Trade gap hits UK hope of export-led recovery
Thursday 12 January 2012
Related articles
The Bank of England's hopes of an export-led recovery were dealt a blow yesterday as the UK's goods trade gap with the rest of the world hit £8.6bn.
Click HERE to view graphic
The figures ended a run of relatively strong economic news since the turn of the year as the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee gathered for its first meeting of 2012.
The City was braced for poor numbers after a stellar October, but the UK's goods deficit was even bigger than the analysts feared at £8.3bn.
Exports tumbled 1.7 per cent as imports rose 1.1 per cent during November, unwinding most of the previous month's stunning performance.
The trade figures are notoriously volatile, but – surprisingly given the looming recession in the eurozone – the fall in exports was to non-European Union countries, down £400m.
Exports to EU nations rose slightly, but this was dwarfed as European imports rose by £400m to £17.2bn during the month.
Net trade is likely to make a small contribution to fourth-quarter growth, but experts were looking for a bigger trade boost.
IHS Global Insight's Howard Archer said: "There is little evidence overall of marked improvement."
Only an improved UK surplus on services – rising to £6.1bn on the month – kept the UK's overall £2.6bn trade deficit from widening further.
Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets analyst David Page said: "The UK's ambitions of export-driven rebalancing are likely to be thwarted in the short-term by the euro area's troubles."
- 1 Massive stage collapse before Radiohead concert kills one
- 2 News in pictures
- 3 Leveson threatened to quit after public attack by Gove
- 4 In pictures: The bewildering face of China
- 5 Osborne: The people’s damning verdict
- 6 Ed Miliband: 'Cameron is the last gasp of the old guard'
- 7 Savers start a 'jog' on Europe's banks as Greece votes
- 8 For whom the bell tolls: £20m 'Memo' project takes shape on Dorset's Jurassic coast
- 9 Still standing: George Galloway reveals why his staunchly Leftist outlook is still invariably right
- 10 Aung San Suu Kyi: A lesson in the value of kindness
- 1 Massive stage collapse before Radiohead concert kills one
- 2 Patrick Cockburn: Greece's day of reckoning dawns in a climate of anger and uncertainty
- 3 The Blagger's Guide To: The best (and worst) fathers
- 4 We just click: How Lego keeps building on its success
- 5 Revealed: Harry Potter is the Antichrist!
- 6 The Leveson Inquiry: We're in this together!
- 7 Osborne: The people’s damning verdict
- 8 David Flatman: Over and out
- 9 Frank Zimmerman and me: The truth about the troll who tormented Louise Mensch
- 10 Aung San Suu Kyi: A lesson in the value of kindness

Experience the Heineken Hub
Get free wi-fi and exclusive i content while you enjoy a tasty pint of Heineken at participating pubs.

Win a sumptuous three-night stay in Austria
Get away from it all in the fresh mountain air at the four-star Hotel Edelweiss & Gurgl.

Win a five-star foodie weekend to Liège
Spend two nights in gourmet heaven at a top hotel in the capital of French-speaking Belgium.

A home to be proud of with Halifax
Download the Halifax's brilliant, free new Home Finder app, and take all the pain out of finding your dream home

Playing a game-changing role during the Games
Cisco is providing the solutions for London 2012's complex IT needs.

Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.

Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
Day In a Page

Still standing: George Galloway

Daniel Radcliffe as drug-taking Beatnik poet

Objets czar: David Usborne’s collection of myriad objects

World's richest woman: Gina Rinehart

Comments