UK trade: December 2025

• The value of goods imports increased by £0.4 billion (0.7%) in December 2025, with a rise in imports from non-EU countries partially offset by a fall in imports from the EU.

• The value of goods exports fell by £1.0 billion (3.2%) in December 2025, with falls in exports to both EU and non-EU countries.

• Exports of goods to the United States, including precious metals, rose by £0.1 billion (2.5%) in December 2025, while imports of goods fell by £0.5 billion (9.7%).

• The total goods and services trade deficit narrowed by £3.3 billion to £3.8 billion in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2025, compared with Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2025.

• The trade in goods deficit narrowed by £2.0 billion to £58.0 billion in Quarter 4 2025, while the trade in services surplus is estimated to have widened by £1.4 billion to £54.3 billion.

• Total imports of goods and services rose by £35.1 billion (3.9%) in 2025, while annual total exports rose by £31.0 billion (3.5%), which saw the total annual trade deficit widen by £4.1 billion to £21.8 billion.

Total imports of goods in "current prices", which are not adjusted for inflation (as explained in Section 14: Glossary), increased by £0.4 billion (0.7%) in December 2025, when compared with the previous month. This increase was because of a £1.0 billion (4.4%) rise in imports from non-EU countries, which was partially offset by a £0.7 billion (2.4%) fall in imports from the EU (Table 1 and Figure 1).

Total exports of goods decreased by £1.0 billion (3.2%) in December 2025, because of a £0.7 billion (4.4%) fall in exports to non-EU countries and a £0.3 billion (1.9%) fall in exports to the EU.

Imports from the EU were £2.4 billion higher than from non-EU countries in December 2025, while exports to the EU were £0.9 billion lower than to non-EU countries.

Figure 1: Exports to both EU and non-EU countries decreased in December 2025

EU and non-EU goods imports and exports, excluding precious metals, current prices, seasonally adjusted, December 2022 to December 2025

After removing the effect of inflation by calculating "chained volume measures" (as explained in Section 14: Glossary), total goods imports increased by £0.4 billion (0.7%) in December 2025 (Figure 2). This was because of a £1.1 billion (4.3%) rise in imports from non-EU countries, which was partially offset by a £0.7 billion (2.7%) fall in imports from the EU.

Total goods exports decreased by £0.8 billion (2.7%) in December 2025, after the effect of inflation was removed. This was because exports to non-EU countries fell by £0.6 billion (3.6%), and exports to the EU fell by £0.3 billion (1.8%).

Figure 2: Imports of goods from non-EU countries rose in both value and inflation adjusted terms in December 2025

Imports and exports of goods, excluding precious metals, current prices and chained volume measures, seasonally adjusted, EU and non-EU, December 2022 to December 2025

Exports of goods to the United States, including precious metals, rose by £0.1 billion (2.5%) in December 2025 (Figure 3). The rise in exports was because of a £0.2 billion increase in exports of chemicals which was partially offset by small falls in exports of most other commodities. The rise in chemical exports was because of higher exports of inorganic chemicals. The value of goods exports to the United States have remained relatively low since the introduction of tariffs in April. 

Imports of goods from the United States, including precious metals, decreased by £0.5 billion (9.7%) in December 2025. The decrease was because of a £0.5 billion fall in imports of material manufactures linked to lower imports of non-ferrous metals, and smaller falls across some other commodities. These falls were partially offset by a £0.4 billion rise in imports of fuels from higher imports of refined oil.

Non-ferrous metals include silver, platinum, and palladium bullion bars, which are components of precious metals. Trade in precious metals can be large and highly volatile, distorting underlying trends in trade in goods. Silver, platinum, palladium, and other metals also have uses in industry, so not all of these metals are classified as precious metals.

Monthly data can be erratic; therefore, movements should be treated with caution.

More detailed estimates on the UK's trade in goods with the United States can be found in our Trade in goods: country-by-commodity imports dataset and in our Trade in goods: country-by-commodity exports dataset. We will be taking a closer look at the goods the UK trades with the United States in 2025 in the context of trade tariffs, in our UK trade with the United States: Impact of tariffs on imports and exports of goods article publishing on 24 February 2026.

Figure 3: Imports from the United States fell in December 2025

Goods imports from and exports to the United States, including precious metals, current prices, non-seasonally adjusted, December 2023 to December 2025

Silver, platinum, and palladium bullion are components of precious metals and form part of the "material manufactures" commodity group. Trade in precious metals can be large and highly volatile, distorting underlying trends in trade in goods. We have added a "Material manufactures, excluding precious metals" series to our UK trade: goods and services publication tables and have used this series for the analysis in this section.

More detail on the allocation of precious metals is provided in Section 15: Data sources and quality.

Goods imports

Imports from the EU decreased by £0.7 billion (2.4%) in December 2025, primarily because of a £0.6 billion fall in imports of machinery and transport equipment linked to reduced imports of cars from Germany (Figure 4).

Imports from non-EU countries increased by £1.0 billion (4.4%) in December 2025. This increase was primarily because of a £0.5 billion rise in imports of miscellaneous manufactures, and £0.2 billion rises in imports of crude materials, and food and live animals. The increase in imports of miscellaneous manufactures was linked to small increases across several commodities. The rise in imports of crude materials was linked to higher imports of metal ores and scrap from South Africa, while the increase in imports of food and live animals was linked to higher imports of fruit and vegetables from Colombia.

Figure 4: Imports of machinery and transport equipment from the EU fell in December 2025

Changes in goods imports by commodity group, excluding unspecified goods, current prices, seasonally adjusted, December 2025 compared with November 2025

Notes:

1. Material manufactures presented in this chart exclude silver, platinum, and palladium bullion bars as these are components of precious metals.
2. Trade in precious metals can be large and highly volatile, distorting underlying trends in trade in goods.
3. The monthly commodity changes may not sum to the total trade in the goods monthly change because of rounding.

Goods exports

Exports to the EU decreased by £0.3 billion (1.9%) in December 2025 linked to small falls across several commodities (Figure 5).

Exports to non-EU countries decreased by £0.7 billion (4.4%) in December 2025. This decrease was because of a £0.3 billion fall in exports of chemicals linked to lower exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products to China, Japan, and South Korea, and smaller falls across several other commodities.

Figure 5: Exports of chemicals to non-EU countries fell in December 2025

Changes in EU and non-EU goods exports by commodity group, excluding unspecified goods, current prices, seasonally adjusted, December 2025 compared with November 2025

Notes:

1. Material manufactures presented in this chart exclude silver, platinum, and palladium bullion bars as these are components of precious metals.
2. Trade in precious metals can be large and highly volatile, distorting underlying trends in trade in goods.
3. The monthly commodity changes may not sum to the total trade in the goods monthly change because of rounding.

Early estimates suggest imports of services decreased by £0.2 billion (0.5%) in value terms in December 2025, while exports of services increased by £0.2 billion (0.5%) (Figure 6). There was little difference between trade in services trends in value and inflation-adjusted terms. 

Monthly figures for trade in services for December 2025 are estimated from our GDP first quarterly estimate Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2025 data, using time series and additional data sources. Early estimates of trade in services are revised in line with the National Accounts Revisions Policy. Our UK trade quality and methods guide has more detail on how our trade in services statistics are compiled.

The S&P Global UK Services Purchasing Managers Index for December 2025 (PDF, 131KB) reported an increase in overall services output in December. There were better sales pipelines both in the UK and abroad, helped by increased demand. Service providers experienced a moderate increase in new business from the rest of the world.

Figure 6: Exports of services increased in both value and inflation-adjusted terms in December 2025

Imports and exports of services, current prices and chained volume measures, seasonally adjusted, December 2022 to December 2025

Notes:

1. Monthly figures for trade in services for December 2025 are forecast using time series and additional data sources. Early estimates of trade in services are revised in line with the National Accounts Revisions Policy.

Total imports of goods decreased by £3.6 billion (2.3%) in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec), compared with Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2025 (Table 2), as goods imports from non-EU countries decreased by £2.8 billion (3.8%), and goods imports from the EU also decreased by £0.8 billion (1.0%).

Total exports of goods decreased by £1.6 billion (1.7%) in Quarter 4 2025. This fall was primarily because goods exports to the EU decreased by £1.4 billion (3.1%), while goods exports to non-EU countries decreased by £0.2 billion (0.4%).

For trade in services in Quarter 4 2025, we forecast International Trade in Services (ITIS) survey figures using time series data. This forecast is combined with additional data sources, to estimate trade in services totals. Early estimates indicate that imports of services increased by around £1.2 billion (1.4%) in Quarter 4 2025 compared with Quarter 3 2025, while exports of services rose by an estimated £2.5 billion (1.8%).

Goods imports

Imports of goods from the EU decreased by £0.8 billion (1.0%) in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2025 compared with Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2025. This decrease was primarily because of a £0.9 billion fall in imports of machinery and transport equipment and £0.3 billion falls in imports of food and live animals, and chemicals. These falls were partially offset by a £0.2 billion increase in imports of material manufactures (excluding precious metals) and smaller rises across other commodities (Figure 7).

The fall in imports of machinery and transport equipment was because of lower imports of aircraft from Germany and office machinery (capital) from the Netherlands. The decrease in imports of food and live animals was because of reduced imports of vegetables and fruit from the Netherlands, while the fall in chemical imports was because of reduced imports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products from Spain. The increase in imports of material manufactures (excluding precious metals) was linked to increased imports of iron and steel from Germany and non-ferrous metals from Belgium.

Imports from non-EU countries decreased by £2.8 billion (3.8%) in Quarter 4 2025, primarily because of a fall of £1.7 billion in imports of machinery and transport equipment, £0.7 billion falls in chemical and fuel imports, and a £0.3 billion fall in imports of miscellaneous manufactures. These falls were partially offset by a £0.3 billion rise in imports of material manufactures (excluding precious metals).

The fall in machinery and transport equipment was because of lower imports of ships from South Korea and China, and cars from Japan. The fall in chemical imports was linked to reduced imports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products from the United States and Switzerland, and inorganic chemicals from Canada. The fall in fuel imports was because of lower imports of refined oil from Saudi Arabia, China, and the United Arab Emirates, and reduced imports of crude oil from Nigeria, Kazakhstan, and Canada.

Goods exports

Exports to the EU decreased by £1.4 billion (3.1%) in Quarter 4 2025, primarily because of a £0.9 billion fall in fuel exports, and a £0.4 billion fall in exports of machinery and transport equipment.

The decrease in fuel exports was because of reduced exports of crude oil to Poland and Germany, and gas to Belgium and the Netherlands, while the fall in machinery and transport equipment was because of reduced exports of ships to Greece, and cars to Ireland.

Exports to non-EU countries decreased by £0.2 billion (0.4%) in Quarter 4 2025, because of a £0.5 billion fall in exports of machinery and transport equipment, and a £0.2 billion fall in chemical exports. These decreases were partially offset by £0.2 billion rises in exports of miscellaneous manufactures and fuels.

The fall in machinery and transport equipment was because of reduced exports of both cars and ships to China, and mechanical power generators (intermediate) to the United States.

Figure 7: Exports of machinery and transport equipment from both the EU and non-EU countries fell in Quarter 4 2025

Changes in imports and exports by goods commodity group, excluding unspecified goods, current prices, seasonally adjusted, Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2025 compared with Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2025

Early estimates indicate that imports of services increased by £1.2 billion (1.4%) in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2025 compared with Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2025. There were £0.4 billion increases in imports of both insurance and pension services, and travel services, and £0.2 billion increases in imports of both telecoms, computer and information services, and other business services (Figure 8).

Exports of services increased by £2.5 billion (1.8%) in Quarter 4 2025, because of a £0.7 billion rise in exports of travel services, a £0.6 billion rise in exports of other business services, a £0.4 billion rise in exports of telecoms, computer and information services, and £0.3 billion rises in exports of both transport and financial services. There was also a £0.2 billion rise in exports of insurance and pension services.

The total goods and services trade deficit, excluding precious metals, narrowed by £3.3 billion to £3.8 billion in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2025, compared with Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2025 (Figure 9). Exports rose by £0.9 billion over this period, while imports fell by £2.4 billion. When removing the effect of inflation, the total trade deficit, excluding precious metals, narrowed by £2.1 billion to £14.1 billion.

The trade in goods deficit in value terms, excluding precious metals, narrowed by £2.0 billion to £58.0 billion in Quarter 4 2025, as goods imports decreased more than exports. The trade in services surplus is estimated to have widened by £1.4 billion to £54.3 billion, as exports of services increased more than imports.

Total annual imports in goods and services rose by £35.1 billion (3.9%) to £945.1 billion, while total annual exports rose by £31.0 billion (3.5%) to £923.3 billion in 2025 (Table 3). The total annual trade in goods and services deficit, excluding precious metals, widened by £4.1 billion to £21.8 billion in 2025.

When removing the effect of inflation, total annual imports in goods and services increased by £32.0 billion (3.4%) to £959.2 billion and total annual exports increased by £17.9 billion (2.0%) to £902.8 billion in 2025.

Explore the 2025 trade in goods data using our interactive tools. Our data break down UK trade in goods with 236 countries by 122 commodities.

Use our map to get a better understanding of what goods the UK traded with a country. Select a country by hovering over it (desktop only) or use the drop-down menu.

Notes:

1. For more information about our methods and how we compile these statistics, see our Trade in goods, country-by-commodity experimental data: 2011 to 2016 article. Users should note that the data published alongside this release are official statistics and no longer in development.
2. These data are our best estimate of these bilateral UK trade flows. Users should note that alternative estimates are available, in some cases, through the statistical agencies for bilateral countries or through central databases, such as United Nations (UN) Comtrade.
3. This interactive map denotes country boundaries in accordance with statistical classifications set out in Appendix 4 of the Balance of Payments (BoP) Vademecum (PDF, 4.4MB) and do not represent the UK policy on disputed territories.

You can also explore the 2025 trade in goods data by commodity, such as car exports to the EU, and UK tea or coffee imports.

Select a commodity from the drop-down menu or select the levels with your digit or cursor to explore the data.

Notes:

1. For more information about our methods and how we compile these statistics, see our Trade in goods, country-by-commodity experimental data: 2011 to 2016 article. Users should note that the data published alongside this release are official statistics and no longer in development.
2. These data are our best estimate of these bilateral UK trade flows. Users should note that alternative estimates are available, in some cases, through the statistical agencies for bilateral countries or through central databases, such as United Nations (UN) Comtrade.
3. These interactive charts denote country boundaries in accordance with statistical classifications set out within Appendix 4 of the Balance of Payments (BoP) Vademecum (PDF, 4.4MB) and does not represent the UK policy on disputed territories.

In accordance with our National Accounts Revisions Policy, the data in this release have been revised from January 2025 to November 2025 for both goods and services.

Precious metals methods improvement

As part of our Methods improvements for Blue Book and Pink Book 2025, we implemented improvements to the way we record trade in precious metals. In previous releases we have removed double counting of some precious metals bars and have included previously under-recorded, non-monetary gold that is not in bar form.

As we continue to improve the methods used to capture the trade of precious metals, we have identified further double counting of some metals. This double counting occurred as we use data from the Bank of England to capture non-monetary gold and other precious metals, some of which was also included within data received from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

We have therefore removed double counting in this release back to January 2025. In line with our National Accounts Revisions policy, we will revise other time periods at the earliest opportunity back to January 2024 in our Gross domestic product (GDP) quarterly national accounts UK: October to December 2025 bulletin, publishing on 31 March 2026, and our UK trade: February 2026 bulletin, publishing on 16 April 2026. Revisions prior to 2024 will be included in our Gross domestic product (GDP) quarterly national accounts UK: April to June 2026 and Balance of Payments UK: April to June 2026 bulletins, publishing on 30 September 2026. This revision impacts SITC6 - Material manufactures and our newly introduced series “Material manufactures less precious metals” for imports and exports.

Merchanting

We have received new merchanting data from the International Trade in Services Survey (ITIS) for Quarter 2 (Apr to June) and Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2025. Merchanting data represent the purchases and sales of goods that are purchased for the direct purpose of resale, and which remain outside of the UK – see our UK trade quality and methods guide for more detail. The largest product typically traded by merchanting is oil; therefore, this new data revises SITC 3 - Fuels for exports only.

Ship transactions

We have identified a processing error that has affected our estimates of ship transactions during 2024 and 2025. This processing error has now been resolved, and in this publication, we have corrected estimates back to January 2025. This affects SITC 7 - machinery and transport equipment for both imports and exports. We will update estimates back to January 2024 at the next opportunity, in line with our National Accounts Revisions policy. These will be included in our GDP quarterly national accounts UK: October to December 2025 and Balance of Payments UK: October to December 2025 bulletins publishing on 31 March 2026, and our UK trade: February 2026 bulletin, publishing on 16 April 2026.

After the identification of this error, we have reviewed how this data source feeds into our systems, and we have improved this part of our processing. We have also introduced further consistency checks, to mitigate the risk of an error such as this in the future.

Chained volume measures 

Chained volume measures (CVMs) are a "real" measure in that they have had the effect of inflation removed to measure the change in volume between consecutive periods, fixing the prices of goods and services in one period (known as the base year, which is 2023 for trade). 

Current price measures  

Current price estimates (CPs) measure the actual price paid for goods or services and are not adjusted for inflation. Unless otherwise stated, all current price data are provided in £ million and are seasonally adjusted. 

Inflation 

Inflation is the change in the average price level of goods and services over a period of time. 

Implied deflators 

An implied deflator (IDEF) shows the implied change in average prices for the respective components of the trade balance, for example, the IDEF for imports will show the average price movement for imports. 

Precious metals and non-monetary gold 

Precious metals include non-monetary gold, silver bullion, platinum bullion and palladium bullion. Non-monetary gold forms the majority of the commodity group "unspecified goods" and is the technical term for gold bullion not owned by central banks. Silver, platinum and palladium bullion form part of the "material manufactures" commodity group. This change is part of our Methods improvements for Blue Book and Pink Book 2025. 

Trade balance 

The trade balance is the difference between exports and imports or exports minus imports. When the value of exports is greater than the value of imports, the trade balance is in surplus. When the value of imports is greater than the value of exports, the trade balance is in deficit. The balance is sometimes referred to as "net exports". 

A full Glossary of economic terms is available.

The UK leaving the EU and the subsequent transition period, along with the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, supply chain disruption and global recession, have caused higher levels of volatility in trade statistics in recent years. The monthly analysis shows short-term trade movements, but it is important to note that monthly data can be erratic, and therefore movements should be treated with caution.

Data collection changes

Since the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, the arrangements for how the UK trades with the EU changed.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) implemented some data collection changes following Brexit, which affected statistics on UK trade in goods with the EU. We have made adjustments to our estimates of goods imports from the EU in 2021 and 2022 to account for these changes, however, a structural break remains in the full time series for goods imports from and exports to the EU from January 2021.

We therefore advise caution when interpreting and drawing conclusions from these statistics. Our Impact of trade in goods data collection changes on UK trade statistics: summary of adjustments and the structural break from 2021 article provides more detail.

Data sources

Data from HMRC make up over 90% of trade in goods value and are the main source for this release. Data from the quarterly International Trade in Services (ITIS) Survey make up over 50% of trade in services data. View our UK trade quality and methods guide for more detail. 

Data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) are the main source for travel services, historically making up around 8% of total imports. The survey has now fully resumed following the suspension in 2020.

Unless otherwise specified, data within this bulletin are in current prices and have not been adjusted to remove the effects of inflation. In line with international standards, our headline trade statistics contain the UK's exports and imports of non-monetary gold. More information can be found in our National Accounts article: A brief explanation of non-monetary gold in national accounts.

Method

Trade is measured through both exports and imports of goods and services. Data are supplied by over 30 sources, including several administrative sources, with HMRC being the largest for trade in goods.

Our UK trade figures are produced using country of dispatch, which records imports as coming from the country dispatching the shipments. However, trade figures can also be produced using country of origin, as is used by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Users should be aware of the different accounting methods used and the resulting differences across trade figures.

Monthly trade in services data are taken from quarterly trade in services data and are split across the months within that quarter through estimation. In months where we have a full quarter's data, we revise previous estimates of monthly values within that quarter.

Allocation of precious metals

Our headline trade statistics contain the UK's exports and imports of non-monetary gold, in line with international standards. More information can be found in our National Accounts article: A brief explanation of non-monetary gold in national accounts.

As part of our Methods improvements for Blue Book and Pink Book 2025, we have implemented improvements to the way we record trade in precious metals in this release. We have removed the double counting of some precious metals bars and included previously under-recorded non-monetary gold that is not in bar form.

Precious metals include non-monetary gold, silver bullion, platinum bullion and palladium bullion. Non-monetary gold forms the majority of the commodity group "unspecified goods" and is the technical term for gold bullion not owned by central banks. Silver, platinum and palladium bullion form part of the "material manufactures" commodity group.

We are continuing to review our methodology for the allocation of precious metals, to ensure that we capture all trade of non-ferrous metals where these commodities are traded as a financial asset.

Pausing of producer prices publications

Following the restart of our monthly business prices publications on 22October 2025, in this release, business prices data with corrected chain linking methods and updated historic weights have been used in our monthly GDP dataset for Producer Price Indices (PPI), Import Prices Indices (IPI), Export Price Indices (EPI), and Service Producer Price Indices (SPPI) for July, August and September 2025.

These updates to business prices data will be incorporated into UK trade estimates in line with our National Accounts Revisions Policy.

Further information on the chain linking error and the impact of methodological changes in the producer prices dataset are detailed in our Impact of correction to chain-linking methodology used in Producer Price Indices and Services Producer Price Indices: October 2025 article published on 22 October 2025.

Strengths and limitations

National Statistics designation status

The UK Statistics Authority suspended the National Statistics designation of UK trade (PDF, 72.9KB)on 14 November 2014. We have responded to all of the specific requirements of the Office for Statistics Regulation's (OSR's) reassessment of UK trade. As part of our engagement with the OSR team, we are sharing our continuous improvement and development plans to support UK trade statistics regaining accredited official statistics status. We welcome feedback on our new trade statistics, developments, and future plans by email to trade@ons.gov.uk.

Trade asymmetries

Asymmetries can be caused by a range of conceptual and measurement variations between the estimation practices of different countries. Statistical agencies are likely to have different source data, estimation methods, and methodological, geographical and definitional differences. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publishes more information on UK trade asymmetries. We publish analysis on trade in services asymmetries in our Asymmetries in trade data articles.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our UK trade quality and methods guide.