Post-Brexit UK still imports more from outside EU than bloc, but gap narrows

Britain is still importing more goods from outside the European Union than from the bloc's single market which it left in January, but the difference is narrowing, Britain's statistics office said on Friday.

Britain typically imported more than half of its goods from the EU until January this year when new barriers to cross-border trade went up as a result of Brexit. In May, imports of goods from non-EU countries totaled 19.362 billion pounds ($26.74 billion) while imports from the bloc totaled 18.513 billion pounds, the Office for National Statistics said.

In April, the difference stood at 1.7 billion pounds, about double the gap in May. Britain's overall goods trade deficit narrowed to 8.481 billion pounds in May, its lowest in almost a year, the ONS data showed and below a forecast for a deficit of 11.1 billion pounds in a Reuters poll of economists.

The head of Britain's biggest port - Dover - told Reuters that trade disruption could return if British holidaymakers head for European summer breaks, adding to the strain on stretched customs staff. ($1 = 0.7240 pounds)