UK trade deficit hits a record £27.9 billion fuelled by soaring energy prices

The gap between the value of imports and exports though UK ports has widened in the second quarter (Andrew Matthews/PA)

(Picture: PA Archive)

The UK’s trade deficit hit a record £27.9 billion in the biggest jump since 1997, fuelled by soaring energy costs after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the wider effects of inflation.

Imports increased by £14.3 billion to reach £206.6 billion in the second quarter, while exports were up by £12.3 billion to £178.6 billion. The total trade deficit - excluding precious metals - came in at 4.5% of the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all the goods and services its economy produces.