What Does Britain Import and Export?
Britain’s imports include crude petroleum, cars, refined petroleum, packaged medicaments and computers, and its exports include cars, refined petroleum, crude petroleum, packaged medicaments and gas turbines. Britain is the leading exporter of diamonds, liquor, antiques, radioactive chemicals, appliances, stainless steel, scrap nickel and scrap lead.
The United Kingdom is the world’s seventh-leading importer and twelfth-leading exporter. The country is the world’s fourth-biggest trading nation, and has the fifth-largest economy in the world and second-largest in Europe. The country’s largest export earners include machinery and transport, manufactures and chemicals. Since the 1970s, oil has been a major contributor to the U.K.’s overseas trade. British Petroleum is the largest industrial company in the country and the second largest in Europe.
The major destinations of Britain’s export include the United States (12 percent), Germany (11 percent) and the Netherlands (7.6 percent). Other key destinations include France (6.9 percent) and Belgium (5.5 percent). The major origins of the U.K.’s imports are Germany (13 percent), China (8.7 percent) and the Netherlands (7.5 percent). Other important countries from which the U.K. imports include the U.S. (7.0 percent) and France (5.7 percent).
Recently, the growth of Britain’s economy was slower than projected, with official figures revealing a widened deficit. The country has the second-biggest trade deficit in the world, behind only the United States. The country’s imports were estimated at $646 billion, with exports worth only $481 billion. This has been attributed to skyrocketing demand of consumer goods and a decline in the country’s oil and gas production.
