EU’s latest trade figures show why they need Brexit Britain

“We are grateful to our friends at Brexit Facts4EU.Org for their permission to republish the following article…

Last year the EU sold £236bn of goods to the UK

Brexit Britain is the EU’s second-largest market, yet still they are hostile

On Thursday the EU’s statistics agency published its trade figures for last year (2021). Facts4EU.Org’s analysis shows that the United Kingdom represents a vital world market for EU27 countries – only the USA bought more from them.

Below we show just how important Brexit Britain is to the EU, before commenting on the results.

SUMMARY

1. EU27 goods exports to the world (Figures for 2021 in £s billions, converted to pounds sterling at £1 = €1.20):

  1. United States : £332.8bn
  2. United Kingdom : £236.3bn
  3. China : £186.2bn
  4. Switzerland : £130.5bn
  5. Russia : £74.4bn
  6. Turkey : £66.0bn
  7. Japan : £52.0bn
  8. Norway : £47.1bn
  9. South Korea : £43.2bn
  10. India : £34.9

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2022

More than one in eight of all goods exported by the EU27 are sold to the UK

2. Last year the EU profited from the trade with the UK – as usual
Figures for 2021 in £s billions, converted to pounds sterling at £1 = €1.20

  • The balance of trade with the UK was heavily in the EU’s favour
  • The EU sold the UK £114bn more than the UK sold to the EU
  • In percentage terms the UK is the EU’s most profitable trading partner by far
  • The EU’s trade surplus with the UK represented 31.8% of total trade between the two entities

OBSERVATIONS

Brexit Britain is the second-most important market for the European Union, although you would scarcely know this from the way they have behaved towards the UK since the British people voted to leave the EU in 2016. Indeed, in percentage terms the UK is the EU’s most profitable trading partner.

Last year the EU sold us getting on for a quarter of a trillion pounds’ worth of goods – and that was while Covid was still raging.

Despite this we have seen the most appalling behaviour by the EU towards their former member country, from splitting the sovereign territory of the UK via the N.I. Protocol to the draconian and bureaucratic impediments for British companies trying to export goods the other way.

We are supposed to have a ‘Trade and Cooperation Agreement’ with the EU, yet most of the trade only goes one way and ‘cooperation’ is probably the last term anyone would use to describe their dealings with the UK over the past six years.

Isn’t it time the British Government started to act tough? The Prime Minister has acted strongly in dealing with Russia. Perhaps the same approach is now called for with the EU.

A good start would be to invoke Article 16 of the N.I. Protocol. Let’s get the whole of our country back.