United Kingdom Imports

Imports of goods and services to the UK rose 6.2% from a month earlier to GBP 64.13 billion in October 2019, following a 3.8% increase in September. Goods purchases jumped 8.3%, boosted by fuels (17.8%), chemicals (14.3%), food & live animals (5.8%), machinery & transport equipment (3.9%), and miscellaneous manufactures (1.4%). In addition, services imports advanced 1.3%. Among major trading partners, imports of goods from the EU advanced 4.4%, boosted by increases in purchases from Germany (4.6%), the Netherlands (11.5%), France (5.8%), Belgium (3.2%), Spain (2.4%), Ireland (9.1%) and Poland (1.8%). Meanwhile, purchases from non-EU countries rose 12.7%, driven by imports from China (15.9%), the US (5.9%), Switzerland (59.8%), Norway (43.9%), Turkey (19.8%), India (39.5%), Canada (6.5%), Australia (53.4%) and Hong Kong (5.0%). By contrast, shipments from Japan and Russia dropped 4.9 and 6.4% respectively.

Imports of goods and services to the UK grew 3.9 percent from a month earlier to GBP 58.95 billion in September 2019, following a 0.6 percent gain in August, mainly due to a 5.1 percent climb in goods imports, namely chemicals (4.8 percent), material manufactures (10.2 percent), fuels (3.4 percent); miscellaneous manufactures (2.8 percent); food (1.0 percent) and animals & vegetable oil & fats (39.6 percent). However, acquisitions fell for machinery & transport equipment (-1.8 percent) and crude materials (-0.7 percent). Meantime, services purchases were up 0.8 percent. Among major trading partners, imports of goods from the EU rose 5.7 percent, namely Germany (7.4 percent), the Netherlands (5.6 percent) and Belgium (2.2 percent). On the other hand, purchases from non-EU countries were up 4.5 percent, in particular from the US (1.8 percent); Switzerland (147.2 percent), Japan (12.5 percent) and Turkey (5.4 percent).

Imports of goods and services to the UK advanced 0.6 percent from a month earlier to GBP 57.04 billion in August 2019, following a 3.5 percent surge in July, mainly boosted by a 2 percent climb in services imports. Meanwhile, goods purchases edged up 0.1 percent, as an increase in imports of food (3.5 percent) and machinery & transport equipment (4.1 percent) offset a decline in fuels (-10.2 percent), chemicals (-4 percent), material manufactures (-1.2 percent) and miscellaneous manufactures (-0.5 percent). Among major trading partners, imports of goods from the EU advanced 1 percent, boosted by increases in purchases from Germany (2.2 percent), France (8.6 percent), Belgium (5.5 percent), Italy (0.1 percent), Spain (2.8 percent) and Ireland (4.5 percent). Meanwhile, purchases from non-EU countries slumped 1 percent, due to purchases from China (-4.1 percent), Norway (-3.9 percent), Japan (-6.6 percent), Turkey (-15.8 percent) and India (-23.7 percent).

Imports to the UK advanced 2.7 percent from a month earlier to GBP 55.30 billion in July 2019, the first gain in four months and the highest since January, following a downwardly revised 2.5 percent decrease. Purchases of goods went up 3.3 percent to GBP 41.19 billion, mainly driven by machinery and transport equipment (3.7 percent); miscellaneous manufactures (2.5 percent); chemicals (11 percent); fuels (3.6 percent); food & live animals (4.3 percent) and crude materials (12.3 percent). In contrast, lower acquisitions were recorded for material manufactures (-5.9 percent). At the same time, services imports rose 1.2 percent, the most in eight months, following a 0.3 percent gain in the prior month. Among major trading partners, imports of goods from non EU-countries jumped 5.6 percent and the ones from the EU grew 1.3 percent.

Imports to the UK dipped 2.6 percent from a month earlier to GBP 53.63 billion in June 2019, the third consecutive month of decline. Purchases of goods went down 3.6 percent, mainly pushed down by machinery & transport equipment (-2.5%); miscellaneous manufactures (-2.9%); fuels (-13.2%); food & live animals (-6.8%); crude materials (-4.8%) and beverages & tobacco (-3.4%). In contrast, services imports went up 0.3 percent. Among major trading partners, imports of goods from the EU dropped 1.3 percent, primarily from Germany (-11.9%), France (-0.6%), Italy (-0.9%), Spain (-0.9%) and Ireland (-4.9%). By contrast, purchases went up mostly from the Netherlands (10%), Belgium (1.8%), Denmark (8.5%) and Sweden (19.5%). Meantime, imports from non-EU countries slipped 6.2 percent, due to lower purchases from China (-3.4%), the US (-8.5%), Japan (-8.4%), Turkey (-19.5%), India (-27.4%), Russia (-9.3%) and Hong Kong (-20.1%).

Imports of goods and services to the UK fell 0.2 percent from a month earlier to GBP 56.71 billion in May 2019, the second consecutive month of decline, as goods purchases dropped 0.6 percent, due to food & live animals (-2 percent), crude materials (-2.6 percent), and unspecified goods (-53.9 percent). On the other hand, increases were recorded in imports of fuels (19.9 percent), machinery & transport equipment (2.4 percent), chemicals (3.8 percent). Imports of goods from the EU advanced 0.8 percent, as increases in purchases from Italy (0.9 percent), Spain (2.2 percent), Ireland (3.6 percent) were partially offset by declines in imports from Germany (-3.1 percent), the Netherlands (-5.7 percent), France (-0.3 percent), and Belgium (-3.9 percent). Meanwhile, purchases from non-EU countries slumped 2 percent, due to purchases from Canada (-45.2 percent), Russia (-35.6 percent). Still, imports grew from China (3.5 percent), the US (1.3 percent) and Turkey (5.6 percent).