UK Trade Deficit Down In August

The UK seasonally-adjusted trade deficit in August was £2.3bn, down from £2.6bn in July. The deficit in goods was £6.2bn and the surplus in services was £3.9bn. The seasonally-adjusted volume of exports excluding oil and erratics was 0.8% up and the volume of imports was 2.6% higher. Export prices of goods went up by 0.8% and imports by 1% in August compared with July.

The trade in services surplus increased by £0.1bn to £3.9bn in August. Exports in August increased by £0.1bn to £13.3bn and imports by less than £0.1bn to £9.4bn. Similarly, over the quarter to August, the surplus increased by £0.1bn to £11.5bn, exports increased by £0.1bn to £39.7bn and imports fell by £0.1bn to £28.2bn.

There were no export or import movements over £0.2bn within the G7 group but among other countries imports from South Africa fell by £0.3bn between July and August. Comparing the three months to August with the three months to May there were no export or import movements in excess of £0.4bn, but within the G7 countries, exports to France went up by £0.4bn and imports from the US fell by £0.7bn.