Britain's trade deficit with the rest of the world narrowed in August after July's figures were revised to show a much larger gap.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the goods trade gap shrank to £6.733 billion in August from 6.785 in July. Economists had forecast the deficit to steady at £6.3 billion - the same as previously reported for July.
The ONS said the large revision to July's data was due to late figures relating to VAT fraud.
The trade figures are heavily distorted by the effects of this fraud, and economists say the data are therefore an unreliable indicator of what is happening in the economy.
The goods trade gap with non-EU countries narrowed slightly to £4.23 billion in August from a revised £4.271 billion in July. Analysts had forecast a deficit of £3.7 billion.
Britain's oil balance with the rest of the world fell deeper into deficit at £635 million pounds - the biggest gap since January.
The ONS said the gap had grown due to lower oil exports due to maintenance work and production difficulties.