In October 2025, the United Kingdom experienced a significant widening of its trade deficit, now standing at £4.82 billion compared to £1.09 billion in September. This marks the largest deficit since February. The decline in exports, down by 0.3% to £77.00 billion, represents a four-month low, while imports climbed by 4.5% to £81.82 billion, reaching a seven-month peak.
Exports to the European Union rose by 1.7%, driven primarily by increased shipments of machinery and transport equipment, notably mechanical power generators to Spain. Exports to non-EU countries experienced a substantial increase of 8.6%, primarily due to heightened sales of chemicals, machinery, and transport equipment, including automobiles to the United States and Japan. A notable surge was observed in UK goods exports to the US, particularly in precious metals, which leaped by 27.0% in October after two months of declines. Services exports saw a slight uptick, rising by 0.1% to reach £46.04 billion.
On the import front, goods imports grew by 5.8%, reaching an eight-month high of £53.51 billion, while services imports increased by 0.4%, attaining a four-month high of £28.32 billion.
