UK's Trade Deficit Remains Stable In January

UK's trade deficit remained unchanged in January, official data showed Wednesday.
The Office for National Statistics, or ONS, announced that the trade deficit totaled GBP 4.1 billion in January, same as in December. The trade deficit for December was revised from GBP 4.7 billion initially estimated.
Economists were expecting a deficit of GBP 4.6 billion. Meanwhile, visible trade deficit remained stable at GBP 7.5 billion in January. The original trade deficit estimate was GBP 7.6 billion for December. January's visible trade deficit matched economists' expectations. Export of goods rose 6.3% to GBP 19.99 billion in January, while imports climbed 4.4% to reach GBP 27.49 billion.
Excluding oil and erratic items, the volume of exports was 6% higher in January than in December and the volume of imports rose 1% in January. The trade in goods with EU nations resulted in a deficit of GBP 3.2 billion compared with GBP 3.4 billion in December. Exports of chemicals and cars climbed in January, however oil exports were lower. Exports increased GBP 0.6 billion and imports rose GBP 0.4 billion.
Meanwhile, the visible trade deficit with non-EU nations stood at GBP 4.3 billion, larger than the GBP 4.1 billion deficit recorded in December. Exports of chemicals, intermediate goods, semi-manufacturers other than chemicals and cars to non-EU countries increased, while exports of consumer goods declined in January.
The surplus on trade in services was GBP 3.4 billion in January. The surplus was in line with December as surplus for December was revised up from GBP 2.9 billion. In three months to January, the total trade deficit narrowed to GBP 12.5 billion from GBP 13.2 billion registered in the previous three months. Import prices rose 2.5% on month in January.
Excluding oil and erratic items, import prices were up 2.2%, the highest growth since July 1993. A report released on Monday showed that output price inflation for February increased from the prior year at the fastest pace since July 1991. Meanwhile, input prices surged 19.4%, logging the largest annual growth since records began in 1986.


by: RTTNews.com