Business and Economics

British exports to EU tumble by £300m in August

British exports to the European Union fell by £300 million in August, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) UK Trade figures.

The economy unexpectedly shrank in the hight of summer as factories and consumer services firms struggled, putting the UK on track to contract overall in the third quarter.

Gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by 0.3 per cent, down from growth of 0.1 per cent the previous month, which was downwardly revised from the 0.2 per cent previous estimation.

Economists had been expecting zero growth in August.

Commenting on the data, ParcelHero’s head of consumer research, David Jinks, says: “UK exports to the EU continued to tumble in August, down £300m. In contrast, exports were up by £700m (an increase of 4.1 per cent) to non-EU countries.

“Imagine the kind of export volumes the UK would now be achieving worldwide had Brexit negotiations not led to such disastrous new tariffs and red tape.

“Trade in this Brexit-less multiverse would be booming. Had our EU exports continued to increase at their pre-Brexit levels and our non-EU exports shown this month’s rise, UK plc would be soaring.”

Related: Reports of ‘devastating collapse in confidence’ in Liz Truss among her own MPs

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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Tags: Brexit