The UK trade deficit narrowed to £1.2bn in April from £3.1bn in March, the Office for National Statistics said.
An £8.6bn deficit on goods was partially offset by an estimated surplus of £7.4bn on services, it said.
Britain’s total trade deficit chopped 0.9 percentage points off quarterly economic growth in the first quarter, limiting gross domestic product to an expansion of 0.3 per cent – so the improving external deficit will fuel hopes for a better growth figure in the second quarter.
UK exporters have struggled in the face of weak demand in the eurozone.
The deficit – a description of how much imports exceed exports by value – was less than economists had expected.
“Monthly trade figures are notoriously volatile but today’s significant improvement is nonetheless very welcome. But there is no room for any complacency,” said David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce.
“The longer-term trend still shows a worsening in the trade position in recent months. It is clear that we are not making enough, sustained, progress in closing the trade gap.”
The UK’s trade deficit for 2014 widened to £34.8bn, the biggest gap since 2010.
Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said: “The April trade data provide a significant boost to hopes that net trade will at the very least be much less of a drag on UK GDP growth in the second quarter – and could very well make a positive contribution to growth.
“While UK GDP growth will clearly remain largely reliant on domestic demand, the hope has to be that exports will increasingly benefit over the coming months from improved eurozone growth. We forecast eurozone GDP growth to strengthen from 0.9 per cent in 2014 to 1.5 per cent in 2015 and 1.9 per cent in 2016, which would be helpful for UK exporters.”
UK export volumes rose by 4.8 per cent in April, the largest increase since September 2014, the figures reveal.