Welsh exports: 2019

Main points

The value of exports for Wales for the year ending December 2019 was £17.7 billion, up £0.5 billion (3.0%) compared with the previous year.

7 of the twelve UK countries and English regions had increases with London having the largest increase (up 17.2%). Wales saw the fourth largest increase.

There was an increase in exports to EU countries of £159 million (1.5%) and an increase in exports to non-EU countries of £357 million (5.4%), compared with 2018. Exports to the EU accounted for 60.4% of Welsh exports compared with 48.2% for the UK.

Germany continued to be the top export destination for Wales, accounting for 16.2% of exports. This proportion is down from 18.1% of exports in 2018.

Exports from Wales continued to be dominated by ‘Machinery and Transport Equipment’ which made up 49.9% of exports.

Further Information

The data above relates to exports of goods. Experimental statistics produced by the Office for National statistics suggest that service exports make up approximately 30% of total exports in Wales.

Note

Some of the trade exports data included in this report have recently been revised slightly by HMRC as part of routine revisions to the data set. The latest data are available on StatsWales.