Cars were the most valuable type of commodity exported from the United Kingdom in 2024, with exports of this commodity valued at approximately 32.9 billion British pounds. Mechanical power generators were the second-most valuable commodity in 2024, with an export value of around 32.7 billion pounds in this year. By comparison, the most valuable import commodity was also cars, amounting to over 38.4 billion British pounds. The next most valuable import commodity was medicinal and pharmaceutical products at over 27.2 million pounds in this year. UK main trading partners Although the share of both imports and exports from the European Union has been declining recently, the single market is still by far the UK's main trading partner. In terms of individual countries, the United States was the main export partner in 2024 at 16.1 percent of all exports, while Germany was the UK's main import partner with 12.5 percent of imports coming from there in 2024. A main argument of the Leave vote, was that the UK should seek to improve up its trade with the rest of the world, outside of Europe. The success of this 'Global Britain' strategy, depends on the UK significantly scaling up its trade with other continents, with countries outside of Europe still responsible for far less trade than European ones. Brexit and EU trade At the start of 2021, the United Kingdom exited both the European Single Market and the European Customs Union, with the UK's trading relationship with the EU now determined by a new Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). Although the TCA continued tariff and quota-free goods trade between the EU and UK, a number of customs checks came into force, increasing trade friction between the two parties. The status of Northern Ireland in the initial agreement was also different from the rest of the UK. Goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain were initially subject to customs checks, to prevent customs checks occurring at the border with the Republic of Ireland. In February 2023, it was announced that under a new EU-UK agreement called the Windsor Framework, some goods entering Northern Ireland from Britain will be subject to fewer checks.

Exports in the United Kingdom increased to 75997 GBP Million in March from 75570 GBP Million in February of 2025. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Exports - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Monthly export country-by-commodity data on the UK's trade in goods, including trade by all countries and selected commodities, non-seasonally adjusted.

In the year 2022, the value of trade goods exported from the United Kingdom to the United States was around **** billion U.S. dollars, a slight increase from the previous year's value of **** billion U.S. dollars.

United Kingdom Exports to United States was US$71.77 Billion during 2024, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. United Kingdom Exports to United States - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on July of 2025.

The United States was the leading country for exports from the United Kingdom in 2024, with 16.1 percent of all UK exports going to this market. Germany was the second-largest export market for the UK in this year, followed by the Netherlands, with these countries accounting for 8.8 and 7.7 percent of UK exports respectively. During this year, cars were the most valuable goods commodity exported from the UK, while general business services were the most valuable type of service exported from the UK. UK imports most from Germany Although the United States was the largest export market, Germany was the country from which the UK imported the highest share of goods, with 12.5 percent of the UK’s imports coming from the country in 2024. The United States was the second-largest source of imports for the UK, with ten percent originating from there in 2024, with China a close third at 9.8 percent of UK imports. The main types of trade goods imported from the rest of the world in the UK included cars, oil, and mechanical power generators. The Balance of Trade In the fourth quarter of 2024, the United Kingdom had an overall trade deficit of over 11.5 billion pounds. Although service exports from the UK to the rest of the world amounted to more than 119.9 billion pounds, the UK imported far more goods than it exported, resulting in a goods trade deficit of 55.4 billion pounds, bringing down the overall trade balance. As of 2023, the UK was behind only the U.S. when it came to the overall size of the trade deficit.

In the first quarter of 2025, the value of exports from the United Kingdom amounted to approximately 227 billion British pounds, while imports to the country amounted to around 238 billion pounds, resulting in a trade deficit of around 10.6 billion pounds in this quarter. During this time period, the value of UK exports was highest in the fourth quarter of 2022, with the value of imports peaking in the third quarter of 2022. The UK's main trade partners Despite the UK leaving the EU in 2020 following the Brexit referendum of 2016, Europe remains the main destination for UK exports, with almost half of UK exports heading there in 2023. During the same year, just over 60 percent of imports came from European countries, compared with around 17.9 percent from countries in Asia, and 11.8 percent from the Americas. In terms of individual countries, the United States was the UK's leading export partner for both goods and services from the UK, while Germany was the main source of UK goods imports, and the U.S. for service imports. It is as yet unclear how the return of Donald Trump to the White House will impact UK/US trade relations, should the President follow through with threats made on the campaign trail to increase trade tariffs. Brexit rethink under Starmer? Although generally more pro-European than the previous government, the new Labour government, led by Keir Starmer, does not plan to rejoin the European Union, or the Single Market. Public opinion, while gradually turning against Brexit recently, has not coalesced around a particular trading relationship. In late 2023, a survey indicated that while 31 percent of British adults wanted to rejoin the EU, a further 30 percent wanted to simply improve relations with the EU, instead of rejoining. Just 11 percent of respondents wanted to join the single market but not the EU, while 10 percent were happy with the relationship as it was. At the start of 2025, after several months in office, the new government has not signalled any major change in direction regarding on this, but has broadly signalled it wants a better relationship with the EU.

Experimental dataset providing a breakdown of UK trade in goods by industry, country and commodity on a balance of payments basis. Data are subject to disclosure control.

Key information about United Kingdom Total Exports

• United Kingdom Total Exports recorded 46.0 USD bn in Dec 2024, compared with 49.1 USD bn in the previous month
• UK Total Exports data is updated monthly, available from Jan 1996 to Dec 2024, with an averaged value of 35.6 USD bn
• The data reached an all-time high of 56.2 USD bn in May 2013 and a record low of 18.8 USD bn in Aug 1996

• In the latest reports, UK Total Exports grew 24.7 % YoY in Dec 2024
• Total Imports recorded 65.4 USD bn in Dec 2024, which registered an increase of 2.7 % year on year
• UK Trade Balance recorded a deficit of 19.4 USD bn in Dec 2024

This record is for Approval for Access product AfA329. International Waste Shipments Records of International shipments permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. Shipments into or out of the UK qualify as International Waste Shipments. They are registered to the country where the producer or receiver is registered, regardless of the exit or entrance point from/to the UK. The Environment Agency holds details of producers and receivers registered in England. This dataset initially covers Refuse Derived Fuel, with other waste types being added over time. Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is waste typically from the mechanical treatment of waste (for example sorting, crushing, compacting, pelletising, etc). RDF consists largely of combustible components of both municipal and commercial industrial waste, such as plastics and biodegradable waste. Shipments are recorded in four groups; Waste leaving the UK, Waste arriving in another country from the UK, Waste leaving another country destined for the UK, and Waste arriving in the UK from another country. • Waste exported from England, permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. • Waste received from England, permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. • Waste imported from England, permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. • Waste received in England, permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. Permit holders give indicative figures for how much waste they wish to have approved for import/export. They are not forecasts or projections. • Indicative amounts of waste anticipated for export, permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. These are broad approvals. They give an inaccurate overestimate of actual exports. • Indicative amounts of waste anticipated for import, permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. These are broad approvals. They give an inaccurate overestimate of actual imports.

United Kingdom UK: Exports: % of Goods Exports: Manufactures data was reported at 77.231 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 79.088 % for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Exports: % of Goods Exports: Manufactures data is updated yearly, averaging 78.290 % from Dec 1962 (Median) to 2017, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 83.742 % in 1998 and a record low of 63.197 % in 1983. United Kingdom UK: Exports: % of Goods Exports: Manufactures data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Exports. Manufactures comprise commodities in SITC sections 5 (chemicals), 6 (basic manufactures), 7 (machinery and transport equipment), and 8 (miscellaneous manufactured goods), excluding division 68 (non-ferrous metals).; ; World Bank staff estimates through the WITS platform from the Comtrade database maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division.; Weighted average; Merchandise export shares may not sum to 100 percent because of unclassified trade.

United States Exports to United Kingdom was US$79.89 Billion during 2024, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. United States Exports to United Kingdom - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on July of 2025.

United Kingdom UK: Export Volume Index data was reported at 89.757 2000=100 in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 97.985 2000=100 for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Export Volume Index data is updated yearly, averaging 91.268 2000=100 from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2016, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 103.526 2000=100 in 2006 and a record low of 75.483 2000=100 in 2009. United Kingdom UK: Export Volume Index data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Trade Index. Export volume indexes are derived from UNCTAD's volume index series and are the ratio of the export value indexes to the corresponding unit value indexes. Unit value indexes are based on data reported by countries that demonstrate consistency under UNCTAD quality controls, supplemented by UNCTAD’s estimates using the previous year’s trade values at the Standard International Trade Classification three-digit level as weights. To improve data coverage, especially for the latest periods, UNCTAD constructs a set of average prices indexes at the three-digit product classification of the Standard International Trade Classification revision 3 using UNCTAD’s Commodity Price Statistics, international and national sources, and UNCTAD secretariat estimates and calculates unit value indexes at the country level using the current year’s trade values as weights. For economies for which UNCTAD does not publish data, the export volume indexes (lines 72) in the IMF's International Financial Statistics are used.; ; United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Handbook of Statistics and data files, and International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics.; ;

Ireland Exports to United Kingdom was US$22.58 Billion during 2024, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. Ireland Exports to United Kingdom - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on June of 2025.

Subscribers can find out export and import data of 23 countries by HS code or product’s name. This demo is helpful for market analysis.

Records of International shipments permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. Shipments into or out of the UK qualify as International Waste Shipments. They are registered to the country where the producer or receiver is registered, regardless of the exit or entrance point from/to the UK. The Environment Agency holds details of producers and receivers registered in England. This dataset initially covers Refuse Derived Fuel, with other waste types being added over time. Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is waste typically from the mechanical treatment of waste (for example sorting, crushing, compacting, pelletising, etc). RDF consists largely of combustible components of both municipal and commercial industrial waste, such as plastics and biodegradable waste. Shipments are recorded in four groups; Waste leaving the UK, Waste arriving in another country from the UK, Waste leaving another country destined for the UK, and Waste arriving in the UK from another country. • Waste exported from England, permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. • Waste received from England, permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. • Waste imported from England, permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. • Waste received in England, permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. Permit holders give indicative figures for how much waste they wish to have approved for import/export. They are not forecasts or projections. • Indicative amounts of waste anticipated for export, permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. These are broad approvals. They give an inaccurate overestimate of actual exports. • Indicative amounts of waste anticipated for import, permitted under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. These are broad approvals. They give an inaccurate overestimate of actual imports.

Experimental dataset providing a breakdown of UK trade in services by industry, country and service type on a balance of payments basis. Data are subject to disclosure control.

In 2024, the United Kingdom exported approximately 508 billion British pounds worth of services to the rest of the world, with approximately 101.4 billion of these services being financial. 'Other Business Services' that did not belong to a specific sector accounted for over 183 billion pounds of UK service exports.