Latest UK trade data reveals three-year fall

The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has called recent trade figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) concerning when compared with the pre-Brexit numbers of 2018.

The latest figures from ONS showed exports had fallen by 1 per cent during the month of July 2021, driven largely by a slide in EU exports of 6.5 per cent. A decrease in the trade of medicinal and pharmaceutical products was largely responsible for the drop.

Exports in the three months to July 2021 compared with the three months to April 2021 were up by 5.7 per cent, with EU exports up by 10.5 per cent, but BCC noted that compared with figures from 2018, the numbers from 2021’s second quarter were cause for concern among business owners, particularly of small firms.

BCC’s analysis showed a 9.4 per cent reduction in the balance of UK exports and a 3.9 per cent reduction in the balance on imports since July 2018.

“Exports to the EU fell in July, largely driven by falls in medicinal and pharmaceutical sales. Although there was evidence of an increase in exports to the EU in the second quarter of the year compared with the first, the most striking comparisons are with three years ago, before pandemic and Brexit factors took hold,” BCC head of trade policy William Bain said.

“This provides a less favourable comparison, with EU imports £3 billion lower and exports to the EU £1.7 billion lower.”

Taken in conjunction with German data from earlier this week, which showed the UK on course to drop from the country’s top 10 trading partners, the BCC said it was clear that the UK is doing less trade with the EU than three years ago. 

“SMEs and other businesses will want to see steps being taken by the UK government and the EU to help improve this situation in the coming months,” Mr Bain said.

The BCC said that figures from the next quarter could be most revealing for the direction of UK trade.

“The data also points to the effects labour shortages, particularly among HGV drivers, are having on exports. We will be keeping a close eye on the next set of data, in October, to assess the impact this is having on food imports.”