LONDON: Research commissioned by Maritime UK* showed that in 2013 the ports sector paid £2 billion in taxes into the UK exchequer and generated £7.7 billion in gross value added for the UK economy. The UK ports industry is the second largest in Europe, handling more than 500 million tonnes of freight each year, as well as over 60 million international and domestic passenger journeys.
There are about 120 commercial ports in the United Kingdom. These include major all-purpose ports, such as London and Liverpool; ferry ports such as Dover; specialised container ports, such as Felixstowe; and ports catering for specialised bulk traffic, such as coal or oil. There are also a large number of smaller ports essentially catering for local traffic or specialising in particular sectors such as fishing or leisure boating.
The UK ports industry handles 95% of UK import and export by volume. Despite the large number of ports in the UK, much of the freight traffic is concentrated among a comparatively small percentage, with the top 20 ports accounting for 88% of the total.
