Welsh international goods trade: October 2022 to September 2023 (headline data)

The data in this report are provisional estimates for October 2022 to September 2023 and will be revised routinely over the next 18 months to account for late returns.

Data covers the value (in current prices) of goods exports and imports.

It is important to consider the impact of global economic events on the value of trade as well as inflationary pressures pushing up current prices of products.

Year ending September 2023 (provisional)

Exports

• The value of goods exports for Wales was £19.9 billion in the year ending September 2023, up £0.4 billion (2.0%) compared to the year ending September 2022.
• In the year ending September 2023, all UK countries experienced an increase in the value of exports, except for Scotland which saw a decrease.
• The value of goods exports less ‘Oil’ (SITC 33) for Wales was £16.2 billion in the year ending September 2023, an increase of £0.9 billion (5.7%) when compared to the year ending September 2022.
• In the year ending September 2023, there was an increase in export values to EU countries of £0.4 billion (3.4%) up to £11.6 billion and export values to non-EU countries remained broadly similar at £8.3 billion, compared to the year ending September 2022.
• Export values to the EU accounted for 58.3% of Welsh export value compared with 51.0% for the UK.
• Export values from Wales continue to be dominated by ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’[^{footnote 1}] which made up £8.2 billion (41.4%) of export values, increasing £1.1 billion (15.1%) compared to the year ending September 2022. ‘Mineral Fuels’ continue to be the second highest value exported category, with £3.8 billion exported in the year ending September 2023, making up 19.2% of export values.
  • Power Generating Machinery and Equipment’ was the largest value product within the ‘Machinery and transport Equipment category’ with £3.2 billion (16.3%) of Welsh exports. This is an increase of £0.5 billion (18.5%) compared with the previous September year end.
  • Within the Mineral Fuels category, ‘Petroleum, Petroleum Products and Related Materials’ (SITC 33) was the highest value product with £3.7 billion (18.5%) of Welsh exports. This is a value decrease of £0.5 billion (11.9%) compared with the previous September year end.

Footnotes

[1] This includes Power Generating Machinery and Equipment, Machinery Specialized For Particular Industries, Metalworking Machinery, General Industrial Machinery and Equipment and Machine Parts not Elsewhere Specified, Office Machines and ADP Machines, Telecomms and Sound Recording and Reproducing Apparatus and Equipment, Electric Machinery, Apparatus and Appliances and Electric Parts Thereof not Elsewhere Specified, Road Vehicles (Including Air Cushion Vehicles), Other Transport Equipment.

Imports

• The value of goods imports for Wales was £22.0 billion in the year ending September 2023, down £0.8 billion (3.4%) compared to the year ending September 2022.
• In the year ending September 2023, Wales and Scotland saw decreases in the value of imports while England and Northern Ireland experienced an increase.
• The value of goods imports less ‘Oil’ (SITC 33) for Wales was £15.7 billion in the year ending September 2023, a decrease of £0.2 billion (1.4%) when compared to the year ending September 2022.
• In the year ending September 2023, there was an increase in import values of goods from EU countries of £0.1 billion (1.2%) up to £7.7 billion and a decrease in import values of goods from non-EU countries of £0.9 billion (5.7%) down to £14.3 billion, compared to the year ending September 2022.
• Import values from the EU accounted for 35.1% of the total Welsh import value, compared with 52.1% for the UK.
• ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’ remained the largest import value category at £7.7 billion, accounting for 35.1% of total import values, an increase of £0.8 billion (11.4%) compared to year ending September 2022. ‘Mineral Fuels’ continue to be the second highest value imported category at £7.1 billion (32.2%) of total imports.
  • Power Generating Machinery and Equipment’ was the largest value product within the ‘Machinery and transport Equipment category’ with £3.3 billion (14.8%) of Welsh exports. This is an increase of £0.4 billion (13.2%) compared with the previous September year end.
  • Within the ‘Mineral Fuels’ category, ‘Petroleum, Petroleum Products and Related Materials’ was the highest value product with £6.4 billion (28.9%) of Welsh imports. This is a value decrease of £0.5 billion (7.9%) compared with the previous September year end.

Note

Because of changes to the way in which the data is collected, additional low value trade that was previously allocated to countries and regions may now be reported under the ‘Unallocated-unknown’ category. This has led to a likely reduction in the UK to EU export values, and total export values for Wales (and other regions) from January 2021 onwards. More detailed notes of these effects can be read in the HMRC Full Commentary on these statistics.

Some of the exports data included in this report may get revised by HMRC as part of their routine revisions to the data set. The latest data will be available on UK Trade Info.

Further Information

The data above relates to international goods trade. The latest experimental statistics (2021) produced by the Office for National statistics suggest that service exports make up approximately 30% of total exports in Wales, and 20% of total imports.

Main results are published quarterly, and are available on HMRC’s UK Trade Info Pages, our own interactive dashboard as well as StatsWales.