International Trade Update Q1 2023
Date published:
The latest set of international trade figures released by the ONS and HMRC are very encouraging for the UK economy with demand for UK manufactured goods continuing to rise. All UK countries have experienced an increase in the value of exports in Q1 2023 over the same period in 2022.
Q1 2023 has seen the total value of UK exports increase from £83,285 to £91,686 on the same period last year, that’s an increase of 10.03%. For the same period UK imports increased by only 1.41% from £155,070 to £157,262 (figures in £ million).
UK exports to the EU follow the same trend, increasing from £43,840 to £48,394 or 10.39% while EU imports increased slightly slower from £74,560 to £80,787 or 8.35%.
UK exports to the rest of the world (RTW) have increased from £39,444 to £43,612 or 10.57% while RTW imports have shown a marked decline from £80,510 to £76,475 or a fall of 5.01%, which will go some way to ease the trade deficit.
The North East region continues to show positive growth in our export market year on year. Total value of goods exported from the region increased from £2,996 to £3,365, that’s a 12.32% increase on the Q1 2022. It is however a slight drop of 2.09 % on Q4 2002.
Trade to the EU increased for £1,835 to £2,036 or 10.95% while the RTW increased from £1,161 to £1,329 or 14.47%
Imports into the region from the EU increased from £1,968 to £2,095 or 6.45% but fell from the RTW by 10.52% from £2,139 in Q1 2022 to £1,914 in the same period this year.
While these figures are good news for the region, the North East remains the smallest region in England for both exports and imports. Also, as trade grows the number of companies exporting from the region continues to decline as shown in the graph below.
This is a worrying trend that needs to be monitored more closely and may be directly linked to the ongoing increased costs businesses have been facing due to the knock-on effects of the war in Ukraine and our own domestic struggles with high inflation and interest rates.
When you consider the positive news we’ve seen for the North East’s employment, which is starting to close the gap between our region and the rest of the UK, it’s clear that there’s room for optimism. With the significant investment from the private sector which will bring more trade to the region, and further devolution coming next year, there’s a real opportunity to expand on the promising signs we’ve seen at the start of this year.
All data supplied by HM Revenue & Customs Regional Trade in Goods Statistics. The full report can be accessed here.
Photo by Pixabay