0.13	0.15	0.15	0.12	0.16	0.23	0.24	0.19	0.19	0.19	0.2	0.27	0.28
Coastwise between UK ports	15.15	15.68	18	18.66	17	16.7	16.98	15.03	16.17	21.73	24.46	19.43	19.9	23.77	31.34	29.98	34.87	35.06	34.54	32.42	39.35	35.44	33.3	35.1	34.1
One-port traffic at UK ports	3.65	4.16	4.81	5.26	5.9	7.23	7.13	8.07	7.55	7.42	5.84	6.41	8.12	10.66	10.29	10.8	12.76	13.31	14.97	18.16	20.3	22.87	26.44	30.82	23.32

Latest reading

All port traffic stood at 428.29 Million tonnes in 2025. That is −0.4% from 2024. The series on this page is annual and runs from 1965 to 2025. Source: GOV.UK official statistics.

Latest: 428.29 Million tonnes; 2025
vs previous period: −0.4%; 2024

About this data

Frequently asked questions

What does the UK port freight tonnage table measure?: The UK port freight tonnage table reports annual physical cargo handled by UK ports, unitised freight volumes, and traffic moved on UK inland and coastal waters.
How is UK port freight traffic broken down?: The series details international imports and exports, domestic coastwise and one-port traffic, freight units including containers and trailers, and goods lifted or moved on UK inland waters.
How far back does the UK port freight series go?: Annual UK port freight tonnage and waterborne freight statistics are tracked from the first year 1965 and are updated with each release.
What units are used to measure UK port and waterborne freight?: Traffic in the UK table is measured in million tonnes for overall freight tonnage, thousands for freight units, and billion tonne kilometres for goods moved on waters.