New OECD figures show UK exports have grown less than any other G7 country since January 2019
Analysis of the latest monthly international trade statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for January 2023 reveals the value of the UK’s exports was the lowest of all the G7 nations. The UK’s exports were worth $38.28bn, far below the next lowest, Canada’s $49.63bn.
The international delivery expert ParcelHero says that the (seasonally adjusted) figures also highlight how weak the UK’s growth in the export of goods has been in recent years, compared to the rest of the International Group of 7 (G7) countries.
ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T., says: ‘Compared to the halcyon days of January 2019, our analysis reveals that UK goods exports have made the smallest recovery from the impact of Covid, Brexit and Putin’s war.
‘Back in January 2019, UK goods exports were worth $37.44bn, not far behind this January’s $38.28bn. In contrast, Canada’s exports in January 2019 were worth just $34.80bn, compared to $49.63bn this January, showing how rapidly its trade has increased over this period.
‘Comparing the UK’s exports with those of the other G7 countries is useful, but the results are not great reading for UK exporters. Only Japan has struggled to anything like the same extent as the UK, but even its exports fared better this January.
‘Here’s how all the seven member countries fared in January 2019 and January 2023:
UK goods exports totalled $37.44bn in January 2019 and $38.28bn in January 2023
Canada’s goods exports totalled $34.80bn in January 2019 and $49.63bn in January 2023
France’s goods exports totalled $48.56bn in January 2019 and $54.10bn in January 2023
Germany’s goods exports totalled $127.65bn in January 2019 and $143.23bn in January 2023
Italy’s goods exports totalled $45.26bn in January 2019 and $58.72bn in January 2023
Japan’s goods exports totalled $57.53bn in January 2019 and $59.74bn in January 2023
The USA’s goods exports totalled $137.13bn in January 2019 and $177.55bn in January 2023
‘What we can see from this list is that only Japan has found exporting nearly as problematic as the UK. However, the value of its exports in January 2023 was $2.21bn more than its January 2019 results. The UK only made $0.84bn more.
A comparison of total goods exports for 2019 and 2022 also shows the UK bringing up the rear in both value and growth:
UK total goods exports were worth $434.21bn in 2019 and $457.89bn in 2022
Canada’s total goods exports were worth $446.17bn in 2019 and $597.17bn in 2022
France’s total goods exports were worth $572.80bn in 2019 and $616.45bn in 2022
Germany’s total goods exports were worth $1,487.73bn in 2019 and $1,658.99bn in 2022
Italy’s total goods exports were worth $538.07bn in 2019 and $657.95bn in 2022
Japan’s total goods exports were worth $705.86bn in 2019 and $747.35bn in 2022
The USA’s total goods exports were worth $1,642.82bn in 2019 and $2,064.28bn in 2022
‘The new OECD figures also show the value of UK goods imports, compared to the rest of the G7. Here, the UK holds up rather better. In January 2023, we imported $61.24bn worth of goods; that’s more than Italy’s $56.26bn. It’s also more than the $59.93bn we imported in 2019.
‘The downside to this is that the UK’s net trade in goods was -$22.96bn for January 2023. Only the US has a bigger deficit at -$91.09bn. France has the next largest January net trade deficit at -$15.56bn.
‘Clearly, the UK’s exports continue to struggle more than those of its G7 competitors. It’s vital that the UK continues to rebuild its relationship with the EU. With the Windsor Framework agreed, further negotiations can take place to ease more of the checks and red tape on UK trade with the EU, which were imposed in the aftermath of Brexit.
‘Both importers and exporters can also maximise their profits by rethinking how they prepare items for transportation. By using too much packaging, they could be running up unnecessary charges. That’s because international carriers use a measurement called “volumetric weight” to calculate the size of a package. It measures the space a package takes, as well as its actual weight.
‘One problem is that different companies use different divisors to set this rate. Some also apply a different volumetric formula for their express service compared to their economy service. To cut through this confusion, ParcelHero’s new volumetric tool not only calculates the typical volumetric weight but, if you enter the specific carrier and service you are thinking of booking, it will calculate the exact volumetric weight you will be billed for. To check the new easy-to-use tool, see https://www.parcelhero.com/en-gb/support/volumetric-weight-calculator
