Britain's global goods trade deficit unexpectedly widened to £4.1 billion pounds sterling in May as exports dropped while imports rose sharply, official data showed today.
The Office for National Statistics said the deficit compared to an upwardly-revised figure of 3.37 billion pounds for April and was much worse than the average 3.0 billion pound deficit forecast by City economists.
Goods exports fell by 1.4 per cent to 15.2 billion pounds, the worst score so far this year. Imports, by contrast, jumped nearly three percent to 19.3 billion.
The figures show that the fall in the value of the pound against the euro earlier this year has had little positive effect on the country's trade position.
Indeed, the trade balance with the rest of the European Union, most of which uses the single currency, slumped to 2.0 billion pounds, the worst figure since last November, with exports to the bloc down 2.6 per cent to just 8.3 billion, the lowest total in almost four years.
That shows that in spite of the weaker pound, the lack of demand in core euro zone economies means that appetite for British goods remains poor in spite of their lower price.
And with the pound having rebounded by four per cent against the euro in the past month alone, the outlook remains bleak.