Trade Deficit Down To £2.7bn

The UK trade deficit was reduced from £4.3bn to £2.7bn in August 2012 according to a statistical bulletin by the ONS. The EU trade deficit was £4.4bn and the non-EU trade deficit was £4bn. The total deficit on the balance of trade in goods was £8.4bn that was partly offset by a surplus of £5.7bn on services. Export of goods increased by £0.3bn to £24.9bn and imports of goods decreased by £1.3bn to £33.2bn in September 2012.

Trade Deficit Remains At £2.4bn.

There was no change in the UK's trade deficit in goods and services between June and July according to the latest ONS UK Trade survey, it remained at £2.4bn. Trade in goods was also unchanged on June at £6.5bn. The surplus from services fell slightly to £4bn from £4.1bn in June. Trade in the quarter left a deficit of £7.2 compared with £8.7bn in goods and services. The goods deficit was £19.3bn from £20.3bn and the services surplus was £12.1 compared with £11.6bn.

The deficit with EU countries fell by £0.2bn from July to £2.6bn with non-EU countries a £0.2bn difference made the deficit £3.9bn from £3.7bn. Exports to EU countries rose 6.5% and to non-EU countries by 3% while imports rose 3% from EU countries and non-EU 4.5%. Total exports rose to £19.2bn or by 5% and total imports by 3.5% to £25.7bn.

The values are generated by a rise in volume of exports of 5% and of imports 2.5%. In the quarter to July there had been a fall in exports of 1% and imports of 2%. Export trends show both imports and exports falling slightly in recent months.

Prices for both imports and exports have also fallen slightly in recent months. In the quarter to July export prices fell by 0.5% and imports by 1.5% leading to an increase in terms of trade.