Goods now make up just 40 per cent of UK exports
The proportion of UK exports made up of goods has sunk to a record low, with the economy ever more dependent upon services.
That’s according to analysis done by the Financial Times based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, which found that goods now account for just 40.8 per cent of exports.
Back in 2000, goods accounted for around two-thirds of British exports.
The FT found that since 2023, the value of goods exports has been falling by 5.4 per cent each year.
Meanwhile, services exports have risen 7.3 per cent in the last year up to May and hitting their own record figure of 59.2 per cent.
But in spite of buoyant services exports, overall trade volumes have ticked up by just one per cent between 2019 and 2024.
That compares to an eight per cent uplift in trade for the G7 and the EU27.
Time to double down on financial services?
The broadsheet found that the value of automotive exports has been dropping at an annual rate of ten per cent, and that the 32 per cent dive in the value of crude oil has hit overall figures.
Meanwhile, the value of financial services has had a 13 per cent uplift, with other professional services up five per cent.
The government has increasingly put services – and particularly financial services – at the heart of its industrial strategy.
In June, Labour pledged to make the Square Mile “the world’s most innovative full-service financial centre” by 2035 – insisting that “the UK must continue to adapt and innovate to maintain our world-leading position”.
Research from TheCityUK earlier in July, found that financial and professional services are the “bedrock of national economic strength”, employing 2.5m people.
Currently, services account for around 80 per cent of the UK’s GDP.
In June, the UK services sector expanded despite being buffeted by tax hikes and dips in employment, as the broader UK economy shrank by 0.3 per cent.