United Kingdom Balance of Trade  1955-2017 | Data | Chart | Calendar

The UK’s deficit on trade in goods and services narrowed by £1.8 billion to £2.1 billion in April 2017 from a downwardly revised £3.9 billion in March. Imports declined in the month by 3.5 percent to £51.9 billion from an all-time high of £53.7 billion, due to a decrease in purchases of mechanical machinery, oil and cars. Exports also fell slightly by 0.1 percent to £49.8 billion, almost unchanged from the previous month's record high. Balance of Trade in the United Kingdom averaged -1465.20 GBP Million from 1955 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 2946 GBP Million in March of 1981 and a record low of -6058 GBP Million in November of 2013.

United Kingdom Balance of Trade
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Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus Forecast (i)
2017-04-07 08:30 AM Feb £-3.66B £-2.98B £-3.2B
2017-05-11 08:30 AM Mar £-4.90B £-2.65B £-4.4B
2017-06-09 08:30 AM Apr £-2.05B £-3.90B £-3.6B
2017-07-07 08:30 AM May £-2.05B £-1.8B
2017-08-10 08:30 AM Jun
2017-09-08 08:30 AM Jul




UK Trade Deficit Narrows In April As Imports Fall


The UK’s deficit on trade in goods and services narrowed by £1.8 billion to £2.1 billion in April 2017 from a downwardly revised £3.9 billion in March. Imports declined in the month by 3.5 percent to £51.9 billion from an all-time high of £53.7 billion, due to a decrease in purchases of mechanical machinery, oil and cars. Exports also fell slightly by 0.1 percent to £49.8 billion, almost unchanged from the previous month's record high.

Imports of goods and services fell by 3.5 percent to £51.9 billion from a record high of £53.7 billion in the previous month, mainly due to a decrease in imports of goods, with import levels of total trade moving back to the levels seen in February 2017. At the commodity level, the main contribution to the fall in imports was from mechanical machinery and oil from non-EU countries and cars from EU countries. Among trading partners, imports of goods from the EU decreased by 1.7 percent, mainly from Spain (-22.7 percent) and Germany (-3.4 percent). Imports of goods from non-EU countries also fell by 7.7 percent, dragged by lower purchases from Norway (-31.1 percent) and the US (-7.4 percent).

Exports of goods and services fell by a marginal 0.1 percent to £49.8 billion, almost unchanged from March's record high, due to a decrease of 0.5 percent in exports of trade in goods while exports of services rose by 0.6 percent. Sales of goods to the EU fell by 3.8 percent, mainly to Germany (-8.2 percent) and the Netherlands (-4.9 percent). By contrast, exports of goods to non-EU countries grew by 2.6 percent, boosted by higher sales to Switzerland (53.1 percent), China (11.2 percent) and Hong Kong (8.8 percent).

On the price front, export and import prices decreased by 1.1 percent and 0.9 percent respectively, with the value of sterling increasing by 2.2 percent in April 2017 compared with the March average. This follows an increase in prices last month and a general increase seen during 2016. However, it remains 7.7 percent lower when compared with April 2016.

ONS | Joana Ferreira | joana.ferreira@tradingeconomics.com
6/9/2017 4:45:50 PM


Recent Releases

UK Trade Deficit Widens As Imports Hit New Record
The UK’s deficit on trade in goods and services widened by £2.3 billion to £4.9 billion in March 2017 from a downwardly revised £2.7 billion in February. Imports increased in the month by £2.9 billion to a new record high of £53.9 billion, due to an increase in purchases of goods from both EU and non-EU countries. Exports increased by £0.6 billion to £49.0 billion.
Published on 2017-05-11

UK Trade Deficit Widens On Higher Imports
The UK’s deficit on trade in goods and services widened by £0.7 billion to £3.7 billion in February 2017 from an upwardly revised £3.0 billion in January. Imports increased in the month by £0.3 billion to a new record of £52.1 billion, due to an increase in purchases of goods from the EU. Exports decreased by £0.4 billion to £48.5 billion, led by a decrease in exports of trade in services of £0.3 billion.
Published on 2017-04-07

UK Trade Deficit Narrows Slightly In January
The UK’s deficit on trade in goods and services decreased slightly by £0.1 billion to £1.97 billion in January 2017 from a downwardly revised £2.03 billion in December. Exports advanced by £0.4 billion to an all-time high of £49.4 billion, boosted by higher sales of machinery and transport equipment, mainly electrical machinery and cars, and chemicals; and imports increased by £0.3 billion also to a record £51.4 billion, as purchases of oil and chemicals rose the most.
Published on 2017-03-10

UK Trade Deficit Narrows On Higher Exports In December
The UK’s deficit on trade in goods and services narrowed by £0.3 billion to £3.3 billion in December 2016 from a downwardly revised £3.6 billion in the previous month. Exports rose by 2.4 percent to an all-time high of £48.8 billion, while imports increased at a slower 1.7 percent also to a record £52.1 billion.
Published on 2017-02-10



United Kingdom Trade Last Previous Highest Lowest Unit
Balance of Trade -2050.00 -3896.00 2946.00 -6058.00 GBP Million [+]
Exports 49816.00 49844.00 49844.00 962.00 GBP Million [+]
Imports 51866.00 53740.00 53740.00 1031.00 GBP Million [+]
Current Account -12088.00 -25701.00 2657.00 -26298.00 GBP Million [+]
Current Account to GDP -4.40 -4.30 2.60 -4.70 percent [+]
External Debt 6085392.00 6176450.00 6428718.00 565439.00 GBP Million [+]
Terms of Trade 99.90 100.70 107.60 80.10 Index Points [+]
Capital Flows 51392.00 26731.00 51392.00 -10498.00 GBP Million [+]
Foreign Direct Investment 110946.00 45227.00 110946.00 -44536.00 GBP Million [+]
Gold Reserves 310.29 310.29 588.27 310.25 Tonnes [+]
Crude Oil Production 944.00 970.40 2821.00 1.00 BBL/D/1K [+]
Terrorism Index 5.08 5.61 5.68 4.19 [+]
Tourism Revenues 2020.00 1510.00 2669.00 126.00 GBP Million [+]
Tourist Arrivals 3720.00 2920.00 3800.00 540.00 Thousand [+]
Weapons Sales 1393.00 1139.00 6069.00 744.00 USD Million [+]

Exports by Country  |   Exports by Category  |   Imports by Country  |   Imports by Category



United Kingdom Balance of Trade Notes

The UK's trade balance has been in deficit since 1998, due to deficits in trade in goods which are partly offset by surpluses in trade in services. The level of total UK trade in goods as a proportion of total trade in goods and services has been gradually declining since 1986 after peaking at 75 percent in 1985. This is consistent with the rising share of UK trade in services (44 percent of total trade in 2016). In 2016, the biggest goods deficits were recorded with Germany, China, and the Netherlands, and the largest surpluses were recorded with the United States and Ireland. This page provides - United Kingdom Balance of Trade - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. United Kingdom Balance of Trade - actual data, historical chart and calendar of releases - was last updated on June of 2017.

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
-2050.00 -3896.00 2946.00 -6058.00 1955 - 2017 GBP Million Monthly



balance of trade by Country

Last
Australia 555.00 Apr/17
Brazil 7661.00 May/17
Canada -370.30 Apr/17
China 407.90 May/17
Euro Area 17858.90 Apr/17
France -5535.00 Apr/17
Germany 18078.00 Apr/17
India -13841.70 May/17
Indonesia 474.00 May/17
Italy 3601.32 Apr/17
Japan -203.37 May/17
Mexico 616.79 Apr/17
Netherlands 3833.00 Apr/17
Russia 8001.00 Apr/17
South Korea 5990.00 May/17
Spain -1198829.00 Apr/17
Switzerland 3400.03 May/17
Turkey -4945.41 Apr/17
United Kingdom -2050.00 Apr/17
United States -47617.00 Apr/17