Trade with the European Union is more a damp squib than a golden goose

The UK trade in goods deficit in 2015 was an all time record £125 billion, this deficit shows how much more was spent importing goods to the UK than was paid for goods exported from the UK. Just five per cent of UK businesses export to the EU and between 1999 and 2014 the share of UK exports that went to EU countries fell by ten per cent. Latest figures show that the UK return on foreign direct investment in businesses in the EU fell by £21 billion while European Union investors return on investments in UK businesses increased by £6.1 billion.