Accredited official statistics
Port freight statistics: January to March 2014
Freight handled by major UK ports for January to March (quarter 1) 2014.
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The latest provisional quarterly statistics on freight handled by major UK sea ports. Detailed final annual statistics are published in August. The quarterly series is finalised alongside the final annual statistics for 2013 in September.
Comparing January to March 2014 (quarter 1) with quarter 1 2013:
- total major port freight traffic was 121 million tonnes, an increase of 1%
- outward freight traffic rose by 1% compared to quarter 1 2013 to 43 million tonnes, this was the second consecutive increase following 6 previous quarters of decline
- unitised traffic at UK major ports increased by 4% to 4.8 million units
- unitised traffic travelling into UK major ports rose by 7% to 2.6 million units. This was the fourth consecutive quarterly increase
Comparing the 12 months ending March 2014 with the 12 months ending March 2013:
- total major port freight traffic increased by 1% to 492 million tonnes, continuing the increase seen in quarter 4 2013
- total major port unitised traffic increased by 3% to 21.4 million units. Previously, the rolling annual total steadily declined from quarter 3 2011
Users should note that the port freight publication schedule has been changed. A notice giving the reasons behind this decision has been published
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