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Moving abroad from the UK and shipping your belongings in a container? This guide covers what a household container move costs in 2026, when sharing a container works out cheaper than taking one to yourself, and how to get quotes from movers who run your route.
Moving a household abroad by sea costs around £3,300 to £6,500 for a 20ft container and £4,800 to £9,700 for a 40ft container outside peak season.
These are door-to-door estimates rather than the cost of sea freight alone. They can include packing, collection from your home, export clearance in the UK, the sea crossing, customs clearance at the destination and delivery to your new address. Import duty and taxes are not included, as these depend on the country you are moving to.
There is quite a range between the cheapest and most expensive moves. Much of the difference comes down to how much you want the removals company to do. At the cheaper end, you might pack everything yourself and use a more basic service. At the other end, a full-service mover can pack and protect your belongings for you.
Your destination is the main thing you cannot change. The other factors give you more room to bring the cost down.
The amount you are moving is one of the first things to work out, because it determines which shipping options are available to you.
| Container | Holds | Suits |
| 20ft | 33 m³ | A home of up to three bedrooms: beds, sofas, white goods, bikes and wardrobes |
| 40ft | 68 m³ | Four bedrooms and up, or a household taking a car along with it |
Not sure how much space your belongings will take up? Our volume calculator gives you an estimated cubic metre figure in a couple of minutes. It is worth doing before you start asking for quotes, because the volume of your belongings is one of the main things movers will use to price the job.
You do not necessarily need to fill a whole container. If your move is smaller, you can share a container with other households and pay for the space you use. If you need more than around 68 m³, you are outside the usual 20ft and 40ft options and the mover will normally price the move individually.
For internal dimensions, maximum weight and more detail on what each container size can hold, see our container shipping guide.
Once you know roughly how much you are moving, the next decision is how you want to ship it. For most household moves, there are three main options.
Share a container and your belongings travel in the same container as other people’s. You pay for the amount of space you use rather than the whole container. This is also known as groupage, consolidated shipping or LCL.
Take a container to yourself and you pay for the whole container, whether you fill it or not. This is known as FCL shipping.
Send your belongings by air and you pay according to weight rather than container space. Air freight can take days rather than weeks, but it is considerably more expensive. Expect roughly £3.50 to £7.80 per kilo, with charges based on whichever is greater: the actual weight of your shipment or its volumetric weight. For a household move, that can quickly make air freight several times more expensive than shipping by sea.
For most people moving an entire home, the real choice is therefore between sharing a container and having one to yourself.
The exact point where the two options cost the same varies by route and mover, which is why these figures are ranges rather than fixed cut-offs. As a general rule, sharing makes sense unless you are close to filling the container you would otherwise book.
There is another reason you might choose your own container, even if it costs a little more. It can usually be shipped as soon as it is ready rather than waiting for other people’s goods to fill the container. It also avoids your belongings being separated at a depot before delivery, so there are fewer stages in the journey.
| A shared container | A container to yourself | Air freight | |
| Best for | Smaller moves and part loads | A whole household | Things you need straight away |
| You pay | Per cubic metre you use | One flat price for the box | Per kilo |
| Speed | Waits until the container is full | Ships when you are ready | Days rather than weeks |
| Cheaper when | Your move is under 30 m³ | Your move is 30 m³ or more | Never cheaper, but faster |
The destination you choose has a big effect on the price. The first column below shows the estimated cost of a shared container, where you pay for the space you use. The other two columns are for a container to yourself.
Each destination links to a more detailed guide covering things such as transit times, customs requirements and what to expect when you arrive.
| Destination | Shared, 15 m³ (a 1 bed or a part load) | 20ft container (up to a 3 bed) | 40ft container (4 bed and up) |
| USA | £2,459 – £3,616 | £4,328 – £6,480 | £6,330 – £9,478 |
| Canada | £2,459 – £3,616 | £4,328 – £6,480 | £6,330 – £9,478 |
| Australia | £2,275 – £3,255 | £4,069 – £6,093 | £6,459 – £9,672 |
| New Zealand | £2,275 – £3,255 | £4,069 – £6,093 | £6,459 – £9,672 |
| Japan | £2,213 – £3,038 | £3,746 – £5,610 | £5,813 – £8,705 |
| South Africa | £2,398 – £3,110 | £3,404 – £5,097 | £5,058 – £7,573 |
| Dubai | £2,090 – £2,821 | £3,327 – £4,981 | £4,812 – £7,206 |
The lower figure in each range assumes a self-packed move, while the higher figure represents a full-service move. Import duty and tax, storage and charges for difficult access are not included.
These figures are useful for getting a rough idea of what your move might cost, but they are not a substitute for a quote. Prices can vary considerably between movers, even when they are handling the same route. The port they use, the services they include and the amount of space you need can all make a difference.
If you are moving to mainland Europe, you probably will not need a shipping container. Most household moves from the UK to mainland Europe go by road, so your price will usually depend on whether your belongings share a lorry with other households or travel on their own.
See our guide to European removals from the UK for more information.
There are some exceptions. Cyprus, Malta, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, the Greek islands and Iceland all involve a sea crossing, so it is worth getting a quote rather than using a standard European road-removal price as a guide.
If you are taking a car as well as your household belongings, it can be cheaper to put it in the same container rather than shipping it separately, provided there is enough room and the destination allows it.
Cars do involve extra paperwork, though, and the rules around importing one vary considerably between countries. Check the requirements at your destination before deciding how to ship it.
The figures above can give you a useful starting point, but the only way to find out what your move is likely to cost is to get a few quotes. Prices can vary by more than £1,000 between companies on the same route, particularly when they use different ports or offer different levels of service.
