UK overseas trade in goods statistics: January 2023
This section is Statistical release
Find UK overseas trade statistics data detailing international trade in goods at product and summary level.
Summary of trade trends
In January 2023:
- total goods exports were £30.1bn:
-
- down by £9.8bn (24%) compared with December 2022
- up by £3.9bn (15%) compared with January 2022
- total goods imports were £54.6bn:
- down by £2.9bn (5.1%) compared with December 2022
- up by £3.2bn (6.3%) compared with January 2022
- the UK was a net importer, with imports exceeding exports by £24.5bn, widening by £6.9bn on December 2022
EU and non-EU trade in goods
EU trade in goods
In January 2023:
- EU exports were £15.1bn:
- down by £0.7bn (4.4%) compared with December 2022
- up by £3.5bn (30%) compared with January 2022
- EU imports were £24.6bn:
- down by £1.9bn (7.2%) compared with December 2022
- up by £2.1bn (9.4%) compared with January 2022
- for EU trade, the UK was a net importer, with imports exceeding exports by £9.4bn
Non-EU trade in goods
In January 2023:
- Non-EU exports were £15.0bn:
- down by £9.1bn (38%) compared with December 2022
- up by £0.4bn (2.7%) compared with January 2022
- Non-EU imports were £30.0bn:
- down by £1.0bn (3.3%) compared with December 2022
- up by £1.1bn (3.9%) compared with January 2022
- for non-EU trade, the UK was a net importer, with imports exceeding exports by £15.0bn
Top trading partners
Top 5 trading partners by combined exports and imports value
|
Country |
Exports value |
Change since December |
Imports value |
Change since December |
|
USA |
4.1 |
-14.4 |
8.1 |
15.9 |
|
Germany |
2.5 |
0.1 |
5.4 |
-7.6 |
|
China |
1.3 |
-52.6 |
5.6 |
3.5 |
|
Netherlands |
2.7 |
8.3 |
4.0 |
-14.4 |
|
France |
2.2 |
2.0 |
3.1 |
4.1 |
Exports: top 5 trading partners
|
Country |
Value (£ billion) |
Change since December 2022 (%) |
|
USA |
4.1 |
-14.4 |
|
Netherlands |
2.7 |
8.3 |
|
Germany |
2.5 |
0.1 |
|
Ireland |
2.3 |
-16.1 |
|
France |
2.2 |
2.0 |
Imports: top 5 trading partners
|
Country |
Value (£ billion) |
Change since December 2022 (%) |
|
USA |
8.1 |
15.9 |
|
China |
5.6 |
3.5 |
|
Germany |
5.4 |
-7.6 |
|
Netherlands |
4.0 |
-14.4 |
|
Norway |
3.7 |
-32.6 |
Top traded commodities
Top 5 commodities by combined exports and imports value
|
Commodity |
Exports value |
Change since December 2022 (%) |
Imports value |
Change since December 2022 (%) |
|
Mineral fuels |
3.3 |
-5.6 |
10.1 |
-19.0 |
|
Mechanical appliances |
5.1 |
-10.3 |
6.2 |
-2.0 |
|
Motor vehicles |
2.8 |
-19.7 |
4.8 |
-13.6 |
|
Electronic equipment |
1.7 |
-13.6 |
5.2 |
-0.1 |
|
Precious metals |
2.8 |
-72.0 |
2.8 |
-14.6 |
Top 5 exported commodities
|
Commodity |
Value (£ billion) |
Change since December |
|
Mechanical appliances |
5.1 |
-10.3 |
|
Mineral fuels |
3.3 |
-5.6 |
|
Motor vehicles |
2.8 |
-19.7 |
|
Precious metals |
2.8 |
-72.0 |
|
Pharmaceutical products |
1.8 |
-10.1 |
Top 5 imported commodities
|
Commodity |
Value (£ billion) |
Change since December |
|
Mineral fuels |
10.1 |
-19.0 |
|
Mechanical appliances |
6.2 |
-2.0 |
|
Electronic equipment |
5.2 |
-0.1 |
|
Motor vehicles |
4.8 |
-13.6 |
|
Precious metals |
2.8 |
-14.6 |
Full commentary
Visit GOV.UK for more details and analysis of January 2023 data.
Datasets
Access monthly data for combined EU and non-EU trade.
- UK overseas trade in goods January 2023: import data (XLSX, 27.6 KB)
- UK overseas trade in goods January 2023: export data (XLSX, 27.3 KB)
- Gold trade for January 2023 (XLSX, 46.5 KB)
- Top 20 traded goods by Chapter: January 2023 (XLSM, 623.6 KB)
- Top 20 traded goods by Standard International Trade Classification: January 2023 (XLSX, 38.7 KB)
- Top 25 trading partners: January 2023 (XLSX, 38.4 KB)
Earlier data
Find earlier overseas trade statistics.
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