United Kingdom Balance of Trade

Last Release

Jul 31, 2025

Actual

-5,260

Units In

GBP Million

-5,015

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

Oct 16, 2025

Time to Release

1 Months 1 Days 5 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
8,131 Dec 2019	-16,159 Jan 2022	-1,551.61 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 deficit widened to £5.26 billion in July 2025, up from £5.01 billion in June, marking the largest gap since February. Exports rose by 2.3% month-on-month to £76.45 billion, while imports grew by 2.4% to a record high of £81.71 billion. Goods exports increased by 6.6%, supported by a 4.6% rise in shipments to the EU—primarily due to a surge in aircraft exports to Germany. Exports to non-EU countries climbed by 8.5%, largely driven by higher exports of machinery and transport equipment, particularly cars, to the US and China. Exports of goods to the US, including precious metals, rose by £0.8 billion in July but remained below pre-tariff levels. In contrast, services exports declined by 0.4% to a three-month low of £45.83 billion. On the import side, goods imports advanced by 3.9% to a 13-month high of £50.89 billion, mainly due to increased imports of ships from South Korea and aircraft and cars from Germany. Meanwhile, services imports edged down by 0.1% to £28.84 billion.