United Kingdom - Exports of Goods and Services





United Kingdom: Exports of Goods and Services

Mnemonic EX.IGBR
Unit Mil. GBP, SA
Adjustments Seasonally Adjusted
Quarterly 1.56 %
Data 2023 Q3 214,137
2023 Q2 217,528

Series Information

Source U.K. Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Release Balance of Payments
Frequency Quarterly
Start Date 3/31/1955
End Date 9/30/2023

United Kingdom: Trade

Reference Last Previous Units Frequency
Balance of Goods Jan 2024 -14,515 -13,989 Mil. GBP, SA Monthly
Exports of Goods Jan 2024 31,370 30,979 Mil. GBP, SA Monthly
Imports of Goods Jan 2024 45,885 44,968 Mil. GBP, SA Monthly
Real Exports of Goods and Services 2023 Q4 171,542 176,635 Mil. Ch. 2019 GBP, SA Quarterly
Real Imports of Goods and Services 2023 Q4 183,443 184,929 Mil. Ch. 2019 GBP, SA Quarterly
Current Account Balance 2023 Q3 -17,175 -23,968 Mil. GBP, SA Quarterly
Exports of Goods and Services 2023 Q3 214,137 217,528 Mil. GBP, SA Quarterly
Imports of Goods and Services 2023 Q3 219,277 225,085 Mil. GBP, SA Quarterly
Net Exports 2023 Q3 -5,140 -7,557 Mil. GBP, SA Quarterly
Real Net Exports 2021 Q2 -4,708 2 Mil. Ch. 2018 GBP, SA Quarterly

Release Information

The UK balance of payments is a statistical statement designed to provide a systematic record of the UK's economic transactions with the rest of the world. 

The Balance of Payments is one of the United Kingdom's key economic statistics. It measures the economic transactions between United Kingdom residents and the rest of the world. It also draws a series of balances between inward and outward transactions, provides an overall net flow of transactions between UK residents and the rest of the world and reports how that flow is funded.

Economic transactions include:

- exports and imports of goods such as oil, agricultural products, other raw materials, machinery and transport equipment, computers, white goods and clothing;

- exports and imports of services such as international transport, travel, financial and business services;

- income flows such as dividends and interest earned by non-residents on investments in the UK and by UK residents investing abroad;

- financial flows, such as investment in shares debt securities and loans; and

- transfers, which are offsetting entries to any one-sided transactions listed above, such as foreign aid and funds brought by migrants to the UK.

The data are predominantly derived from surveys conducted by the Office for National Statistics and the Bank of England, as well as directly reported data from other government departments (HM Treasury, HM Revenue & Customs) and from other suppliers such as the Bank for International Settlements and the European Investment Bank. Data for trade in goods are derived from information collected by HM Revenue & Customs.

Government departments and others use balance of payments estimates for the following:

  • in providing ministerial briefing on the headline Balance of Payments and Trade statistics pre-release
  • feeding data into their own regular analyses of the macro economy, and also into more ad-hoc and in-depth analyses. For example, importance of trade with particular countries or groups of countries, importance of trade in different commodities, and or services, identifying comparative advantage, changes in import and export prices, economic contribution from trade and primary income, and looking at inward and outward investment. These analyses and briefings are aimed to inform ministers and decision makers of the current and historical situation, and provide evidence for the policy debate
  • balance of payments data are also of interest to a wider range of user groups, including the media, researchers and other regional, national and international policymakers. Some users focus primarily on the developments in the current account and their financing, including the sustainability of the current account imbalances in the longer term and the need for policy adjustments. Others focus on an analytic presentation, classifying its standard components of balance of payments and their relationship to other components (for example trade and direct investment, and foreign direct investment and productivity). The balance of payments allows a sector breakdown of the financial account and their relationship to domestic sources of finance

Data is subject to revisions

More information can be found on: http://www.ons.gov.uk