I did read your link John but lost interest when I got to the part where it said the figures were a load of nonsense. For a true picture you also need to find stats that include the recent energy exports.
2.Changes affecting UK trade statistics
EU imports
In January 2022, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) implemented a data collection change affecting data on imports from the EU to Great Britain (GB). As a result, our EU to GB import statistics from January 2022 are not directly comparable with previous months. HMRC has been investigating the scale of the transition from the Intrastat survey to customs declarations data. It has been evaluating the importer trader population in both datasets, to assess whether they represent a time series break between 2022 and previous years.HMRC has concluded this investigation, and our article, Impact of trade in goods data collection changes on UK trade statistics: 2021 to 2022, discusses these conclusions in more detail. It concludes that when comparing the components of trade across both collection platforms, there is a discontinuity of around 6% by value between the two compilation methods. This discontinuity is a combination of data not previously collected under Intrastat. For example, Parcel Post and non-Value-Added-Tax (VAT) registered traders, along with a group of traders using a new or different Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number for their customs declarations.
While these investigations have concluded, the ongoing challenges arising from supply chain impacts and the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic result in a complicated trade narrative. We continue to advise caution when interpreting monthly trade statistics, particularly early estimates, and will keep users informed of any further changes in data collection.
I suspect he would be.
