Britain’s trade gap widened in the three months leading up to February this year.
In simple terms, the trade deficit is calculated by taking the value of goods being imported and subtracting it from the value of goods being exported. A country with a trade deficit, imports (or buys) more goods and services from other countries than it exports (or sells) globally.
The latest trade figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), published this month, show how the UK’s trade deficit widened.
The figures come with a caveat, however, due to a change in data collection methods in January 2022.
Over a full year, the number of UK businesses exporting goods to the EU fell 33 per cent to 18,357 in 2021, from 27,321 in 2020, data from HMRC shows.
Industry experts said the fall is due to the extra red tape UK businesses must now comply with when exporting to the EU.
They say they are really worrying numbers and show the scale of the difficulties UK businesses now face in exporting their products to the EU.
Summary of trade trends
In February 2022, total goods exports were £29.5billion
- This is up by £3.5bn (13 per cent) compared with January 2022
- Up by £3.1bn (12 per cent) compared with February 2021
For the same month total goods imports were £49.5 billion
- This was down by £1 billion (2.4 per cent) compared with January 2022
- It was up by £14.4 billion (41 per cent) compared with February 2021
The UK was a net importer, with imports exceeding exports by £20 billion, narrowing by £4.7 billion on January 2022
EU trade in goods February 2022, EU exports were £15 billion
- These were up by £3.6 billion (31 per cent) compared with January 2022
- Were up by £3.2 billion (28 per cent) compared with February 2021
For the same month imports were £23.6 billion
- These were up by £0.9 billion (4.1 per cent) compared with January 2022
- They were up by £7.1bn (43 per cent) compared with February 2021
For EU trade, the UK was a net importer, with imports exceeding exports by £8.6 billion
Non-EU trade in goods In February 2022, exports were £14.5bn
- These were down by £0.1 billion (0.8 per cent) compared with January 2022
- These were also down by £0.2 billion (1.2 per cent) compared with February 2021
For the same month non-EU imports were £25.8bn
- These were down by £2.1 billion (7.6 per cent) compared with January 2022
- Up by £7.3 billion (40 per cent) compared with February 2021
For non-EU trade, the UK was a net importer, with imports exceeding exports by £11.4bn.
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