Accredited official statistics

Port freight quarterly statistics: July to September 2023

Provisional quarterly statistics on freight handled by UK major ports for July to September 2023.

Documents

Port freight quarterly statistics: July to September 2023 tables

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Details

From this quarter (July to September 2023) we have discontinued PORT0501 from the quarterly port freight statistics due to low user engagement. PORT0501 presented tonnage and unit totals at the national level as indices. National level tonnage and unit totals will remain available in PORT0502.

We continue to welcome any feedback on any aspect of the port freight statistics (see contact details).

When comparing July to September 2023 with July to September 2022 through UK major ports:

  • total freight tonnage decreased by 8% to 103.6 million tonnes
  • inward tonnage decreased by 7% to 69.2 million tonnes
  • outward tonnage decreased by 9% to 34.4 million tonnes
  • total volume of unitised traffic increased by 3% to 6 million units
  • inward units increased by 4% to 3.2 million units
  • outward units increased by 2% to 2.8 million units

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

  • total tonnage decreased by 4% to 434.2 million tonnes
  • total volume of unitised traffic increased by 2% to 20.7 million units

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

Further information about these statistics is available, including:

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Maritime and shipping statistics

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Updates to this page

Published 6 December 2023

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