Although the UK’s December trade deficit is the smallest recorded in eight years, British exporters are still being ‘outpaced’ by competitors from other developed nations.

The Office of National Statistics reports that the seasonally adjusted deficit on trade in goods and services was £1.1bn in December, compared with £2.8bn the month before.

This marks the smallest deficit since April 2003, when the deficit in trade in goods and services was £0.9bn.

Tan Kah Chye, head of trade and working capital at Barclays says: “The UK is more mobilised than at any time in recent memory around growing its share of international trade and this, combined with a major fall in imports, has resulted in the smallest deficit reported in over eight years.

“However, while British exporters do appear to be gaining more traction in the developing world, UK companies are often outpaced and outgunned by competitors from other developed nations through the direct, contract-winning support of export-focused governments. This will only intensify as developing economies mature and the malaise in Europe drags on, steadily increasing the reliance of all markets on trade,” Tan warns.

Excluding oil and erratic items, the seasonally adjusted volume of exports was 0.4% lower, and the volume of imports was 3.6% lower in December, compared with the month before.

Export prices of goods fell by 0.9% and import prices of goods fell by 1.3%, compared with November.