The commerce deficit widened in February as export volumes declined to greater than 9 per cent under the 2019 pre-pandemic common.

Exports fell to a better extent than imports, pushing the deficit to £4.8 billion in February, up from £3.5 billion in January, based on figures printed by the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics. The typical deficit within the 2010s was £2.8 billion.

Whereas excessive gas costs are nonetheless the primary driver of the shortfall, the broader commerce deficit in items additionally elevated, with Britain following an reverse pattern to its “superior” financial system friends after Brexit. Actual items exports, excluding so-called erratics, had been 12.2 per cent under their 2018 degree within the UK however had been 3.9 per cent larger on common throughout the nation’s closest opponents, figures from the Netherlands’ statistics workplace present.

The ONS estimates that the injury from Brexit is prone to have been even bigger than the commerce figures recommend as a result of modifications in its knowledge assortment strategies have boosted current commerce knowledge relative to how the numbers would have been measured earlier than 2022.

The commerce in fuels deficit rose to £4.3 billion in February, up from £4 billion in January, in contrast with a median of £3.4 billion over the earlier two years. Though the UK exports fuel, the worth of that is dwarfed by the worth of fuel imports, which means that the surge in pure fuel costs because the pandemic has considerably widened the deficit.

Nonetheless, some forecasters count on a narrowing of the commerce deficit throughout this yr as fuel costs proceed to fall. Gabriella Dickens, at Pantheon Macroeconomics, the consultancy, stated: “The underlying commerce deficit appears to be like set to slender this yr, partially as a result of latest sharp drop in wholesale fuel costs. Futures costs recommend the month-to-month commerce deficit in pure fuel will probably be solely round £1 billion larger than regular within the second half of the yr.”

The commerce deficit with the European Union can also be prone to decline, provided that the outlook for the British financial system is extra gloomy than that on the Continent, which might be excellent news for exports, Dickens stated.

Nonetheless, Brexit would maintain exports subdued as UK exporters battle with red-tape and extra checks, she added. “We expect the commerce deficit will slender to about £65 billion in 2023, in contrast with £86.6 billion in 2022, however will stay properly above 2021’s £28 billion,” she stated.