The Office for National Statistics recently released trade figures for the month of June, showing a widened trade deficit, meaning the difference between imports and exports has widened by around £900m since May 2016.
Import / export data are important indicators for economic health.
In summary, the recent figures released showed that the UK increased both the amount of goods and services imported, and exported.
The balance of trade is a calculation of total value of exports minus total value of imports. Imports reached record high of £48.9bn, up +4% from May, and total exports increased to £43.8bn, up +2.5% from May.
Looking into geographic areas, there was a large increase in imports of goods from Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. Outside of the EU, imports from China rose by £2.2bn, as well as imports from South Korea and Turkey.