The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the gap between imports and exports of goods in the UK narrowed in November from £9.7bn to £9.4bn.
This was mainly due to exports being boosted by higher sales to recovering economies in the European Union, traditionally the UK’s biggest export market.
According to the ONS, export of goods to the EU over the period increased by 0.6bn to £12.8bn, reflecting an increase in the export of chemicals of £0.4bn, while imports from the EU increased by £0.5bn to £19.2bn, a record high attributed mainly to cars.
However, the ONS warned that trade statistics for any one month can be erratic, so it recommended comparing the latest three months’ figures against the preceding three months and the same three months of 2012.
According to this comparison, the deficit on trade in goods increased by £1.8bn to £29.2bn in the three months to November 2013, when compared with the previous three months.
Exports of goods in the three months to November 2013 decreased by 3.0 per cent to £75.2bn, but were 1.5 per cent higher when compared with the same three months in 2012, while imports of goods decreased by 0.6 per cent in the three months to November 2013 to £104.4bn, but were 2.2 per cent higher when compared with the same three months in 2012.
Exports to countries within the EU decreased by 5.2 per cent to £37.5bn in the three months to November 2013, reflecting a fall in oil exports of £1.7bn. Meanwhile, over the same period, exports to China increased 9.6 per cent to £3.3 billion and imports from China increased 1.7 per cent to £8.6 billion, both record highs.