UK overseas trade in goods statistics: October 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 October 2021:
- total goods exports were £33.8bn:
- up by £5.0bn (18%) compared with September 2021
- up by £5.5bn (19%) compared with October 2020
- total goods imports were £45.6bn:
- up by £0.1bn (0.2%) compared with September 2021
- down by £3.9bn (7.8%) compared with October 2020
the UK was a net importer, with imports exceeding exports by £11.9bn, narrowing by £4.9bn on September 2021
EU and non-EU trade in goods
EU trade in goods
In October 2021:
- EU exports were £14.3bn:
- up by £0.8bn (6.0%) compared with September 2021
- up by £0.2bn (1.5%) compared with October 2020
- EU imports were £19.7bn:
- down by £0.9bn (4.6%) compared with September 2021
- down by £2.8bn (12%) compared with October 2020
- for EU trade, the UK was a net importer, with imports exceeding exports by £5.4bn
Non-EU trade in goods
In October 2021:
- Non-EU exports were £19.5bn:
- up by £4.2bn (28%) compared with September 2021
- up by £5.3bn (37%) compared with October 2020
- Non-EU imports were £25.9bn:
- up by £1.1bn (4.2%) compared with September 2021
- down by £1.1bn (4.0%) compared with October 2020
- for non-EU trade, the UK was a net importer, with imports exceeding exports by £6.5bn
Top trading partners
Top 5 trading partners by combined exports and imports value
|
Country |
Exports value |
Change since September |
Imports value |
Change since |
|
USA |
4.0 |
19.6 |
3.8 |
1.2 |
|
Germany |
2.5 |
9.2 |
4.8 |
0.7 |
|
China |
1.3 |
6.0 |
5.4 |
-13.1 |
|
Netherlands |
2.7 |
12.4 |
2.9 |
-4.1 |
|
Switzerland |
4.7 |
59.4 |
0.9 |
10.5 |
Exports: top 5 trading partners
|
Country |
Value (£ billion) |
Change since |
|
Switzerland |
4.7 |
59.4 |
|
USA |
4.0 |
19.6 |
|
Netherlands |
2.7 |
12.4 |
|
Germany |
2.5 |
9.2 |
|
Ireland |
2.1 |
13.6 |
Imports: top 5 trading partners
|
Country |
Value (£ billion) |
Change since |
|
China |
5.4 |
-13.1 |
|
Germany |
4.8 |
0.7 |
|
USA |
3.8 |
1.2 |
|
Norway |
3.6 |
38.7 |
|
Netherlands |
2.9 |
-4.1 |
Top traded commodities
Top 5 commodities by combined exports and imports value
|
Commodity |
Exports value |
Change since |
Imports value |
Change since September |
|
Precious metals |
6.4 |
62.7 |
4.2 |
-5.4 |
|
Mechanical appliances |
4.8 |
5.5 |
5.1 |
-2.3 |
|
Mineral fuels |
2.8 |
18.8 |
6.2 |
24.0 |
|
Motor vehicles |
2.3 |
-0.7 |
4.2 |
-2.4 |
|
Electronic equipment |
1.8 |
5.1 |
4.1 |
-6.0 |
Top 5 exported commodities
|
Commodity |
Value (£ billion) |
Change since |
|
Precious metals |
6.4 |
62.7 |
|
Mechanical appliances |
4.8 |
5.5 |
|
Mineral fuels |
2.8 |
18.8 |
|
Motor vehicles |
2.3 |
-0.7 |
|
Other products |
1.9 |
32.8 |
Top 5 imported commodities
|
Commodity |
Value (£ billion) |
Change since |
|
Mineral fuels |
6.2 |
24.0 |
|
Mechanical appliances |
5.1 |
-2.3 |
|
Precious metals |
4.2 |
-5.4 |
|
Motor vehicles |
4.2 |
-2.4 |
|
Electronic equipment |
4.1 |
-6.0 |
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 October 2021: import data (XLSX, 28.2 KB)
- UK overseas trade in goods October 2021: export data (XLSX, 28 KB)
- Gold trade for October 2021 (XLSX, 38.1 KB)
- Top 20 traded goods by Chapter: October 2021 (XLSX, 609.1 KB)
- Top 20 traded goods by Standard International Trade Classification: October 2021 (XLSX, 39.3 KB)
- Top 20 trading partners: October 2021 (XLSX, 39 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