Trade between the UK and the EU fell by almost a quarter in the first three months of this year as Brexit and the Covid 19 crisis disrupted businesses, according to official figures.
Exports to Ireland from UK suffered the sharpest decline among the UK’s top trading partners. Exports of goods fell by £1 billion, or 47.3 per cent, between December 2020 and January 2021.
Imports from Ireland fell by £100 million, or 4.4 percent. The figures come for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in the UK. The figures suggest that new Brexit rules had a significant impact at the start of this year, As compared to figures for trading with the rest of the world.
The ONS said that trade with Europe had come under pressure from border disruptions after the Brexit transition period ended.
