The United Kingdom's trade deficit widened to £3.415 billion in August 2023 from £1.418 billion in the previous month as exports declined by 1.6% to a 14-month low, and imports rose by 1.2%, recovering from July's one-and-a-half-year low. In terms of exports, goods sales to non-EU countries plummeted by 4.5%, primarily due to declines in exports of chemicals, mainly driven by lower exports of organic chemicals to the US; machinery and transport equipment, which can be attributed to lower exports of cars to the US and China, and mechanical machinery to Turkey and Hong Kong; as well as fuels. Exports to the EU remained stable, with minor fluctuations across all commodities. Meanwhile, imports from non-EU countries advanced by 4.9%, driven by a rise in fuel imports resulting from increased imports of gas from Norway. Additionally, imports of miscellaneous manufactures were up, mainly due to higher imports of other manufactures from China. Imports from the EU decreased by 0.7%. source: Office for National Statistics

Balance of Trade in the United Kingdom averaged -1248.52 GBP Million from 1955 until 2023, reaching an all time high of 9557.00 GBP Million in May of 2020 and a record low of -12734.00 GBP Million in January of 2022. This page provides - United Kingdom Balance of Trade - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. United Kingdom Balance of Trade - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on October of 2023.

Balance of Trade in the United Kingdom is expected to be -4343.00 GBP Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations.

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United Kingdom Balance of Trade


Calendar GMT Reference Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2023-09-13 06:00 AM
Balance of Trade
Jul £-3.446B £-4.787B £-4.2B
2023-10-12 06:00 AM
Balance of Trade
Aug £-3.415B £-1.418B £-3.6B
2023-11-10 07:00 AM
Balance of Trade
Sep £-3.415B £ -3.6B


Related Last Unit Reference
Balance of Trade -3415.00 GBP Million Aug 2023
Current Account -25289.00 GBP Million Jun 2023
Current Account to GDP -5.60 percent of GDP Dec 2022
Exports 70479.00 GBP Million Aug 2023
Imports 73894.00 GBP Million Aug 2023
External Debt 7224645.00 GBP Million Jun 2023
Foreign Direct Investment -933.00 GBP Million Jun 2023
Capital Flows 16425.00 GBP Million Jun 2023
Goods Trade Balance -15950.00 GBP Million Aug 2023
Tourist Arrivals 3472.00 Thousand Jun 2023
Tourism Revenues 2925.00 GBP Million Jun 2023
Terms of Trade 101.80 points Apr 2018

United Kingdom Balance of Trade
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 (about 38 percent as of 2021). The UK has trade deficits with China, Norway, Germany, Spain, Poland, Russia, Italy and India; and surpluses with the United States, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
-3415.00 -1418.00 9557.00 -12734.00 1955 - 2023 GBP Million Monthly
Current Prices, SA

News Stream
UK Trade Deficit Widens in August
The United Kingdom's trade deficit widened to £3.415 billion in August 2023 from £1.418 billion in the previous month as exports declined by 1.6% to a 14-month low, and imports rose by 1.2%, recovering from July's one-and-a-half-year low. In terms of exports, goods sales to non-EU countries plummeted by 4.5%, primarily due to declines in exports of chemicals, mainly driven by lower exports of organic chemicals to the US; machinery and transport equipment, which can be attributed to lower exports of cars to the US and China, and mechanical machinery to Turkey and Hong Kong; as well as fuels. Exports to the EU remained stable, with minor fluctuations across all commodities. Meanwhile, imports from non-EU countries advanced by 4.9%, driven by a rise in fuel imports resulting from increased imports of gas from Norway. Additionally, imports of miscellaneous manufactures were up, mainly due to higher imports of other manufactures from China. Imports from the EU decreased by 0.7%.
2023-10-12
UK Trade Deficit Narrows in July
The UK's trade deficit narrowed to £3.446 billion in July 2023 from £4.787 billion in the previous month, as exports rose by 1.8% from June's one-year low and imports dropped by 0.2% to their lowest level since February 2022. Regarding exports, goods sales to the EU advanced by 3.1%, primarily driven by increased exports of fuels, thanks to heightened shipments of crude oil to the Netherlands and France, as well as refined oil to Belgium. Additionally, exports of machinery and transport equipment rose, led by increases in mechanical power generators and mechanical machinery to the Netherlands. Exports to non-EU countries decreased by 1.3%. Meanwhile, goods imports from the EU were down by 1.8%, primarily due to a decline in chemical imports, with lower imports of organic chemicals from Ireland, and reduced purchases of fuels and material manufactures. Imports from non-EU countries increased by 1.4%.
2023-09-13
UK Trade Deficit Narrows in June
The UK trade deficit shrank to £4.79 billion in June 2023 from an upwardly revised £7.66 billion in May, as exports were flat month-over-month at £66.4 billion whilst imports declined 3.9% to a 16-month low of £71.1 billion. Within exports, goods sales to the EU fell by 0.3%, led by fuel, amid reduced exports of crude oil to France and Germany. Exports to non-EU countries rose 0.5%, boosted by shipments of machinery and transport equipment, primarily of aircraft to Qatar and mechanical machinery to Singapore. Meanwhile, goods imports from the EU advanced by 3.2%, driven by increased purchases of chemicals, including organic chemicals from Ireland and medicinal/pharmaceutical products from the Netherlands and Belgium. Imports from non-EU countries plummeted 15.9%, on lower acquisitions of fuels, including reduced imports of gas and crude oil from the US, as well as refined oil from South Korea and gas imports from Norway. Services exports fell 0.1% while services imports rose 0.2%.
2023-08-11