UK economy grew less than expected in July

Reacting to the latest ONS trade figures for July 2022, William Bain, head of trade policy at the BCC, said:
“July was a better month for UK trade than the previous month. We see that trade in fuels, particularly oil and gas, is at high levels. Exports of vehicles and other mechanical equipment also performed well.
“We will bring forward measures that could consolidate progress on this trade dataset over the coming months, once the period of national mourning has ended.”
Trade data overview
Importations
Overall imports of goods from the EU decreased by 0.3% (lower imports of cars from Germany and Spain were a major factor), while exports of goods to the EU increased by 7.9%. Exports of fuels to the EU increased by £0.8 billion in July alone, mainly due to increased oil and gas exports to the Netherlands and oil exports to France.
Imports of non-EU goods fell by 1.5% in July 2022, which was offset by higher levels of gas imports from Norway and refined oil from Kuwait. Overall, imports of goods fell by 0.9% in July 2022 compared with the previous month.
Exportations
Total merchandise exports in July 2022 increased by 6.7%, with a 7.9% rise in exports to the EU accompanied by a 5.4% rise in merchandise exports to the rest of the world. Total merchandise exports in July 2022 increased by 6.7%, with a 7.9% rise in exports to the EU accompanied by a 5.4% rise in merchandise exports to the rest of the world.
The overall trade deficit (excluding inflation) narrowed by £2 billion in the three months to July 2022 to £20.8 billion.

Source : BCC.