The trade deficit of construction materials – the difference between what we export and what we import – is a firm indicator of the health of the UK building materials sector, and of the wider economy.
In 2023 the UK imported £14,189m more construction materials that it exported. This is £2,357m less than the £16,547m trade gap reported in 2022.
The good news is that the trade gap narrowed by 14% in 2023 despite GB construction output increasing by 2.0% in 2023 compared with 2022. (½ñÈÕ¿´ÁÏ output figures do not include Northern Ireland; trade statistics do.)
The bad news is that the target set down in 2013 in the landmark strategy document is now well and truly out of sight. That document set a target of reducing the UK building materials balance of trade deficit by 50% by 2025, from £6bn at that time, to £3bn by next year.
The government set up the ½ñÈÕ¿´ÁÏ Leadership Council to implement the ½ñÈÕ¿´ÁÏ 2025 strategy, but the CLC appears to have long ago abandoned this particular mission.
Over the past five years the building materials trade gap has only once fallen below £10bn, in 2020, the year that the Covid pandemic arrived.
The UK’s trade deficit of construction materials
- 2019: 10.4bn
- 2020 - £9.0bn
- 2021: £13.2bn
- 2022: £16.5bn
- 2023: £14.2bn
Top five imported materials 2023 *
- Electrical wires – £2,756m
- Lamps and fittings – £1,090m
- Sawn wood and 6mm thick – £1,024m
- Air conditioning equipment – £994m
- Builders ironmongery            - £915m
* Source:
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