Wednesday 11 March 2009

UK trade data - exports down, imports down; trade deficit remains the same

The Chinese export data grabbed all the headlines today. The 25.7 per cent fall in exports in February was truly shocking; much higher than anyone had expected. The global economic crisis is beginning to wreck world trade.

The ONS also published UK trade data for January. While UK exports didn't fall off a cliff like those in China; a strong downward trade is emerging. Since last summer, export earnings are down 9.6 percent; despite the huge sterling depreciation.

Imports are also down by around 10 percent. Ominously, the UK is doing its bit to reduce Chinese exports.

Interestingly, the UK deficit in goods and services remains broadly unchanged.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The china data is the one that matters. The world economy is in a tailspin.

Anonymous said...

The global downturn writ large.

Anonymous said...

What people don't realise is we are all going to get a lot poorer. This means for Generation Y, that feckless generation of Playstation lazies and binge-drinking, porno-performing shiftless workers on too-high pay, an end to the endless orgy of tech trinkets.