How much money does the UK make from exports to Europe each year?
The importance of exports to the UK economy cannot be overstated. Despite a surprisingly widespread public perception that Britain ‘does not make anything anymore’, the UK, a nation built on trade, continues to export more per head than the US and Japan, and is the sixth-biggest exporter in the world. Oil, machinery and transport, pharmaceuticals and manufactured goods were the UK’s largest export earners. And, although of much smaller value, food and drink exports to Europe have been enjoying robust growth – though few expect the sector’s record run to continue in 2009. The total value of UK exports for the 12 months to the end of September 2008 was £244.5bn, a rise of £28bn or 12.9% on the previous year – although much of the rise came during the first six months of the year before the global recession really started to bite in earnest. During the same period, the total value of exports from England rose by 12.2% to £177.5bn. Exports from Wales rose by 14.1% to £10.3bn, exports from
