UK goods into Germany down 8.5% in further sign of Brexit damage

Data shows a 16.8% rise in imports from Germany’s fellow European Union members in 2021. Photograph: Kay Nietfeld/EPA

Imports of UK goods into Germany fell 8.5% last year, in the latest signal that extra costs and red tape related to Brexit are damaging British trading relationships.

Britain also fell out of the top five of Germany’s largest trade partners as the EU’s biggest economy turned to its neighbours inside the eurozone for machine tools, car parts and components for the aerospace industry.