The statistic shows the trade balance of goods (exports minus imports of goods) in the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2024. A positive value means a trade surplus, a negative trade balance means a trade deficit. In 2024, the trade deficit of goods in the United Kingdom amounted to about ****** billion U.S. dollars. On the effects of Brexit on the UK's economy The United Kingdom has maintained a trade deficit over the last ten years, but now that the country has chosen to leave the European Union, current trade agreements will need to be renegotiated and trade relationships and the trade balance will change. As of 2015, one of the UK’s most important import and export partners was Germany, but it also trades heavily with many other countries within the European Union; more than half of total value of the UK trade in goods is associated with European Union countries. Trade agreements which have been negotiated by the European Union extend beyond member countries, and the United Kingdom will now have to renegotiate its own trade deals with a far larger number of countries by itself. It remains to be seen as to how the UK will manage these negotiations. Another big question is how the UK banking sector will be able to access the European market. Services contributed close to ** percent of UK GDP, which includes banking services. While it is too soon predict how Brexit will impact the United Kingdom entirely, estimates of the decision’s long term effects estimate negative GDP growth of around **** percent in an optimistic scenario, with the pessimistic scenario estimating negative growth of around *** percent.

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.