Volume of maritime trade between the United Kingdom and the European Union 2000-2018

In 2018, the European Union received around 86.8 million metric tons of goods moved via sea routes from the United Kingdom. This was the lowest figure since the beginning of the reporting period, with figures showing a net decline of 28 percent since 2000. By comparison, the amount of EU originated freight arriving at UK ports noticeably increased in this 19 year period, climbing to 119.4 million metric tons by 2018.

The EU as a main trading partner

The EU continued to be the UK’s main maritime trading partner. More than 51 percent of international freight volume handled at UK ports in 2019 was traded with the EU. Focusing on imports to the UK only, 26 percent of all seaborne imports in 2019 came from just three EU states: the Netherlands, France, and Belgium. The Netherlands was not only the largest importer at UK ports, but also the largest exporter to the UK in 2019.

Rising volumes of containers handled in the UK

The volume of containers loaded and unloaded at UK ports has been mostly rising in the last two decades and peaked in 2019. Compared to 2000, there was an increase of 57 percent in the volume of containers handled at UK ports in 2019.