Provisional Port Statistics 2007

This publication includes National Statistics on freight traffic handled at each major UK port in 2007.

These provisional port statistics for 2007 show that:

• Total freight traffic through UK ports was 581.1 million tonnes (Mt) of which 565.8 Mt (over 97 per cent) was through the 52 major ports. This suggests little overall change on 2006.
• Inwards traffic fell by 7.1 Mt to 358.0 Mt, whilst outwards traffic rose by 4.5 Mt to 223.1 Mt. The resulting net change of 2.7 Mt since 2006 is smaller than the change between provisional and final figures in some recent years, so should not be considered significant at this stage. 
• Since 1987, total traffic has risen by 109 Mt (23 per cent). Inwards traffic increased by 111 Mt (45 per cent) whilst outwards traffic was almost unchanged over the period. 
• Grimsby and Immingham maintained its position as the UK’s leading port in 2007 with 66.2 Mt (2.2 Mt higher than in 2006), followed by London with 52.7 Mt (up 0.8 Mt) and Tees and Hartlepool with 49.8 Mt (down 3.6 Mt).
• The breakdown of major port traffic by cargo type in 2007 was: liquid bulk 44 per cent; dry bulk and other general cargo 27 per cent; lift-on lift-off (lo-lo) containers 11 per cent; and roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) cargo 18 per cent.

 The top ten ports in 2007 in terms of tonnage were as follows:

	Million Tonnes
Grimsby and Immingham	66.2
London	52.7
Tees and Hartlepool	49.8
Southampton	43.3
Forth	36.7
Milford Haven	35.5
Liverpool	32.3
Felixstowe	25.7
Dover	25.1
Sullom Voe	16.6

Notes

1. This information is collected by the Department from ports as part of a statutory survey of port traffic.

2. The information relates to all cargoes loaded or unloaded by ship at ports in the UK. Inward traffic relates to foreign imports and domestic inward traffic whilst outward traffic relates to foreign exports and domestic outward traffic.  Major ports (52 in total) are ports handling at least 1 million tonnes annually plus a small number of ports with less tonnage.

3. This year, for the first time, a breakdown by cargo type is included, in response to user requests.

4. More detailed final results will be published in Maritime Statistics 2007 in September 2007.

Publication details

Published on 29 May 2008 by Transport Statistics.

Email maritime.stats@dft.gsi.gov.uk for queries concerning this release.

For information about release of this product see National Statistics Online.