Experimental estimated value of exports and imports of services for 2018 for NUTS1, NUTS2, NUTS3 and 15 city regions, including industry and non-EU and EU split.

The value of goods exported from the United Kingdom was over 86.4 billion British pounds in the fourth quarter of 2024, compared with 141.7 billion pounds worth of goods imported, resulting in a goods trade deficit of around 55.4 billion pounds.

Over half of the United Kingdom's exports went to countries in Europe in 2024. European countries were collectively the main import market for the UK, with 60.1 percent originating from there. Trade to countries in the Asia-Pacific region accounted for 19.1 percent of imports and 17.1 percent of exports.

Estimated value of exports, imports and balance of services for 2022 for International Territorial Levels (ITLs) 1, 2 and 3, and city regions. Includes EU and non-EU split along with data for top 20 partner countries. These are official statistics in development.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The UK's International Trade in Services (ITIS) data are collected from a number of different survey and administrative sources. The ITIS inquiry (formally called the Overseas Trade in Services Inquiry) was forged as a result of the merging of the Annual and Quarterly Inquiries into Royalties and Services (RASI) and the Annual and Quarterly Inquiries of Overseas Trade of Consultants (CONS) in 1996. It collects data on UK resident companies’ international transactions in services, with the user having information on the type and value of service imports/exports and the country of origin/destination of the services. (Note: companies are not required to identify the country for transactions less than £10,000.) The results provide trade in services data which contribute to the key components of the measurement of the UK’s Balance of Payments and of Gross Domestic Product. In addition, the results are used in the industrial and non-industrial services breakdown within the current price Input-Output Supply and Use Tables. For further information the latest ITIS UK Statistical Bulletins are available from the Office for National Statistics web site.

Linking to other business studies
These data contain Inter-Departmental Business Register reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.

Latest edition information
For the twelfth edition (April 2023), the 2021 imports and exports data files have been added to the study.

The United Kingdom imports more services and goods from the European Union than exporting them. Although this has been the case since at least 1999, after 2011 the UK-EU trade balance has been more pronounced as the present statistic lays out. When it comes to the UK’s trade with non-EU countries, the picture is decidedly different. Since 2012, the value of UK exports to non-EU countries was higher than the imports, which resulted in a trade surplus. US biggest export market, but EU weighs heavier As of 2023, the UK’s largest export market was outside the European Union. Yet taken as a bloc, the European Union still accounts for a large chunk of the UK’s international trade. Among these, Germany, the Netherlands, and France rank as the main export partners of the UK. UK-EU trade: most important commodities Machinery and transport equipment were the biggest trade commodity exported by the UK to the EU countries in 2020. The value of such exports were roughly 47.7 billion British pounds. In the same year, the UK imported more machinery and transport equipment from the EU than exported them. In total, the UK imported approximately 83.9 billion British pounds worth of such equipment.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the value of exports from the United Kingdom amounted to approximately 206.3 billion British pounds, while imports to the country amounted to around 217.8 billion pounds, resulting in a trade deficit of around 11.5 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.

This statistic shows the share of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the United Kingdom (UK) engaged in international trade from February 2016 to January 2018. From the responding SMEs in February 2017, 17 percent were conducting business with international partners.

International trade is one of the most pressing topics on the UK’s Brexit checklist. With no definitive EU deal in immediate sight, it is not just the UK-EU trade that is at stake, but also the continuity of a number of trade agreements with third countries that take effect automatically with EU membership. It is fair to say that this uncertainty surrounding the UK’s international trade will not help the fluctuations experienced in the UK’s goods export as displayed in this statistic.

UK exports in and outside the EU

Since 2008, the UK ships more goods to non-EU countries than EU27. Nevertheless, even with its shrinking share in UK exports, the EU market accounts for the largest proportion of UK trade. This becomes more apparent when we look at the UK’s export trade partners as individual countries.

Trade balance swings

The UK is among the top exporting economies in the world, yet the country’s trade balance seems to be widening. In the first quarter of 2019, the UK’s trade deficit was the largest since 2016. This was down to increasing import activity, as export of trade goods still continued to improve over this period of time.

Quarterly estimates of total trade, trade in goods, and trade in services by country, non-seasonally adjusted.

Graph and download economic data for International Merchandise Trade Statistics: Trade Balance: Commodities for United Kingdom (XTNTVA01GBA664S) from 1957 to 2024 about United Kingdom, trade, Net, and goods.

Since the first quarter of 2016, the total trade deficit of the UK has widened, most notably in the first half of 2022. As of the second quarter of 202 the UK's trade balance reached 19 billion British pounds.

  UK’s EU and non-EU trade   UK runs a trade deficit with the EU, but this is not the case regarding trade with countries outside the European Union. Since 2012, the value of UK goods exported to non-EU countries has persistenly been greater than imports made from these countries, resulting in a healthy trade surplus.

  International UK trade after Brexit   Following the Brexit referendum of 2016,the UK government has sought to renew a number of trade agreements that come automatically with EU membership, such as Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA).

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the value of goods exported to the European Union from the United Kingdom was over 42.1 billion British pounds, compared with around 76.7 billion pounds of goods imported, resulting in a negative goods trade balance with the EU of around approximately 34.6 billion pounds.

This statistic displays the share of UK exports of goods and services dispatched to the European Union (EU) annually from 2010 to 2023. In 2023, around 52 percent of UK exports arrived in the EU.

Find out details of Arroyo Uk International Trade Ltd exporting to United States.Shipments data from Global bill of Lading.

Quarterly estimates of total trade in services by country, non-seasonally adjusted.

The share of total exports from European Union member states which goes to other EU countries underwent a decline from its early 2000s high point during the global financial crisis, great recession and Eurozone crisis(2007-2012), before rebounding back to around 62 percent of total exports in the early 2020s. This share is a good indicator of the relative importance of intra-EU trade, that is, trade governed by the "four freedoms" of the European Single Market (freedom of movement for goods, services, capital, and labor), vis-a-vis international trade with partners outside of the European Union.

It is worth keeping in mind that the United Kingdom, a key trading partner of many European Union countries, left the EU in 2020, meaning that the country was added to the extra-EU share. The fact that this did not have a notable effect on the share of exports going to extra-EU countries points to the declining relative importance of the UK as a trade partner for the EU.