UK sees record fall in trade with EU after end of Brexit transition period

UK sees record fall in trade with EU after end of Brexit transition period

The UK has recorded a record fall in trade with the EU in the first month since the end of the Brexit transition period.With the UK out of the single market, January of this year saw exports to the EU fall £5.6 billion and imports fall £6.6 billion, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).In percentage terms, exports of goods to the EU plummeted by almost 41 per cent and imports of goods from the union by 29 per cent.In prices and volumes, it is "the biggest drop in a month since these figures started to be measured in January 1997", the ONS noted.The figures paint a picture of an economy struggling with the twin challenges of Brexit and coronavirus, with government restrictions having a clear impact on economic growth.UK GDP was estimated to have fallen by 2.9 per cent in the month of January, a level 9 per cent below those seen in February 2020, and 4 per cent below October 2020 which was an initial recovery peak after the first lockdown.Jonathan Athow, a deputy national statistician at the ONS said: "Both imports and exports to the EU fell markedly in January with much of this