“Services export growth has been sluggish for several months and this trajectory continued in October. On goods, the rollercoaster ride of 2025 has continued with a strong recovery in automotive exports to the US – following September’s cyber-attack on JLR. Sales of chemicals and pharmaceuticals also saw gains while exports to the EU rose by 2%.
“Overall, it was a mixed picture but there will be rising concern over the poor performance of services exports. These make up the majority of the UK’s export profile, and their continued flatlining paints a picture of slowing global demand and orders.
“With goods exports growth forecast by the OBR to fall to just 0.3% in 2026, questions will continue to be asked about the economic outlook if services also remain lacklustre.”
A sharp recovery in goods trade with the US was a key feature of October’s data with export values to the US rising by 27%, led by the recovery of Jaguar Land Rover sales. There was also a surge in chemicals and pharmaceuticals exports.
Removing the effects of inflation, UK goods exports rose by 4.9% in October with EU sales up 2% and those to non-EU countries rising by 7.7%.
There was also a huge increase in import values from the US of 51%, although this is principally connected to market fluctuations around precious metals.
The volume of UK imports rose by 1% in October, with the EU up by 0.6% and rest of the world increasing by 1.5%.
UK services export growth remained subdued for a second consecutive month with no growth in volumes in the month of October in a mixed picture for overall UK trade.
The full ONS data can be found here.
Read more latest news from the BCC here.
12.12.2025
