UK–EU cross-border trade combines substantial goods values with tens of millions of customs declarations. In December 2025, UK goods exports to the EU were £13.7 billion and imports were £25.7 billion. In calendar year 2024, Great Britain’s EU import and export flows totalled 39.187 million customs declarations, while preference-eligible exports to EU27 partners used preferential tariffs on 83.1% of their value.
Contents
- Latest monthly goods trade values
- Quarterly goods trade movements
- Customs declarations and declarants
- How declarations were represented
- Main entry and exit routes
- Tariff preference use
Latest monthly goods trade values
The latest monthly figures in this set are for December 2025. The ONS UK trade: December 2025 bulletin reports current-price, seasonally adjusted goods values, excluding precious metals unless stated. On that basis, UK goods exports to the EU were £13.7 billion and UK goods imports from the EU were £25.7 billion.
The UK overseas trade in goods statistics December 2025 commentary gives the EU’s share of total UK goods trade. The EU accounted for 46% of the total value of UK goods exports in December 2025. When non-monetary gold was excluded, the EU share of UK goods exports was 48%.
For imports, the EU accounted for 36% of the total value of UK goods imports in December 2025. Excluding non-monetary gold, the EU share rose to 51%. These are different denominators, so the total-value and excluding-gold percentages should be read separately.
| December 2025 measure | Value or share |
|---|---|
| UK goods exports to the EU | £13.7bn |
| UK goods imports from the EU | £25.7bn |
| EU share of total UK goods exports | 46% |
| EU share of UK goods exports excluding non-monetary gold | 48% |
| EU share of total UK goods imports | 36% |
| EU share of UK goods imports excluding non-monetary gold | 51% |
Monthly movement was mixed. Between November and December 2025, UK goods exports to the EU fell by £1.4 billion, or 9%. Compared with December 2024, exports were up by less than £0.1 billion, or 0.2%. Imports from the EU fell by £2.2 billion, or 8%, between November and December 2025, but rose by £1.3 billion, or 5%, compared with December 2024. The month-on-month and year-on-year comparisons describe different time windows and should not be substituted for one another.
Quarterly goods trade movements
The quarterly picture covers Quarter 4 2025. ONS recorded UK goods exports to the EU of £44.1 billion and imports from the EU of £79.8 billion. The resulting UK–EU goods trade balance was negative £35.7 billion.
Compared with Quarter 3 2025, exports decreased by £1.4 billion, or 3.1%, while imports decreased by £0.8 billion, or 1.0%. Over the same comparison, the UK–EU goods balance became £0.6 billion more negative.
The quarterly change was not uniform across broad import groups. EU imports of machinery and transport equipment fell by £0.9 billion in Quarter 4 2025 compared with Quarter 3. EU imports of food and live animals fell by £0.3 billion, and EU imports of chemicals also fell by £0.3 billion.
These figures describe goods trade rather than services, and they refer specifically to the UK–EU relationship. The monthly values are not forecasts: they are reported December 2025 observations, with the HMRC December 2025 goods figures described as provisional in the source notes.
Customs declarations and declarants
Trade value shows the monetary scale of cross-border goods flows; customs declarations show the administrative volume. According to Customs declarants and declaration volumes for international trade in 2024: commentary, Great Britain submitted 26.114 million import declarations for goods from the EU in calendar year 2024. Those declarations were submitted and cleared by 2,830 declarants.
Great Britain submitted 13.073 million export declarations for goods to the EU in 2024. The export declarations were submitted and cleared by 2,880 declarants. Together, Great Britain’s EU import and export flows totalled 39.187 million customs declarations and involved 4,010 declarants.
| Great Britain–EU flow, 2024 | Declarations | Declarants |
|---|---|---|
| Imports from the EU | 26.114m | 2,830 |
| Exports to the EU | 13.073m | 2,880 |
| Imports and exports combined | 39.187m | 4,010 |
The import and export declarant counts are not mutually exclusive. A business or intermediary can therefore appear in more than one relevant count. The combined total is a reported figure for the flows, not a claim that every declarant represents a distinct business across all categories.
Third parties submitted 21.694 million of Great Britain’s EU import declarations in 2024 and 12.336 million of its EU export declarations. The remaining declarations were not described here as third-party submissions, so the reported third-party totals should be kept distinct from the overall declaration totals.
How declarations were represented
The same HMRC commentary shows how declarations were represented. Third parties intermediated 83.1% of Great Britain’s EU import declarations in 2024 and 94.4% of its EU export declarations. This indicates a larger third-party share for exports than imports, but the percentages describe declaration intermediation rather than the value of goods.
Self-declaring traders submitted at least one declaration for 22.5% of Great Britain’s EU import declarants in 2024. The corresponding figure for EU export declarants was 25.3%. In count terms, there were 640 self-declaring and 2,520 third-party Great Britain EU import declarants. For exports, there were 730 self-declaring and 2,450 third-party declarants.
Declaration type also differed by direction. Supplementary declarations accounted for 63.3% of Great Britain’s EU import declarations in 2024. Standard declarations accounted for 87.0% of Great Britain’s EU export declarations. These classifications are measures of customs declaration volume, not direct measures of trade value, shipment weight or the number of consignments.
The distinction matters when interpreting the 2024 totals. A high declaration count can reflect the way goods movements are reported and intermediated, while the trade-value series measures money at current prices. Neither series alone describes every operational feature of a border crossing.
Main entry and exit routes
The distribution of declarations was concentrated in particular locations. The top five entry locations handled 42.4% of cleared Great Britain EU import declarations in 2024. The top five exit locations handled 79.1% of Great Britain EU export declarations.
For imports, East Midlands Airport recorded 4.539 million Great Britain EU import declarations and 590 declarants. London Gateway recorded 1.940 million declarations and 450 declarants. Dover recorded 1.725 million declarations and 1,910 declarants. Eurotunnel recorded 1.517 million declarations and 1,660 declarants. Birmingham Airport recorded 1.344 million declarations and 550 declarants.
For exports, Dover/Eurotunnel recorded 4.139 million Great Britain EU export declarations and 1,800 declarants. Holyhead recorded 2.347 million declarations and 930 declarants. East Midlands Airport recorded 1.862 million declarations and 190 declarants. Eurotunnel recorded 1.555 million declarations and 460 declarants. Immingham recorded 443,000 declarations and 1,060 declarants.
The location figures are not a ranking of trade value. They describe declaration counts and associated declarant counts for calendar year 2024. Also, “Dover” and “Dover/Eurotunnel” are the labels used for the respective import and export figures; they should not be silently merged into one location measure.
Tariff preference use
Tariff preference statistics cover Great Britain exports to EU27 partners in calendar year 2024. The Preference utilisation of UK goods in 2024 release measures the value share of preference-eligible goods using preferential tariffs.
Great Britain exports to EU27 partners used preferential tariffs for 83.1% of preference-eligible goods in 2024. Great Britain goods exports to EU27 partners were tariff-free for 90.9% of goods. Among goods entering EU27 partners tariff-free, FTA preferences covered 44.3% and MFN terms covered 46.7%.
The release reports that Great Britain exports to EU27 partners used preferential tariffs on £52.534 billion of goods in 2024. France was the largest EU27 partner by preference-eligible Great Britain exports, at £11.423 billion. Great Britain exports to France used preferential tariffs on £9.902 billion of goods, producing a preference utilisation rate of 86.7%.
Preference utilisation varied by destination. The rate was 89.0% for exports to the Netherlands, 73.0% for Germany, 94.5% for Belgium and 70.9% for Ireland in 2024.
| Destination | Preference utilisation rate, 2024 |
|---|---|
| France | 86.7% |
| Netherlands | 89.0% |
| Germany | 73.0% |
| Belgium | 94.5% |
| Ireland | 70.9% |
The tariff figures should not be read as a forecast or as a complete measure of the cost of trading. They cover Great Britain exports to EU27 partners and preference-eligible goods, while the customs figures cover declaration volumes and declarants, and the ONS figures cover current-price, seasonally adjusted goods values. Keeping those populations and measurement periods separate is essential when comparing UK–EU cross-border trade statistics.