The UK’s deficit on trade in goods and services was £3.3 billion in December, compared with a deficit of £2.9 billion in November (unchanged from the originally published figure).
The surplus on trade in services was £4.0 billion in December, compared with £3.9 billion in November.
The deficit on trade in goods was £7.3 billion in December, compared with a deficit of £6.8 billion in November (unchanged from the originally published figure). Exports rose by £0.9 billion and imports rose by £1.4 billion.
The deficit with EU countries was £3.7 billion in December, unchanged compared with November. Exports rose by £0.4 billion and imports rose by £0.5 billion. There was a rise in imports of cars.
The deficit with non-EU countries widened to £3.6 billion in December, compared with a deficit of £3.1 billion in November. Exports rose by £0.5 billion and imports rose by £0.9 billion. There was a rise in both exports and imports of oil. There was also a rise in imports of aircraft.
Excluding oil and erratic items, the volume of exports rose by 1.0 per cent and the volume of imports rose by 4.5 per cent, compared with November.
Export prices rose by 0.1 per cent and import prices rose by 0.3 per cent, compared with November.
Notes:
'Originally published' figures relate to routine revisions which are part of the normal compilation process for trade data.
Missing Trader Intra-community (MTIC) VAT fraud, also known as 'carousel fraud', involves the repeated import and export of small, high value goods such as computer chips and mobile phones. Companies obtain VAT registration to acquire goods from other Member States without paying VAT. They then sell on the goods at VAT inclusive prices. But the VAT that their customers have already paid is not handed over to the tax authorities.
For an explaination of the impact of fraud on UK trade figures (published March 2005) see the article in related links.
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UK Trade