Headline results
The most recent DfT statistics relate to ports traffic in 2020 and were published 9th September 2021. The most recent DfT statistics show that:
- The total tonnage through Northern Ireland (NI) ports in 2020 was 27.1 million tonnes, a decrease of 1.1% compared to 27.4 million tonnes the previous year. Total freight traffic through United Kingdom (UK) ports in 2020 was 438.9 million tonnes, compared to 482.5 million tonnes the previous year, a decrease of 9.0%.
- Over the year in NI, the total tonnage of inward traffic decreased by 1.9% to 16.3 million tonnes, and outward traffic increased by 0.1% to 10.8 million tonnes. For the UK as a whole, the volume of inward traffic for 2020 decreased by 10.6% to 279.1 million tonnes and outward traffic decreased by 6.2% to 159.8 million tonnes.
- The majority of total NI traffic came through the Belfast Port (68.6%), while Warrenpoint accounted for the second highest level of total traffic (11.8%), followed by 10.1% through the Port of Larne. The most popular UK port was London, which handled 11.0% of total UK port traffic in 2020.
- A total of 839,071 road goods vehicles passed through Northern Ireland ports in 2020, a decrease of 3.3% from 867,698 in 2019. In total, 7.0 million road goods vehicles passed through the UK in 2020, a decrease of 5.1% from 2019.
- A total of 296,094 non-freight vehicles passed through Northern Ireland ports in 2020. This compared with a figure of 468,165 in 2019, a decrease of 36.8%. In total, 2.0 million non-freight vehicles passed through the UK in 2020 – a decrease of 67.4% from 2019.
Current publication and data tables
Archive data
Further information
Patrick O'Kane
Telephone: 028 9025 5161
Email: Patrick.O'Kane@nisra.gov.uk
Twitter: @NISRA