Posts by Matt Hughes

Understanding the latest changes to UK trade figures with the EU

Categories: Economy, ONS

The official trade figures for January 2022 show that the UK imported £24.1 billion of goods from the European Union and exported £11.6 billion in return. However, in understanding those figures, it’s important that users are aware of some changes to the way HM Revenue and Customs collect trade data. One effect of the developments in today’s release is significantly to reduce the January figure for UK exports to the EU. Matt Hughes explains the changes.

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In the balance: Identifying differences between UK and EU trade figures

Categories: ONS
Container port

There is continuing interest in the apparent disparities between the UK’s official statistics on trade and those produced by the European Union (EU), which have increased since the end of the Brexit transition period.  The ONS is working hard to identify and resolve these issues. However, as Matt Hughes explains, a fundamental accounting difference appears to be the major factor. 

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Trade off: different ways of measuring imports and exports

Categories: Data, Economy, ONS
Image shows a shipping container being craned off a container lorry, indicative of trade

In the post-Brexit period, official trade statistics are being scrutinised as never before.  It’s been noted that the UK figures from the ONS appear to tell a different story from those released by Eurostat, the EU’s own statistical agency. In this post Matt Hughes examines those discrepancies and explains why they don’t mean one side is necessarily wrong.    

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Trading places: measuring imports and exports through Brexit and COVID-19

Categories: ONS
Image of cranes and shipping containers at a port, indicating trade

As the ONS prepares to publish UK trade statistics for January 2021, the first month since the end of the UK’s transition period with the European Union, Matt Hughes reflects on the challenges of producing these statistics during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as looking at some of the new ways the ONS is collecting these data, now the EU transition period has come to an end.   

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