Quarterly port freight background information
Published 7 September 2022
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/port-freight-quarterly-statistics-april-to-june-2022/quarterly-port-freight-background-information
Definitions
Major ports: This refers to ports handling over one million tonnes of freight per year and a small number of other key ports.
Unitised traffic: This includes containers and all roll-on/roll-of units (trade, passenger and import/export vehicles).
Strengths and weaknesses of the data
These port freight statistics relate to traffic to and from major ports in the United Kingdom and, unless otherwise stated, do not cover ports in the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
These statistics are based on data provided by major ports. Data is available for total weight of goods and number of units inwards and outwards for each port. More in depth commentary will be provided with the release of the final port statistics, which will include details on cargo categories.
The data provided for 2019 is provisional and may be subject to revision if subsequent checks against data provided by agents, or data provided by ports at year end highlight anomalies.
Background notes
Full guidance on the methods used to compile these statistics can be found at maritime and shipping information.
National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure they meet customer needs: Code of Practice.
Details of Ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release can be found on the ports series page.
Annual statistics on freight handled by UK sea ports in 2022 will be released in summer 2023. The final 2018 figures can be found on port freight annual statistics 2021.