Royaume-Uni Balance Commerciale

The UK trade deficit shrank to £2.86 billion in March 2023, from a downwardly revised £3.35 billion in the prior month. It was the smallest trade shortfall in four months, as imports slipped 1.8% mom to a 15-month low of £69.8 billion while exports fell at a slower 1.2% to a nine-month low of £66.9 billion. Goods imports slumped 2.8% due to a sharp decline in purchases from non-EU countries (-5.9%), notably crude oil and gas from Norway and refined oil from China. There were also decreases in other manufactures, cars, and miscellaneous metal manufactures from China. Imports from the EU were almost stable (0.1%), as a rise in imports of machinery & transport equipment from the Netherlands and Germany was offset by a fall in fuel imports from the Netherlands. Goods exports slipped 3.3%, led by non-EU countries (-6%), mostly machinery and transport equipment to China; while those to the EU were down 0.2%, as higher exports of miscellaneous manufactures were offset by a fall in chemicals.