UK overseas trade in goods statistics: January 2021
This section is National Statistics
Find UK overseas trade statistics data detailing international trade in goods at product and summary level.
Summary of trade trends
In January 2021:
- total goods exports were £21.2bn:
- down by £7.6bn (26%) compared with December 2020
- down by £7.1bn (25%) compared with January 2020
- total goods imports were £35.5bn:
- down by £9.2bn (21%) compared with December 2020
- down by £6.0bn (14%) compared with January 2020
- the UK was a net importer, with imports exceeding exports by £14.3bn, narrowing by £1.6bn on December 2020
EU and non-EU trade in goods
EU trade in goods
In January 2021:
- EU exports were £7.8bn:
- down by £5.8bn (43%) compared with December 2020
- down by £5.9bn (43%) compared with January 2020
- EU imports were £15.1bn:
- down by £7.4bn (33%) compared with December 2020
- down by £4.1bn (21%) compared with January 2020
- for EU trade, the UK was a net importer, with imports exceeding exports by £7.3bn
Non-EU trade in goods
In January 2021:
- Non-EU exports were £13.4bn:
- down by £1.8bn (12%) compared with December 2020
- down by £1.2bn (8.1%) compared with January 2020
- Non-EU imports were £20.4bn:
- down by £1.9bn (8.3%) compared with December 2020
- down by £1.8bn (8.2%) compared with January 2020
- for non-EU trade, the UK was a net importer, with imports exceeding exports by £7.0bn
Top trading partners
Top 5 trading partners by combined exports and imports value
|
Country |
Exports value |
Change since |
Imports value |
Change |
|
USA |
3.3 |
-17.6 |
3.1 |
-11.7 |
|
China |
1.3 |
-3.0 |
4.8 |
-9.2 |
|
Germany |
1.6 |
-44.3 |
3.6 |
-33.9 |
|
Netherlands |
1.3 |
-30.2 |
2.3 |
-32.2 |
|
France |
0.9 |
-45.8 |
1.4 |
-36.9 |
Exports: top 5 trading partners
|
Country |
Value (£ billion) |
Change since |
|
USA |
3.3 |
-17.6 |
|
Germany |
1.6 |
-44.3 |
|
Switzerland |
1.4 |
-13.8 |
|
China |
1.3 |
-3.0 |
|
Netherlands |
1.3 |
-30.2 |
Imports: top 5 trading partners
|
Country |
Value (£ billion) |
Change since |
|
China |
4.8 |
-9.2 |
|
Germany |
3.6 |
-33.9 |
|
USA |
3.1 |
-11.7 |
|
Netherlands |
2.3 |
-32.2 |
|
Norway |
1.6 |
9.5 |
Top traded commodities
Top 5 commodities by combined exports and imports value
|
Commodity |
Exports value |
Change since |
Imports value |
Change since December |
|
Precious metals |
2.6 |
-1.6 |
5.0 |
-17.5 |
|
Mechanical appliances |
3.2 |
-22.2 |
4.2 |
-14.8 |
|
Motor vehicles |
2.0 |
-30.9 |
3.1 |
-33.1 |
|
Electronic equipment |
1.2 |
-32.1 |
3.5 |
-22.0 |
|
Mineral fuels |
1.5 |
-25.4 |
3.2 |
11.6 |
Top 5 exported commodities
|
Commodity |
Value (£ billion) |
Change since |
|
Mechanical appliances |
3.2 |
-22.2 |
|
Precious metals |
2.6 |
-1.6 |
|
Motor vehicles |
2.0 |
-30.9 |
|
Mineral fuels |
1.5 |
-25.4 |
|
Other products |
1.3 |
34.0 |
Top 5 imported commodities
|
Commodity |
Value (£ billion) |
Change since |
|
Precious metals |
5.0 |
-17.5 |
|
Mechanical appliances |
4.2 |
-14.8 |
|
Electronic equipment |
3.5 |
-22.0 |
|
Mineral fuels |
3.2 |
11.6 |
|
Motor vehicles |
3.1 |
-33.1 |
Full commentary
Download the commentary for more details and analysis of this data.
Datasets
Access monthly data for combined EU and non-EU trade.
- UK overseas trade in goods January 2021: import data (XLSX, 27.5 KB)
- UK overseas trade in goods January 2021: export data (XLSX, 27.3 KB)
- Gold trade for January 2021 (XLSX, 35.6 KB)
- Top 20 traded goods by Chapter: January 2021 (XLSX, 609.8 KB)
- Top 20 traded goods by Standard International Trade Classification: January 2021 (XLSX, 39 KB)
- Top 20 trading partners: January 2021 (XLSX, 38.7 KB)
Earlier data
Find earlier overseas trade statistics.
Get help with using data
Read our detailed guide to using our data to:
- learn more about this data and our data sources
- understand key terms and definitions
- find out about methods we use to produce statistics