United Kingdom (UK) trade balance with European Union 1999-2023

The United Kingdom imports more services and goods from the European Union than exporting them. Although this has been the case since at least 1999, after 2011 the UK-EU trade balance has been more pronounced as the present statistic lays out. When it comes to the UK’s trade with non-EU countries, the picture is decidedly different. Since 2012, the value of UK exports to non-EU countries was higher than the imports, which resulted in a trade surplus.

US biggest export market, but EU weighs heavier

As of 2023, the UK’s largest export market was outside the European Union. Yet taken as a bloc, the European Union still accounts for a large chunk of the UK’s international trade. Among these, Germany, the Netherlands, and France rank as the main export partners of the UK.

UK-EU trade: most important commodities

Machinery and transport equipment were the biggest trade commodity exported by the UK to the EU countries in 2020. The value of such exports were roughly 47.7 billion British pounds. In the same year, the UK imported more machinery and transport equipment from the EU than exported them. In total, the UK imported approximately 83.9 billion British pounds worth of such equipment.