According to the latest trade bulletin produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the total trade in goods and services deficit widened by £1.2 billion to £18.8 billion in the three months to July 2023, because of a larger fall in exports than imports.
Available HERE UK Trade: July 2023 the bulletin shows that the value of goods exports increased by £0.2 billion (0.8%) because of a rise in exports to the EU, while exports to non-EU countries fell in July 2023.
Reacting to the latest figures, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), noted that, if the effects of inflation are removed, goods export volumes grew “at a decent pace” in the month under review, with a 4.4% month-on-month increase in sales to the EU.
However, he expressed concern at the continued slowdown in momentum in UK services exports growth — which accounts for just under half of UK overseas trade.
“The BCC is recommending that an Exports Council is established by the UK Government to use ONS and other trade data to evaluate, review, and take action to improve UK export performance and strategy,” Mr Bain said.
KPMG UK’s chief economist, Yael Selfin, argued that the latest statistics show that the UK economy could struggle to keep its head above water in the remainder of the year with survey evidence increasingly pointing to a marked slowdown across all the key sectors.
“The big picture is that UK trade has underperformed compared to other major economies and the outlook remains weak, with many businesses attributing the weakness to the new trade arrangements with the EU,” she concluded.
