United Kingdom Balance of Trade

Last Release

Feb 28, 2025

Actual

-1,956

Units In

GBP Million

-2,641

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

May 15, 2025

Time to Release

1 Months 1 Days 8 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
8,131 Dec 2019	-16,159 Jan 2022	-1,516.93 GBP Million	1955-2025	Office for National Statistics

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 (35 percent of total trade in 2017). In 2017, the biggest goods deficits were recorded with Germany, China, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium & Luxembourg and Italy; and the largest surpluses were recorded with the United States, Ireland and South Korea.

Latest Updates

The UK trade balance posted a £ 1.96 billion deficit in February 2025, shifting from a revised £0.30 billion surplus in the previous month. Exports grew 0.2% month-on-month to a 27-month high of £76.24 billion, while imports grew by 3.2% to an eight-month high of £78.19 billion. Goods exports edged down by 0.1%, with exports to non-EU remaining stable, as falls of £0.6 billion in exports of material manufactures and £0.3 billion in miscellaneous manufactures were offset by £0.3 billion rises in exports of machinery and transport equipment, and fuels. Exports to EU countries also stayed stable at £14.01 billion. By contrast, services exports grew 0.4%. Goods imports rose by 5.2%, with imports from non-EU countries rising by 5.8%, mainly boosted by rises in imports of aircraft from the US, while those from the EU climbed by 6.1%, primarily due to rises in imports of machinery and transport equipment, including cars from Germany, Spain, and Belgium. By contrast, service imports fell 0.6%.