German exports to UK drop again in first seven months of 2019

Germany’s exports to the UK have dropped 4.6% in the first seven months of 2019 compared with a year earlier.

The decline continues a downward trend since the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016.

Germany’s Federal Statistical Office said the country exported goods worth 47.1 billion euro (£41.27 billion) to the UK between January and July. UK exports to Germany were worth 21.3 billion euro (£18.66 billion) — a 3.7% decline in year-on-year terms.

In the January-July period, the UK was Germany’s seventh biggest trading partner overall. In 2015, the year before the Brexit referendum, it was fifth.

The statistics office said that German exports to the UK climbed steadily from 2010 to 2015 but then dropped. It said exports of cars and auto parts have declined strongly.