UK Exports To European Union Drop 40% In January

The Office for National Statistics (ONS), says UK goods exports to the European Union fell 40.7% in January while imports tumbled 28.8%.

The figures show the biggest drop since records began in 1997, and are the first since new trading rules between the UK and the EU came into force.

The ONS said temporary factors were likely to be behind much of the falls.

Meanwhile, new data showed the UK economy shrank by 2.9% in January amid the third lockdown.

The economy is 9% smaller than it was before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Both imports from and exports to the EU fell “markedly” in January, the ONS said. The value of goods exported from the UK to the EU fell by £5.6bn in January 2021, while imports from the EU dropped by £6.6bn.

The ONS said the fall in goods coming into the country were largely seen in machinery and transport equipment, and chemicals from the EU.