Trend

Business & Trade

UK · EXPORTS
£239bn1.7%
2026 Q1
UK · IMPORTS
£254bn3.0%
2026 Q1
UK · FDI
£12bn34.8%
2026 Q1

Trade

Trade Balance

Every month the UK buys things from the world and sells things to it. This chart shows all three lines together, exports, imports and the balance between them. The UK has run a trade deficit almost continuously for decades, meaning we consistently buy more from the world than we sell to it. Services partially offset the goods gap, but rarely enough to tip the balance.

LATEST · 2026 Q1£239.3bn
GROWTH · YOY+2.9%
HIGH · 2022 Q4£244.2bn
LOW · 2016 Q1£138.1bn
£-50.0bn£0.0bn£50.0bn£100.0bn£150.0bn£200.0bn£250.0bn£300.0bn201620182020202220242026
ExportsImportsBalance
ConservativeLabourCoalition

Source: Office for National Statistics

Recent News · 21

Trade Partners

Top Partners by Volume

The UK's biggest trading partners ranked by total trade, imports and exports combined. The US is currently the largest single partner. Drag the scrubber through the years and watch the rankings shift. China barely registers in 1999. By 2015 it is in the top three.

2024
  • United States£324bn
  • Germany£149bn
  • Netherlands£114bn
  • France£103bn
  • China£103bn
  • Ireland£84.3bn
  • Spain£63.9bn
  • Belgium£63.1bn
  • Italy£53.4bn
  • Switzerland£46.3bn
  • India£43.6bn
  • Norway£38.4bn
  • Sweden£35.3bn
  • Japan£33.5bn
  • Poland£31.8bn
  • Canada£27.5bn
  • Turkey£27.2bn
  • Hong Kong£24.8bn
  • South Korea£16.3bn
  • UAE£12.6bn

← Drag to change year →

Total trade (exports + imports) with each partner. Goods + services. Country-level services carry an ONS data-quality flag from 2024.

Source: Office for National Statistics

Recent News · 19

Investment

Business Investment

How much UK businesses are investing in machinery, buildings, technology and infrastructure each year. Business investment is the engine of long-run productivity growth, without it, the economy becomes less efficient over time. The UK has chronically underinvested relative to its G7 peers for decades. This chart shows by how much.

LATEST · 2026 Q1£77bn
GROWTH · YOY-1.3%
HIGH · 2025 Q3£79bn
LOW · 2020 Q2£55bn
£55bn£60bn£65bn£70bn£75bn£80bn201620182020202220242026
ConservativeLabourCoalition

Source: Office for National Statistics

Recent News · 20

In Power

The party and ministers currently accountable for this data.

Labour Party
+174 Majority
Jul 24 – present
Keir Starmer
Prime Minister
Jul 24 – present
Peter Kyle
Business and Trade Secretary
Sept 25 – present

Recent

The latest figures across all Business & Trade metrics.