Germany has been superseded by China as the biggest single import market for the U.K.
As per the Office of National Statistics (ONS) of United Kingdom (U.K.), Germany has been superseded by China as the biggest single import market for the U.K.
The major reason for the change has been the hurdles caused by pre and post Brexit relations between U.K. and European Union (E.U.). Despite this, E.U. as a whole, combining all the 27 Member States, remains the U.K.’s biggest trading partner.
Ever since ONS started keeping records in 1997, Germany has been the U.K.’s biggest source of imports, except for 6 months period at the end of 2000 and the start of the following year when the U.S. briefly took the top spot.
The goods imported from China rose 66% from the start of 2018 to £16.9 billion (U.S. $ 24 billion) in the first quarter of 2021. The imports from Germany fell by 25% to £ 12.5 billion for the same period.
The findings were a part of the report titled, ‘Business Impact of COVID-19 Survey’ (BICS) released by ONS to assess the impacts of Brexit and the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on the U.K.’s trade in goods.
Taking it to twitter, ONS tweeted,
We’ve released a new article gathering previously published trade, BICS (Business Impact of #COVID19 Survey) and faster indicators data to provide an analysis of UK trade in goods in the context of the pandemic and the end of the EU transition period https://t.co/KF4Wfz5qCX pic.twitter.com/dImVRPW783
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) May 25, 2021
As per the report, the total trade in goods (imports plus exports) from non-E.U. countries surpassed that from E.U. countries for the period – January to March 2021. Compared to first quarter of 2018, the total trade in goods with E.U. countries decreased by 23.1% in the first quarter of 2021. On the other hand, the trade with non-E.U. countries decreased by only 0.8% between first quarter of 2018 and 2021.
Imports from Germany started to fall after April 2019, coinciding with increased uncertainty around Brexit, followed by COVID-19. Germany’s motor industry also felt the impact of the pandemic as both vehicle production and global exports were hit. In U.K., the demand for new vehicles slumped as car showrooms were shut due to lockdown.
Post Brexit, the biggest fall came in trade from Ireland. The report also stated that it is difficult to fully detangle the impact the COVID-19 and Brexit on U.K. and international trade as these are still having an influence.
As far as China is concerned, there was a jump in imports of textiles used for face masks and other personal protective equipment from China. The demand for electrical devices from China also increased.
