Britain ‘punches above its weight’ on trade despite Brexit pessimism
BREXIT Britain has defied the doomsayers to become the world’s fourth-largest exporter.
Figures reveal the UK has shot up through the United Nations trade rankings from seventh a year earlier.
As a result of strong growth in services sold overseas, Britain overtook France, Netherlands and Japan in 2022 and now lies behind only China, the US and Germany.
That success comes despite dire warnings that leaving the EU would damage trade.
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said: ‘These figures show how the UK is punching above its weight on trade and is on track to reach our ambition of exporting a £1trillion of goods and services a year by 2030.
‘The appetite for world-class UK produce continues to grow and this Government will keep supporting our brilliant businesses, helping to create more jobs, pay higher wages and grow the economy.’
Foreign Office minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan added: ‘Fantastic to see all our new trade deals post- Brexit, removal of more barriers to trade and our Department for Business and Trade exports strategy encouraging our amazing businesses to export more.’ Ministers believe the UK’s improved performance in the rankings, published by the UN Conference on Trade and Development, is down to soaring exports of services by UK firms, which reached a record high of £470billion last year. These include research, consulting and technical services, of which the UK exported £185billion along with travel (worth £59billion) and telecoms and IT (£40billion).
But it is also down to Mrs Badenoch’s efforts to remove trade barriers, making it easier for British companies to sell abroad.
Since the start of 2022, her department estimates it has resolved barriers that will be worth £ 15billion over five years – equivalent to £1million an hour last year.
Office for National Statistics figures show that UK exports totalled more than £800billion in the past year.
Exports to the EU stood at £358.9billion in the year to September while those to the rest of the world soared 13.7 per cent to hit £524.2billion.
The biggest market was the United States, accounting for 21.9 per cent of all exports, followed by Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and France.
And the main goods sold overseas were cars, power generators and medicines.
Miles Celic, chief executive of industry group TheCityUK, said: ‘ The news is very encouraging.’
Ministers are working to seal more free trade deals worldwide, having already agreed some 70 since Britain left the EU.
Deals have been done with Japan, Australia and New Zealand – and the UK is also joining the Indo-Pacific trade bloc called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), meaning tariff cuts for UK exporters.
Additionally, the UK has signed pacts with eight US states, including Texas and Florida, though President Joe Biden has shown no interest in a nationwide agreement.
Talks with Canada ended as the UK refuses to lift a ban on hormone-treated beef.
‘Fantastic to see our new deals’