& THE COST IS!!


& THE COST IS!!

BN60PinkBook2010 


88 per cent of the UK Trade Deficit
over the last five years was with EU-26

In 2009 the UK traded in deficit with sixteen of its twenty-six EU partners.
UK exports  contracted sharply compared with 2008; so did imports. 

 The UK Gross Contribution to EU Institutions continued its inexorable upward march, costing the British taxpayer £ 48 million per day in 2009.


  • The UK current account balance (“trade deficit”) with the whole world, having reached alarming levels in 2006 & 2007, contracted significantly in 2008 & 2009.                             
                                                                                                                                           Table 1

  • The contraction in 2009 occurred in spite of a large increase in the UK deficit with EU-26. The UK deficit with the world outside the EU,  strongly negative in 2008, almost disappeared in 2009 (a deficit of £ 1.1 bn).                                               Table 2

  
Table 1: UK Current Account Deficit with World 2005 – 2009*
Year
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
£ bn
32.8
44.9
36.5
23.8
15.5


  • Cumulatively, over the period 2005 – 2009, the UK deficit with EU-26 accounted for 88 % of the deficit with the whole world.  Cumulatively, on its trade with the world outside the EU, the UK has been almost in balance.                                           Table 2


Table 2: UK Current Account  Balance With EU-26 & Rest Of World*
Year
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Cumul.
‘05 – ‘09
Balance UK/EU-26               £ bn
(40.6)
(35.5)
(38.5)
(5.5)
(14.4)
(134.5)
Balance UK/Rest of World   £ bn
+7.8
(9.4)
+2.0
(18.3)
(1.1)
(19.0)
Balance UK/Whole World   £ bn
(32.8)
(44.9)
(36.5)
(23.8)
(15.5)
(153.5)
UK Deficit with EU-26 as a proportion of UK Deficit with World
88%

 
  • The value of UK exports to EU-26 shrank by almost a fifth in 2009 compared to 2008; the shrinkage in UK exports to the Rest of the World was less.                           Table 3


Table 3:  Shrinkage of UK Exports from 2008 to 2009*
£ bn
2008
2009
Difference
Exports to EU-26
342
277
(19%)
Exports to Rest of World
359
300
(16%)
Exports to World
701
577
(18%)


  • On its trade with the whole world in 2009 the UK ran a large deficit on Goods,
      (£ 82 bn), offset by  surpluses on Services & Income.                            Table 4

  
Table 4:  UK Current Account in 2009: £ bn*

Goods
Services
Income
Transfers
Total
Exports:-





To EU-26
124
64
77
12
277
To Rest of World
104
95
97
5
300
 Exports to World
228
159
174
17
577
Exports to World as percentage
40
28
30
3
100






Imports:-





From EU-26
161
55
58
17
291
From Rest of World
148
54
85
14
302
Imports from World
309
109
143
31
593






Balances:-





With EU-26
(37)
9
20
(6)
(14)
With Rest of World
(45)
41
11
(9)
(2)
With World
(82)
50
31
(15)
(16)

 
  • In 2009, UK exports of Goods (“visibles”) accounted for 39.4% of all UK exports worldwide.  “Invisibles” (Services, Goods & Transfers) accounted for 60.6% of all UK exports worldwide.  In other words, for the UK, the export value of “invisibles” is 54% (60.6/39.4) higher than the export value of “visibles”.                        Table 4 

 3

  • In 2009, the UK increased its surplus (+ £11.5 bn) on its trade with the USA, though it was less than the surpluses of more than £ 17 bn  recorded in 2005, 2006 & 2007. The cumulated trade surplus with the USA over the five–year period 2005-2009 is £ 75 bn, compared with a cumulative deficit with EU-26 over the same period of £ 135 bn.
                                                                                                                                     Table 5

Table 5: Balances: Largest Surpluses & Deficits in 2008: £ bn*
Surpluses
Netherlands
12

USA
12

Luxembourg
8

Switzerland
8

Australia
6



Deficits
China + Hong Kong
(19)

Norway
(12)

Germany
(12)

EU Institutions
(7)

France
(6)


  • In 2009, the UK Gross Contribution to EU Institutions hit a new record of £ 17.4 bn,  equivalent to £ 48 million per day.  UK Gross & Net Contributions are set to rise sharply from 2009 onwards as a result of the  abandonment by Mr Blair, then Prime Minister, on 17th December 2005, of part of the Fontainebleau Abatement.                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                           Table 6

Table 6: UK Contributions to EU Institutions: £ bn*

2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Cum. 05 – 09
Gross Contribution
(15.1)
(15.4)
(15.8)
(16.4)
(17.4)
(80.1)
Receipts from “Brussels”
9.1
9.3
8.5
9.8
10.7
47.4
Net Contribution
(6.0)
(6.1)
(7.3)
(6.6)
(6.7)
(32.7)

Notes & Data Sources

* The Pink Book 2010, 31st July 2010,  www.statistics.gov.uk > Economy >  Balance of Payments > The    
   Pink Book 2010

a)       Payments to & from supra- & international organisations, & remittances by expatriates, which are included in “Transfers”, are not strictly–speaking “Trade”, but a large proportion of them are trade-related.  HM Government itself justifies UK net payments to the EU on the grounds (unsupported by any evidence)  that  “the UK needs to be in the EU for trade”.

b)       The data above is not adjusted for the Rotterdam-Antwerp Effect (described on pages 200 & 201 of the Pink Book 2010) or the separate Netherlands Distortions (see Global Britain Briefing Note No 52, “UK plc’s Export Growth is Coming from Outside the EU”, 21st November 2008).  The effect of these two distortions is to significantly overstate (in the Pink Book) the value of UK exports to EU-26.
BN60PinkBook2010                                                                              Draft: 26th August 2010

Global Britain Briefing Note

No 60                                                                                                              xx September 2010       

Lord Stoddart of Swindon      (Independent Labour)                                     
Lord Pearson of Rannoch        
Lord Willoughby de Broke     (United Kingdom Independence Party)
Lord Harris of High Cross (1924- 2006)   (Cross-Bencher)

Enquiries: Ian Milne, Director, Global Britain

BN60PinkBook2010                                                                  xx September 2010