On 1 April, Conservative MP, Brooks Newmark, put down the question “To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the UK’s trade balance in (a) goods, (b) services, (c) total excluding oil and (d) total was with (i) other EU member states, (ii) Germany, (iii) USA and (iv) Japan in each year since 1997.” [268049] Government Minister, Kevin Brennan, responded “The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.”

Accordingly, a letter from Karen Dunnell, dated April 2009, said:

“As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question asking for the UK trade balance in (a) goods, (b) services, (c) total excluding oil and (d) total with (i) other EU member states, (ii) Germany, (iii) USA and (iv) Japan in each year since 1997 (268049).

“The available figures are given in the table. The figures are consistent with those published in the Balance of Payments 4th Quarter and annual 2008 First Release published on 27 March 2008. Some detailed breakdowns are not available. Totals excluding oil can only be shown for trade with EU. EU data for the 27 Member States are available from 1998 for Goods and from 1999 for Services.

“Separate estimates for Services for Germany are made during the annual Pink Book production, although the figure for 2007 published in Pink Book 2008 has been updated in the table. The 2008 figure will be published later in 2009.”

Table: UK balances of (a) Goods, (b) Services, ( c ) Total excluding Oil, (d) Total with (i) EU 27, (ii) Germany, (iii) USA, (iv) Japan

£ million
EU 27 Germany

Goods Services Tota l e xcl. oil Total trade Goods Services Total trade

1997

—

—

—

—

-4,947

1,483

-3,464

1998

-5,712

—

—

—

-4,496

1,512

-2,984

1999

-8,085

-1,727

-14,405

-9,812

-6,348

1,001

-5,347

2000

-5,185

-1,638

-14,546

-6,823

-5,673

1,977

-3,696

2001

-12,567

-836

-21,090

-13,403

-6,537

1,954

-4,583

2002

-22,194

-1,409

-30,722

-23,603

-10,378

2,097

-8,281

2003

-26,118

-1,143

-34,259

-27,261

-12,862

2,280

-10,582

2004

-30,873

520

-37,740

-30,353

-13,713

1,753

-11,960

2005

-36,577

-682

-46,163

-37,359

-16,144

1,388

-14,756

2006

-31,391

1,249

-41,119

-30,142

-15,058

1,798

-13,260

2007

-41,986

4,885

-46,307

-37,101

-19,866

2,153

-17,909

2008

-39,186

8,786

-43,117

-30,400

-16,574

—

—

£ million
USA Japan

Goods Services Total trade Goods Services Total trade

1997

-3,476

4,973

1,497

-4,851

1,555

-3,296

1998

-3,703

4,120

417

-5,997

1,505

-4,492

1999

-320

5,136

4,816

-5,818

1,924

-3,894

2000

860

6,069

6,929

-6,542

1,805

-4,737

2001

-101

5,708

5,607

-5,407

1,742

-3,665

2002

3,048

9,287

12,335

-4,496

2,395

-2,101

2003

5,815

9,115

14,930

-4,375

2,166

-2,209

2004

6,486

10,463

16,949

-4,246

2,517

-1,729

2005

8,729

8,201

16,930

-4,769

2,042

-2,727

2006

6,547

12,039

18,586

-3,748

1,526

-2,222

2007

6,310

14,198

20,508

-4,019

1,603

-2,416

2008

9,284

16,322

25,606

-4,598

1,491

-3,107

Summary: These are the official trade statistics. The UK surplus on its trade with the USA continues to rise in the seventh year. Compare that with the trade deficit with the EU as it continues to rocket. In 2008, the UK in its trade with the EU27 continues to trade with a large deficit. Compare that with our surplus with the US. The single biggest country component of the deficits with the EU (and with the whole world) is the deficit with Germany (£17.9bn in 2007).