UK Trade Gap Smallest in 8 Months

The UK trade deficit narrowed to £6.12 billion in November 2025, down from an upwardly revised £6.53 billion in October, as exports rose while imports were unchanged. Exports grew 0.6% mom to a three-month high of £77.19 billion, while imports were almost flat at £83.31 billion. Goods exports increased 1.9% mom to a three-month high of £31.37 billion, boosted by higher shipments to EU countries (2.8%), mainly driven by increased exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products to Germany and France. Goods exports to non-EU countries also rose 1.1%, primarily due to higher exports of machinery and transport equipment. Conversely, exports of goods to the US, including precious metals, fell 10.4% due to lower exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products and inorganic chemicals. Meanwhile, services exports fell 0.3% to a five-month low of £45.82 billion. On the import side, goods imports rose 0.2% to £55.08 billion, while services imports fell 0.3% to a six-month low of £28.23 billion.

The UK trade deficit widened to £4.82 billion in October 2025, up from £1.09 billion in September, marking the largest gap since February. Exports fell 0.3% month-on-month to a four-month low of £77.00 billion, while imports rose 4.5% to a seven-month high of £81.82 billion. Goods exports fell 0.8% month-on-month to a four-month low of £30.96 billion, weighed down by lower shipments to non-EU countries (-3.0%), due to smaller increases in exports of most commodities. By contrast, goods exports to the EU rose 1.7%, primarily due to higher exports of machinery and transport equipment, including mechanical power generators to Spain. Exports of goods to the US, including precious metals, jumped 27.0% in October, following two consecutive monthly declines. Services exports edged up 0.1% to £46.04 billion. On the import side, goods imports rose 6.8% to an eight-month high of £53.51 billion, while services imports increased 0.4% to a four-month high of £28.32 billion.

The UK trade deficit narrowed to £1.09 billion in September 2025, down from a downwardly revised £1.28 billion in August, marking the smallest gap since January. Exports fell 0.9% mom to a three-month low of £77.21 billion, while imports shrank 1.1% to an eight-month low of £78.30 billion. Goods exports dropped 1.2%, weighed down by a 2.7% fall in shipments to the EU, primarily due to lower fuel exports, including reduced shipments of crude oil to Poland, Denmark, and Germany. Exports to non-EU countries fell 8.0%, largely driven by lower shipments of machinery and transport equipment, including cars, to China and the US. Exports of goods to the US, including precious metals, fell 11.4% in September, the lowest level since January 2022, mostly due to declines in commodities. Services exports also fell 0.7% to a five-month low of £45.99 billion. On the import side, goods imports dropped 2.0% to an eight-month low of £50.10 billion, while services imports rose 0.4% to £28.20 billion.