The UK’s trading relationships have suffered significantly more than the EU’s following its exit from the bloc, according to new logistics data that showed exports volumes slumped since the referendum.
Research by business group Logistics UK showed Britain’s exports were down 23% from 2017 to 2024, while imports fell by only 5%.
This was largely because EU checks on British goods became more onerous and expensive right after the UK left the single market in 2021, while Britain did not impose those same checks until 2024.
“Between 2017 and 2024, total exports to the EU fell by 23% from 106.4 million tonnes to 82.4 million tonnes, while imports from the EU declined only by 5% – from 111.6 million to 105.5 million tonnes,” said Logistics UK president Phil Roe during a speech at the Multimodal 2025 event at the NEC in Birmingham this week.
“UK exports were impacted since 2021, which was much earlier than EU exports, as UK import checks were delayed until 2024.
“And while the impact on EU to GB exporters was not as significant, thanks to the waivers put in place by the UK’s government, the impact on GB exporters was felt much earlier than that felt by those on the Continent – something that may partially explain the disparity between outbound and inbound trade.”
He added: “This suggests UK exporters have faced greater frictions post-Brexit, while imports have been more resilient.”
The pattern was repeated across containerised trade, according to Logistics UK’s analysis produced in association with transport economists MDS Transmodal, with exports to the EU in TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) falling by 21% while imports from the EU dropped only 5%.
“The data shows that our reliance on the EU is pretty much the same as it was before EU exit but our exports to the bloc are down,” Roe said.
Read more: What does the EU-UK ‘reset’ mean for food & drink supply?
Logistics UK’s analysis of specific commodities showed how, since 2017, fish exports were down 23%, dairy and eggs fell by 6%, meat and ‘meat preparations’ slumped by 28%, and vegetables and fruit were down by 35%.
Meanwhile, vegetable and fruit imports had only declined by 12% and meat imports had declined by 5% since 2017, which Roe said reflected an overall “impression that since Brexit the UK has become harder to trade with”.
“Trade associations in Netherlands and France tell us that working between the EU and GB is now seen as a specialist job for drivers moving these kinds of products, because of the delays and checks they will face.”
During his speech, Roe also called for a “swift implementation” of the cuts to border checks announced as part of the UK-EU reset deal so “the UK can start to reap the benefits of smoother trade once again”.
A forthcoming deal to reduce Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) controls on EU and UK goods moving across the Channel, which were introduced as a result of Brexit, is set to remove much of the red tape and costs traders currently face, while also reducing delays at the borders.
“To put the logistics sector in the best position to help drive growth across the whole economy, the government needs to rectify this by working with the EU to help remove friction and delays at our borders,” Roe urged.
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