Led by Brexit and COVID-19, U.K. exports caused a 12% fall in exports between January and December 2021 as compared with 2018
As per the latest data released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), United Kingdom (U.K.) exports of goods to the European Union (E.U.) fell by £ 20 billion compared as compared to last year.
Led by Brexit and Coronavirus (COVID-19), the U.K. exports caused a 12% fall in exports between January and December 2021 as compared with 2018. However, the exports to rest of the world, excluding E.U., dropped by £ 10 billion or about 6% as compare with 2018 levels.
The ONS compared trade performance against figures from three years ago because that was the last year before distortions caused by firms stockpiling ahead of Brexit deadlines and the spread of COVID-19.
Despite these falling figures, E.U. remains U.K.’s largest trading partner. As far as import are concerned, goods imported from the E.U. fell by 17%, or about £ 45 billion, as compared with 2018. The imports from the rest of the world increased by almost 13% or £ 28 billion.
Although trade levels have picked up in recent months, data from the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis show that real goods exports from advanced economies were 3.8% above their 2018 average in November, outpacing the U.K.
Speaking on the occasion, A Government Spokesperson said, “UK goods exports to EU nations were 4% higher last year compared with 2020. However, as the ONS itself recognises, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, global recession and supply chain disruption, have caused higher levels of volatility in recent statistics. It is therefore still too early to draw any firm conclusions on the long-term impacts of our new trading relationship with the E.U.”
The U.K. outbound shipments of clothing and footwear to the E.U. were both down by almost 60% compared with 2018. Food and live animal exports, which require more stringent border checks, were down almost 18%. Vegetable exports dropped by almost 40% and shipments of cars to the E.U., were down by a quarter.
The drop in vegetable exports was probably linked to a fall in the number of seasonal workers available to pick and process crops. These figures do suggest a recovery from the worst of the Brexit damage seen in January 2021, just after Britain’s departure, when exports to the E.U. plunged by 40%. The U.K. exports to the E.U. were about £ 200 million higher in December 2021 than the same month in 2018, but much of this was driven by an increase in wholesale gas prices on international energy markets.
The Brexit which led to border restrictions and red tapism have pushed up costs and added to delivery times. Around 67% of firms experienced a challenge when exporting and 72% while importing in the last month.
