The EU exported €345.3 billion worth of goods to the United Kingdom in 2025 and imported €158.7 billion, resulting in a €186.6 billion trade surplus, according to figures released by EU statistics agency Eurostat.

Trade waste shipment -Image by Paweł Grzegorz from Pixabay

Between 2015 and 2020, the United Kingdom’s share in the EU’s overall trade declined steadily. Trade between the UK and the EU accounted for 11.2% of all EU imports and 16.9% of total EU exports in 2015. By 2020, these shares had fallen to 9.9% of imports and 14.4% of exports.

After Britain left the EU single market in 2021, EU exports to the United Kingdom remained stable at the same level, hovering around 13% of total EU exports (13.0% in 2021 and 13.1% in 2025). EU imports from the United Kingdom dropped slightly, from 7.0% of total EU imports in 2021 to 6.3 % in 2025.

The top 5 most exported product groups as defined in the ‘Harmonised commodity description and coding system’ (HS) accounted for 47.1% of all exports to the United Kingdom in 2025. ‘Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock’ was the most exported product group, with €55.8 billion exported, or 16.2% of all exports. Next was ‘machinery, mechanical appliances and parts’ (€44.9 billion; 13.0%), ‘electrical machinery and parts, audio-visual equipment and accessories’ (€27.2 billion; 7.9%), ‘pharmaceutical products’ (€20.4 billion; 5.9%) and ‘mineral fuels and oils and related products’ (€14.5 billion; 4.2%). 

For imports, the top 5 categories accounted for 48.5% of all imported goods. Most imported product categories were ‘machinery, mechanical appliances and parts’ (€22.6 billion; 14.3% of all imports) and ‘mineral fuels and oils and related products’ (€22.0 billion; 13.9%). These were followed by ‘vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock’ (€15.1 billion; 9.5%), ‘pharmaceutical products’ (€9.0 billion; 5.6%) and ‘electrical machinery and parts, audio-visual equipment and accessories’ (€8.3 billion; 5.2%). 

Thematic section on international trade in goods – Eurostat

Database on international trade in goods

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