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Foreign Trade in Figures

The United Kingdom is one of the main players in international commerce, with foreign trade representing 55.5% of its GDP in 2020, down from 62.9% one year earlier (World Bank). The country is the fifth-largest importer and eleventh exporter of goods in the world, and the second-largest exporter and fifth-largest importer of commercial services in the world (WTO). In 2020, the country mainly imported cars, medicaments, clothing, telecommunication equipment and office machinery; whereas exports were driven by motor cars, medicaments, mechanical power generators, crude oil and non-ferrous metals (ONS). However, in 2020 both imports and exports fell drastically (-20% and -14.6%, respectively according to the IMF) as a consequence of the unprecedented global economic crisis that followed the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with uncertainties related to the Brexit process. On 1 May 2021, the UK-EU trade deal came into force, granting the UK “zero tariff, zero quota” for its exports towards the EU. Nevertheless, a whole series of new customs and regulatory checks have been introduced, including rules of origin and stringent local content requirements, which could make the procedures more burdensome and thus hinder mutual trade.

In fact, the EU as a whole is the main trading partner of the United Kingdom. At a country level, the UK mainly exports towards the United States (14.1%), Germany (10.5%), Ireland (7%), the Netherlands (6.4%), and France (6%); whereas its main suppliers are China (11.9%), Germany (9.7%), the United States (9.2%), the Netherlands (7.3%) and France (4.7%). In order to diversify its business partners, the UK signed trade deals and agreements in principle with 69 countries and one with the EU.

The country has a structural trade deficit, even though it has a large surplus in the services sector. According to WTO data, in 2020 the United Kingdom imported USD 634.7 million worth of goods (-8.7% y-o-y) and exported USD 404.7 million (-13.8% y-o-y); in the same year, exports of services stood at USD 338.8 billion (-15.6% y-o-y), against USD 201.1 billion in imports (-26.2% y-o-y). In 2020, the total trade deficit, excluding non-monetary gold and other precious metals, narrowed by GBP 11.3 billion to GBP 15.0 billion (ONS).