British exports to the European Union fell sharply

Britain's imports from European Union countries fell by more than a quarter in the first month after leaving the single market, but exports fell even more sharply, by more than 40%. This was shown on Friday by data published by the British statistical office ONS. However, the deficit in trade in goods fell sharply, and with it the overall trade deficit. According to the ONS, Britain's exports to European Union countries (excluding non-monetary gold and other precious metals) fell by 40.7% in January. Imports decreased by 28.8%. The Office has previously warned that it will be difficult to distinguish what effect COVID-19 will have on the development of British trade earlier this year and what measures will be taken in connection with Britain's departure from the European Union. However, he now stated that Brexit had a significant effect on the development of mutual trade. "As it turns out, the slowdown in trade in goods at the beginning of January can also be attributed to the problems that arose after the end of the transitional period," the ONS said. Developments in British trade have been helped by countries outside the European Union. Britain's total deficit in trade in goods, after the inclusion of non-EU countries, reached £ 9.83 billion (€ 11.47 billion) in January, compared with £ 14.32 billion in December. This also significantly affected the overall trade deficit. It reached £ 1.63 billion in January, up from £ 6.2 billion in the last month of last year.