Wales recorded a trade deficit of more than £3bn last year, latest figures reveal. Last month, BusinessLive reported that firms in Wales exported £19.4bn worth of goods to markets across the world in the year ending September 2022.
This was up 36.6% by £5.2bn compared to the previous 12-month period and £1.7bn more compared to pre-pandemic levels (year ending September 2019).
However, provisional figures from the Welsh Government show imported goods to Wales were valued at £22.8bn in the year ending September 2022. This was up almost 50% at £7.5bn on the same period the previous year and £4.4bn more when compared to the pre-pandemic year ending September 2019.
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When measured against the value of imported goods this left Wales with a £3.4bn trade deficit.
There was an increase in import values of goods from both EU countries of £1.5 billion (24.3%) and non-EU countries of £6.0 billion (66.2%), compared with the previous year.
Import values from the EU accounted for 33.6% of the total Welsh import value, compared with 48.4% for the UK.
In terms of product categories, ‘mineral fuels’ made up the largest import value category at £8bn accounting for 35.3% of total import values.
Within the ‘mineral fuels’ category, ‘petroleum, petroleum products and related materials’ was the highest value product with £6.9bn (30.3%) of Welsh imports. While this is a value increase of £4.3 billion (161.9%) compared with the previous year, the volume imported only increased by 47.8%.
The second largest category remains ‘machinery and transport equipment’ with £6.9bn or 30.5% of total imports.
‘Power generating machinery and equipment’ was the largest value product within the ‘machinery and transport equipment category’ with £2.8bn (12.6%) of Welsh exports. This is an increase of £1.3bn (76.6%) compared with the previous year.
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