European exports ‘support 4.2m jobs’

EXPORTS TO European Union countries are worth £211 billion to the British economy and help suppor t 4.2 million UK jobs, according to analysis by an economic thinktank.

The Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) study of figures for 2011, the most recent full set of data available, shows the EU’s demand for goods and services from Britain has steadily increased since a similar piece of work was carried out in 1997.

The report, for the British Influence group which campaigns for the UK to remain in a reformed EU, found income from exports to other member states was worth £3,500 per head of the population in 2011.

Of the 4.2m jobs, an estimated 3.1m were directly supported by exports to the European Union in 2011 and 1.1m jobs were indirectly supported, for example through spending income earned from exporting.

The analysis found the number of jobs associated with demand from the EU has increased from 3.7m to 4.2m from 1997-2011.

The CEBR research does not suggest the estimated jobs would be lost if the UK were to cut ties with Brussels and it does not include an analysis of net trade, taking into account imports from the EU.