BETTER business with countries outside the European Union helped the UK's trade deficit to narrow in April, according to figures just released.
The gap between the value of imported and exported goods was a £3.1bn deficit, down from £3.4bn a month earlier. The figure beat City forecasts.
Exports to countries such as the US and Japan drove the improvement as the deficit with non-EU nations narrowed to £1.4bn from £2.3bn.
The recent decline in the value of the pound has made UK goods cheaper abroad, although the position did not affect EU demand in April.
EU exports slipped six per cent as the deficit with EU countries reached £1.7bn in April, compared with a figure of £1bn in March. That is the widest deficit since March 1990.
It is also the first time since 1997 that the EU trade deficit has been worse than the non-EU figure.
John Butler, HSBC economist, said: "This is a reflection of how weak demand is in Europe at the moment. In contrast there are signs of a post-war rebound in the United States and other parts of the world."
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