Who does the UK trade with?

The UK’s biggest trading partner

Despite Brexit, the EU on the whole remains a key trading partner for the UK. In previous years the EU has been responsible for almost half of the goods exported from the UK. The UK also imported more from the European Union than the rest of their trading partners combined. In 2019 UK exports were more than £300bn.

However, despite the EU representing a huge piece of the pie when it comes to the UK’s export, exports have generally fallen over the years, mostly due to a decline in goods exporting to the UK.

The largest export to the rest of the EU from the UK is motor vehicles and part, which is worth £18bn to the UK, chemicals are also heavily exported to the tune of £15bn.

Countries that the UK exports to the most

The US is also significant trading partner, despite the vast distances between the countries. The UK relationship with the US is one of the country’s most significant in terms of trading as the US represents the biggest market for the UK for exports. In 2016 the UK almost twice as much from exporting to the US than they did with any other country. Exports to the US have been on the rise since 2011 in almost every category of goods.

Germany, Netherlands, France and Ireland are the UK’s next largest export markets, respectively. China is the countries sixth largest trading partner and continues to grow year on year as a trade partner.

The UK also runs a trade deficit with a number of the largest economies in the European Union whilst running a surplus with other major economies such as Ireland, Australia and Brazil. Since Brexit, countries such as Australia are increasingly seen as key trading partners for the country since a new free trade agreement has been struck between the countries.