A trade deficit is the amount by which a country’s imports exceeds it’s exports. In the last quarter the United Kingdom had a trade deficit of £10.5 billion, this was up by £5.7 on the previous quarter. In March 2017 the UK imported £53.9 billion of goods and products, the country exported £49.0 billion. If you are interested in economics you can learn more about the United Kingdom’s current trade deficit on the ONS website.
The UK has the world’s second largest trade deficit at $123.5 billion but that still makes the country $361 billion richer than the United States which has a trade deficit of $484.1 billion. The USA is one of the UK’s largest export markets, between January and March 2017 £12.8 billion was exported to the USA and Puerto Rico, at £9.4 billion Germany is the UK’s second largest market.
United Kingdom’s Main Exports
2016 wasn’t a particularly stable year for the value of GBP, the electorate voted to leave the EU and this caused some heavy moves in the value of country’s currency. The decreased value of GBP made British goods more affordable overseas which saw an increase in many of the country’s main exports.
Chemicals
Chemicals are the country’s main export with a value of £52 billion under this category we are including food additives, paint and fragrances, many of the chemicals are manufactured in the north of England and in Scotland.
Automobiles
Cars are the United Kingdoms second largest export product, their export value is £24.8 billion. There are car plants all over the country, Honda has a plant in Swindon, Jaguar has a plant in Birmingham and Vauxhall in Luton. Other brands manufactured in the United Kingdom include Mini and Range Rover.
Aerospace
The UK’s aerospace sector was worth £24.7 billion in 2016 and the UK is the largest exporter of aerospace products in the world. Some of the products manufactured in the UK include the wings of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 engines.
Art
Art was worth £11.3 billion to the UK economy in 2016. Damien Hirst broke records in 2008, a two-day sale of his conceptual art brought in more than £111m.
Medical Devices
Medical Devices were worth £4 billion to the UK economy in 2016.
Scotch Whisky
India is one of the UK’s best customers when it comes to scotch whisky. Boris Johnson recently mentioned his desire to get the Indian government to reduce the 150% tariff they currently place on scotch, his comments were not well received in the Sikh temple where he was speaking.
Books
Book sales were worth £1.45 billion to the UK economy in 2016.
Beer
Beer exports were worth £625 million to the UK economy in 2016.
Chocolate
You maybe surprised to see chocolate on this list, Switzerland and Belgium are famous for their chocolate but the UK is not. Chocolate is actually the country’s most popular food export, UK chocolate is particularly popular in Africa and the Middle East. Chocolate exports were worth £579.6 million to the UK economy in 2016.
Salmon
In 2015, the UK sold 74m tonnes of fish. Salmon exports were worth £353 million to the UK economy in 2016.
This post was written and supplied on behalf of Go Supply Chain.
