Brexit shrank UK services exports by £110bn, academics find

Brexit shrank UK services exports by £110bn, academics find

Brexit shrank UK services exports by more than £110bn over a four-year period, new research shows, highlighting the far-reaching trade implications of Britain's decision to break away from the EU.

Experts at Aston University in Birmingham found that UK services exports from 2016 to 2019 were cumulatively £113bn lower than they would have been had the UK not voted to quit the EU in June 2016. 

The researchers calculated the figure by projecting how industries from IT and finance to business services would have grown if they had continued on their previous paths, and compared that with how they had actually progressed since the vote for Brexit. The gap was £113bn. 

"What we find raises serious concerns about the damage to the UK's services trade position and the likely spillovers to the economy and jobs related to the services sectors,“ said Jun Du, professor of economics at Aston Business School. 

The findings point to the underlying challenges UK services exporters will face in maintaining trade with the EU after the conclusion of the UK's post-Brexit deal with Brussels.

The agreement contains minimal provisions on financial and professional services “” industries that are crucial to Britain's economy. In 2019 the UK ran an £18bn surplus in