Member Article

Trade deficit closes as EU imports drop

A drop in European imports into the UK has caused the trade deficit to narrow by over 18% to £2.6bn in April.

Statistics from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed the UK deficit on trade in goods and services fell to this figure from £3.2bn in March 2013.

ONS said imports from Europe are estimated to have dropped by around £1.3bn, although they noted that monthly statistics tend to be “volatile.”

The Office said: “The deficit on trade in goods was around £0.5 billion higher in the three months to April than in the previous three months.

“However, trade in oil and in erratic items both narrowed the deficit over this period, excluding those, the deficit widened by £1.6 billion.”

The German trade deficit was £1bn higher in the three months from February to April in comparison with the previous three months and ONS said UK exports to Germany were at their lowest levels since October 2010 during this period.

In contrast, exports to the U.S. increased by 7% over this same period and imports into the UK were lower, which resulted in a surplus of £3.7bn in U.S. trade in goods.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .