Goods Imports Up And Exports Down In April

19th June 2024

William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, responds to the latest trade data published by the ONS this morning.

Responding to the latest trade data published by the ONS this morning, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said:? 

“Services continue to perform particularly well among UK exports, with solid increases in the past three months. Goods exports performed less well in April, as in recent months.  

“The BCC’s election manifesto and our recent Global Britain report set out clear options for policymakers to improve UK trade performance.” 

The UK Trade Picture In Detail?? 

Goods 

Goods import volumes (excluding inflation) rose by 7.8% in April, with similar increases for both the EU and the rest of the world. Imports from the EU rose by 7.7% (£1.6bn). This was led by rises in machinery and transport equipment, and food. Non-EU imports volumes rose by 7.9% (£1.3bn) driven by higher miscellaneous manufactured goods and fuels. 

Goods export volumes fell by 2.8%. For the EU, they fell by 1.4% (£0.2bn), after adjustment for inflation – the main decline being in crude oil sales to Germany. Non-EU goods exports volumes fell by 4% (£0.5bn), driven by chemicals exports. This was offset to some degree by higher fuel, machinery and transport equipment exports. 

Services 

UK services trade showed another month of consistent growth in both import and exports. In the month of April, services exports increased by an estimated 0.6% (£0.2bn) on values measure. At the same time, imports increased by 0.9% (£0.2bn) on the values measure. 

More detail on the latest ONS trade data can be found here.