Trade between the UK and Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is beginning to recover from the decline that set in after Brexit, providing welcome news to Britain’s government as it seeks to reset relations with Europe.
Official figures seen by the Financial Times show that the UK was Germany’s ninth-biggest trading partner over most of the first half of this year. It fell to 11th in 2022 — its lowest level since records began — amid frictions caused by Brexit, which was finalised in January 2020, and ranked tenth in 2023.
Imports and exports between the UK and Germany totalled €49.5bn between January and May this year, up from €48.2bn in the same period of 2023, figures provided to the FT by the federal statistics agency show. The US was in first place with €106.9bn, followed by China with €102.3bn.