Written question asked by Roy Beggs (Ulster Unionist Party) on Wednesday, 10 December 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 18 December 2003. It was answered by Ian Pearson (Labour) on Thursday, 18 December 2003 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

Northern Ireland Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the weight of cargo leaving (a) Larne and (b) Belfast ports was in each of the last five years; and what the percentage change was in each year. - Inc table.

Answer: Mr. Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the weight of cargo leaving (a) Larne and (b) Belfast ports was in each of the last five years; and what the percentage change was in each year. [144238] Mr. Pearson: The information sought is set out in the following table. Tonnage of goods through Larne and Belfast ports 1998--2002: Outward traffic Thousand tonnes _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Larne Belfast Larne % change Belfast % change 1998 2,296 3,066 1999 2,504 3,122 9.1 1.8 2000 2,271 2,748 -9.3 -12.0 2001 1,668 3,598 -26.6 30.9 20021 2,083 3,628 24.9 0.8 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 The most recent year for which information is available) A new EC Maritime Statistics Directive (Council Directive 95/64/EC on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods and passengers by sea) has recently been implemented in the UK (1 January 2000). This required a complete overhaul of data collection methods. It should be noted that the different collection system for freight traffic has resulted in some discontinuities in data series between 2000, 2001, 2002 and previous years.

Secondary information