Accredited official statistics

Transport Statistics Great Britain: 2023 International Travel

Published 19 December 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-statistics-great-britain-2024/transport-statistics-great-britain-2023-international-travel

About this release 

Transport Statistics Great Britain (TSGB) presents an annual summary of statistics for cross-modal transport topics, mostly relating to the calendar year 2023. This condensed set of highlights focuses on international travel and is complemented by other Department for Transport (DfT) releases presenting more detailed and recent statistics. See the Transport Statistics Finder to explore what other statistics are published by DfT. 

Other cross-modal topics of TSGB, can be found in separate articles: 

TSGB is an accredited official statistics publication and was independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in July 2010. For more information, see the About these statistics section. 

Headline figures in 2023 

How we travel: 

  • 240.9 million passengers travelled internationally to or from UK airports 

  • 18.1 million passengers travelled internationally by sea (including cruise and ferry passengers) 

  • 18.3 million passengers travelled internationally via rail (Channel Tunnel) 

Where we travel: 

  • 71% of international air passengers at UK airports travelled to or from Europe 

  • All short sea (ferry) routes are to and from Europe with the majority (72%) of passenger movements between France and the UK 

When we travel: 

  • travelling trends throughout the year, for air and sea, have returned to pre-pandemic patterns 

How we travel

Data sources: AVI0105, SPAS0101, SPAS0108 

In 2023, in the UK: 

  • the majority of international passengers travelled by air 

  • the number of international passenger movements increased substantially between 2022 and 2023 across air, sea and rail modes, but remained below 2019 levels 

Definitions

Passenger data is collected differently across modes of transport.

Air: air passenger data is collected from airports by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The CAA counts a terminal passenger as a passenger joining or leaving an aircraft at the UK reporting airport.

In this chapter, air passengers travelling to or from oil rigs are counted as international passengers. This aligns with the approach taken by the CAA in their UK airport data, and with the aviation data tables accompanying this release.

Sea: international short sea routes include all ferry routes between Great Britain or Northern Ireland and the rest of Europe. See DfT’s port freight notes and definitions for further information on which countries are included in these regions.

Sea passenger figures include tourists, leisure travel, business travel, and freight drivers accompanying cargo.

Rail: rail passenger data is collected by the Office of Rail and Road and includes Eurotunnel and Eurostar passengers.

Chart 1: Number of international passengers, in millions, by air and other modes, between 2013 and 2023

Chart 1 notes

Other modes include sea and rail.

Data sources for passenger data are different across modes of transport.

Chart 1 is a line chart showing the total number of international air passenger movements compared to other modes (sea and rail), between 2013 and 2023. This chart shows that the number of international passengers is substantially higher for air compared to other modes. International air travel serves routes worldwide, whereas sea and rail serve travel to Europe only, with the exception of some international cruise voyages.

The number of international air passengers steadily increased between 2013 and 2019, from 192.5 million to 258.3 million. In 2020, the number of international passengers decreased sharply to 63.2 million, and 50.6 million in 2021, in line with travel restrictions being imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022 the number of passengers increased again sharply, to 195.6 million, and increased again in 2023 to 240.9 million, around 93% of the number of passengers in 2019.

Chart 2: Number of rail and sea international passengers, in millions, between 2013 and 2023

Chart 2 note

Data sources for passenger data are different across modes of transport.

Chart 2 presents 2 line charts, showing the total number of international passengers for sea and rail. This chart shows that the number of passengers for both sea and rail were relatively stable between 2013 and 2019, ranging from 20 to 23 million passengers for sea and from 20 to 21 million passengers for rail. In 2020 and 2021, the number of sea and rail passengers decreased sharply, down to just over 5 million for both rail and sea in 2021. In 2023, passenger numbers increased compared to 2022, but remained below 2019 levels.

Where we travel

Data sources: AVI0105, SPAS0101, SPAS0108

Travel across the world

Of the 240.9 million international passengers at UK airports in 2023:

  • 71% travelled to and from Europe

  • 10% travelled to and from North America

  • less than 1% travelled to and from oil rigs

  • 19% travelled to and from other parts of the world

Of the 18.1 million international sea passenger movements in 2023, 15.1 million (83%) were international short sea (ferry) passengers and 2.9 million (16%) were international cruise passengers.

Of the 15.1 million short sea passengers:

  • 72% travelled between France and the UK

  • 28% travelled on other international ferry routes between Europe and the UK

Most international cruises travel to Europe and Mediterranean countries, however DfT does not collect data on cruise calls and destinations.

Chart 3: International passenger volumes, in millions, by origin and destination, by air, sea and rail, from 2013 to 2023

Chart 3 notes

This chart does not show rail passengers to the rest of the world because the Channel Tunnel only serves European destinations.

Sea passenger volumes in this chart only include short sea ferry passengers and long sea passengers as destination breakdowns for international cruise passengers by Europe and rest of the world are not available.

Chart 3 is a line chart showing the number of international passengers, broken down by world region and mode. This chart shows that the majority of international passengers are air passengers, travelling to and from Europe. Between 2019 and 2021, the number of passengers across all modes and destinations decreased sharply, due to travel restrictions being imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, before increasing again in 2022 and 2023.

Between 2013 and 2019, international air passengers to or from Europe increased by more (39%) than passengers to or from the rest of the world (23%).

Between 2013 and 2019, the number of international sea passengers to and from the rest of the world fluctuated between 50,000 and 90,000, with 75,000 passengers travelling in 2019, 32% greater than in 2013.

Compared to 2019 levels, in 2023:

  • air passenger volumes between the UK and Europe were around 9% lower, but less than 1% lower for travel between the UK and the rest of the world

  • sea passengers between the UK and Europe were 18% lower, but sea passengers between the UK and the rest of the world were 36% higher

  • rail passengers between the UK and Europe were 15% lower

Travel within Europe

Chart 4: UK air passenger volumes, by European region, from 2013 to 2023, indexed at 2013 levels

Chart 4 is a line chart showing air passenger volumes, indexed at 2013 levels for EU-27 countries compared to other European countries. The chart shows that between 2013 and 2019, air passenger volumes between the UK and EU-27 countries increased at a higher rate than for other European countries. Between 2019 and 2021, air passenger volumes decreased sharply for all European countries. In both 2022 and 2023, air passenger volumes to and from EU-27 countries recovered at a higher rate than for the rest of Europe. Passenger travel to some of these countries has been affected by airspace closures and travel restrictions caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Chart 5: Sea passenger volumes, by European region, from 2013 to 2023, indexed at 2013 levels 

Chart 5 is a line chart showing sea passenger volumes, indexed at 2013 levels for EU-27 countries compared to other European countries. The chart shows that between 2013 and 2019, sea passenger volumes to all European countries decreased, but at a faster rate for other European countries. Between 2020 and 2021, sea passenger volumes decreased sharply for EU-27 countries. In 2023, sea passenger volumes to and from EU-27 countries increased at a higher rate than for other European countries. This is likely because the majority of passengers for other European countries are drivers accompanying freight so trends will have been less affected by pandemic travel restrictions.

When we travel

Data sources: SPAS0107, monthly international air passenger data is available from CAA airport data

Considerations

This section focuses on air and short sea travel only. A monthly breakdown of Channel Tunnel figures is not available.

Chart 6: Monthly international air and short sea passenger movements in 2019, 2022 and 2023

Chart 6 presents 2 line charts, comparing the number of air and sea passenger movements across the calendar year separately, for 2019, 2022 and 2023. The chart shows that, from March 2022, international air and short sea passenger numbers started to return towards pre-pandemic levels and trends. Air passenger numbers in 2023 were closer to 2019 than 2022, while sea passenger numbers were around halfway between 2019 and 2022 for most of 2023.

This chart also shows seasonal patterns throughout the year, in 2019, 2022 and 2023. The number of air passengers typically steadily increases throughout the year before decreasing at the end of August, whereas the number of sea passengers increases more sharply in the summer months, then decreases in the autumn. The number of sea and air passengers increases again slightly in December.

Use the Transport Statistics Finder to explore, download and view the statistical content published by the department.

The sea passenger statistics, all routes 2023 release covers the impact of the pandemic on sea passenger routes, as well as a timeline of events relating to international travel.

Other published, related DfT statistics are:

Background Information

We would welcome any feedback on these statistics by email. We will attempt to address any comments in a subsequent release.

Notes and definitions for each of the topics covered in TSGB are available.

About these statistics

The majority of the annual, official statistics in this release were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in July 2010. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled accredited official statistics. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure they meet customer needs.

Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release are available.

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