LONDON: UK’s global goods trade deficit widened to a significantly worse-than-expected £13.58 billion in December from £12.46bn in November as imports rose faster than exports, official figures show. December’s goods trade deficit was nearly £2bn worse than the £11.6bn figure forecast by the City.
Suren Thiru, head of economics at British Chambers of Commerce, said: “The sharp deterioration in the UK’s net trade position in December was disappointing and means that trade is likely to have been a drag on UK growth in the final quarter of the year. This deterioration reflects a significant increase in imports in the quarter, more than offsetting the rise in exports.
