Public Figures

Britain’s official statistics

Port freight

Boston · January to March 2026

Boston moved 186,279 tonnes of freight in January to March 2026 — the 41st-busiest of the 53 UK major ports that quarter, on provisional figures.

Read from the Department for Transport’s PORT0502 table, in the vintage we archived on 11 August 2026.

186,279

tonnes

Freight through Boston, both directions, January to March 2026

Provisional — the publisher will revise this quarter

That is 0.2% of all freight through UK major ports in January to March 2026.

Its busiest quarter on our record was April to June 2010, at 263,838 tonnes — 29% above where it is now. The record starts in January to March 2009.

The busiest UK major ports in January to March 2026

  1. 1stLondon13.1m tonnes
  2. 2ndMilford Haven12.9m tonnes
  3. 3rdGrimsby and Immingham10.5m tonnes
  4. 4thSouthampton8.1m tonnes
  5. 5thLiverpool8.0m tonnes
  6. 6thTees and Hartlepool5.7m tonnes
  7. 7thFelixstowe5.3m tonnes
  8. 8thDover5.1m tonnes
  9. 9thBelfast4.7m tonnes
  10. 10thForth4.1m tonnes
  11. 30 ports between
    41stBoston186,279 tonnes
  12. out of 53 UK major ports reporting that quarter

Tonnage in both directions, as published. “Major port” is the publisher’s own unit, and some of them are more than one place: Grimsby and Immingham are counted together, as are Tees and Hartlepool.

Every quarter on record

2009 Q1149,541 tonnes263,838 tonnes across 69 readings on record2026 Q1

One cell per quarter from 2009 Q1 to 2026 Q1, shaded from this port’s own quietest quarter to its busiest. Quarters the publisher marked as not applicable are left blank rather than read as zero.

The last three years, quarter by quarter

QuarterTonnageRank among ports
2026 Q1186,279 tonnes41st
2025 Q4163,633 tonnes42nd
2025 Q3165,230 tonnes42nd
2025 Q2175,608 tonnes42nd
2025 Q1210,161 tonnes41st
2024 Q4204,692 tonnes40th
2024 Q3181,728 tonnes42nd
2024 Q2169,722 tonnes42nd
2024 Q1167,233 tonnes44th
2023 Q4183,472 tonnes40th
2023 Q3167,867 tonnes43rd
2023 Q2212,643 tonnes40th

How these figures are read

Figures are tonnage in both directions, in thousand tonnes as published and shown here in tonnes. The publisher’s own four-quarter totals and percentage-change columns are not used: every comparison on this page is calculated from the quarters themselves.

The publisher marks this quarter provisional. Provisional quarters are revised, and when they are, the change is logged in our corrections log.