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

The UK’s deficit on trade in goods and services widened by £2.0 billion to £4.56 billion in June 2017 from a revised £2.52 billion in May. It was the biggest trade gap since September last year, as imports rose in the month by 3.3 percent to an all-time high of £53.95 billion, due to an increase in purchases of both goods and services. Exports dropped 0.7 percent to £49.39 billion. In the second quarter of the year, the trade deficit widened to £8.94 billion from £8.84 billion in the previous three-month period. Balance of Trade in the United Kingdom averaged -1472.97 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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UK Trade Deficit Largest in 9 Months


The UK’s deficit on trade in goods and services widened by £2.0 billion to £4.56 billion in June 2017 from a revised £2.52 billion in May. It was the biggest trade gap since September last year, as imports rose in the month by 3.3 percent to an all-time high of £53.95 billion, due to an increase in purchases of both goods and services. Exports dropped 0.7 percent to £49.39 billion.

Imports of goods and services rose by 3.3 percent to an all-time high of £53.95 billion in June 2017 from £52.24 billion in the previous month, mainly boosted by higher purchases of machinery and transport equipment, specifically mechanical machinery, aircraft and road vehicles. Among trading partners, imports of goods from the EU increased by 3.7 percent, mainly from Germany (3 percent), France (21.1 percent) and Spain (7 percent). Meanwhile, imports of goods from non-EU countries fell by 1 percent, due to lower purchases from Norway (-14.4 percent), Japan (-4.6 percent), South Korea (-10.3 percent) and Canada (-5.5 percent).

Exports of goods and services declined by 0.7 percent to £49.39 billion from £49.73 billion in May, as a decrease of 2.8 percent in sales of goods offset a 2.1 percent gain in exports of services. Exports of goods to non-EU countries slumped 7.9 percent, dragged by lower sales to the US (-20 percent), China (-18.6 percent), South Korea (-38.9 percent), Hong Kong (-7.5 percent) and Japan (-15.4 percent). By contrast, sales of goods to the EU advanced by 2.7 percent, mainly to Germany (5.3 percent), France (3.4 percent), the Netherlands (12.5 percent) and Italy (7.2 percent).

On the price front, goods export and import prices increased by 1.1 percent and 0.7 percent respectively.

In the second quarter of 2017, the trade deficit widened to £8.94 billion from £8.84 billion in the previous three-month period.

ONS | Joana Ferreira | joana.ferreira@tradingeconomics.com
8/10/2017 9:21:37 AM


Recent Releases

UK Trade Deficit Widens In May As Imports Jump
The UK’s deficit on trade in goods and services widened by £1.0 billion to £3.1 billion in May 2017 from an upwardly revised £2.1 billion in April. Imports rose in the month by 2.7 percent to £52.7 billion, due to an increase in imports of goods. Exports grew at a slower 0.9 percent to £49.7 billion.
Published on 2017-07-07

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.
Published on 2017-06-09

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



Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus Forecast (i)
2017-06-09 08:30 AM Apr £-2.05B £-3.90B £-3.6B
2017-07-07 08:30 AM May £-3.07B £-2.12B £-1.8B
2017-08-10 08:30 AM Jun £-4.56B £-2.52B £-2.5B £-3.6B
2017-09-08 08:30 AM Jul £-4.56B
2017-10-10 08:30 AM Aug
2017-11-09 09:30 AM Sep


United Kingdom Trade Last Previous Highest Lowest Unit
Balance of Trade -4564.00 -2516.00 2946.00 -6058.00 GBP Million [+]
Exports 49388.00 49726.00 50012.00 962.00 GBP Million [+]
Imports 53952.00 52242.00 53952.00 1031.00 GBP Million [+]
Current Account -16895.00 -12088.00 2657.00 -26298.00 GBP Million [+]
Current Account to GDP -4.40 -4.30 2.60 -4.70 percent [+]
External Debt 6046609.00 6085392.00 6428718.00 565439.00 GBP Million [+]
Terms of Trade 100.00 99.90 107.60 80.10 Index Points [+]
Capital Flows 11270.00 51392.00 51392.00 -10498.00 GBP Million [+]
Foreign Direct Investment 5114.00 110946.00 110946.00 -44536.00 GBP Million [+]
Gold Reserves 310.29 310.29 588.27 310.25 Tonnes [+]
Crude Oil Production 945.00 944.00 2821.00 1.00 BBL/D/1K [+]
Terrorism Index 5.08 5.61 5.68 4.19 [+]
Tourism Revenues 2160.00 2050.00 2714.00 126.00 GBP Million [+]
Tourist Arrivals 3510.00 3520.00 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 August of 2017.

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
-4564.00 -2516.00 2946.00 -6058.00 1955 - 2017 GBP Million Monthly



balance of trade by Country

Last
Australia 856.00 Jun/17
Brazil 6298.00 Jul/17
Canada -3601.90 Jun/17
China 467.36 Jul/17
Euro Area 26587.50 Jun/17
France -4657.00 Jun/17
Germany 22324.00 Jun/17
India -11449.80 Jul/17
Indonesia -271.20 Jul/17
Italy 4502.18 Jun/17
Japan 418.77 Jul/17
Mexico 61.53 Jun/17
Netherlands 6620.00 Jun/17
Russia 8690.00 Jun/17
South Korea 10646.00 Jul/17
Spain -1259000.00 Jun/17
Switzerland 3511.05 Jul/17
Turkey -6010.95 Jun/17
United Kingdom -4564.00 Jun/17
United States -43642.00 Jun/17