Britain’s goods and services exports to India have gone up by 31.8 per cent in the year to March 2018, according to latest trade figures released this week.
Countries outside the European Union (EU) like India were the main destination for UK services at 167.4 billion pound, making up 60.4 per cent of all services exports, according to Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures released yesterday.
For the year ending March this year, the ONS data shows that exports of UK goods and services registered a 7.3 per cent hike to GBP 620.2 billion.
“Demand for high quality British products remained strong from countries outside the EU including China, India and Canada and we are putting companies in position to benefit from growing global opportunities,” said Liam Fox, UK secretary of state for international trade.
“Far from the negative forecasts after the EU referendum, there is every reason to be optimistic. Our trade deficit narrowed and UK business is delivering for Britain and succeeding on the world stage. As an international economic department we are banging the drum for the growing demand for our goods and services,” he said.
The figures will bring some relief for Brexit-bound UK, which is keen to strike trade deals with countries outside the EU.
Besides India, UK exports to China were up 15.3 per cent and Canada were up 12.7 per cent, much higher than to the EU at 10 per cent.
The Department for International Trade (DIT) also highlighted that non-EU countries remain the main destination for UK services at around GBP 167.4 billion, making up 60.4 per cent of all services exports.
Related research from Barclays Corporate Banking released by DIT showed that 64 per cent of consumers in India, 57 per cent in China, and 48 per cent in the UAE said they were prepared to pay more for goods made in the UK, because they perceive the quality as higher.
“DIT had set up 14 trade working groups covering 21 countries to scope our future trade deals and strengthen commercial ties with key trading partners,” the UK’s trade department said.
It added that the UK also remains a strong destination for investment, with nearly 76,000 new jobs created as a result of inward investment from foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in 2017-18, more than the previous year.
