Delivery & resilience / UK Business / UK · EU and non-EU trade

UK goods trade fell in August. Give your next shipment a landed-cost check.

The ONS’s 15 October release reports that UK goods import values fell 2.3% and export values fell 3.1% in August compared with July. The figures exclude precious metals and are in current prices. They are not a prediction for an individual seller.

Source published 15 Oct 2026

A container ship and gantry cranes at Felixstowe port.Context photo
Context photo: a container ship at Felixstowe, photographed 19 June 2018. Colin Smith / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized and converted to WebP.
Your next move

Price one real shipment end to end before placing an overseas stock order or launching a new export offer.

THE SOURCED NEWS

What was published today?

The ONS reports a £1.3 billion fall in goods imports and a £1.1 billion fall in goods exports during August. Import values fell from non-EU countries while rising from the EU; export values moved in the opposite direction.

The headline comparisons are in current prices and exclude precious metals. They describe trade already recorded for August. This release does not change customs requirements or provide a quote for shipping a seller’s products.

SELLERBUNDLE PRACTICAL ANALYSIS

SellerBundle: make one shipment worksheet

Pick the product and route you are actually considering. Ask for a written supplier quote and record the currency, quantity, freight, insurance and who is responsible for each stage. Add the customs, tax and handling costs confirmed for that transaction, seeking suitable help where needed.

Keep tax cash payments separate from any recovery you are entitled to claim. A cost worksheet should explain the assumptions rather than quietly treating every tax amount as either a permanent cost or immediately available cash. Our calculator uses your inputs; it does not classify goods or determine customs treatment.

SELLERBUNDLE PRACTICAL ANALYSIS

Check when the money moves

Put the deposit, balance payment, expected arrival and selling period into your cash-flow plan. Include a way to handle slower sales, a delayed shipment or returns without assuming the next marketplace payout arrives early.

For an export test, start with a clearly defined destination and delivery promise. Confirm the current platform, carrier and official requirements for that route before accepting orders. Keep the first test small enough to learn from and review the actual landed cost afterwards, including expenses that were missing from the original quote.

GO TO THE ORIGINAL

Check the sources.

Office for National Statistics: UK trade, August 2026 ↗
Published 15 Oct 2026

This is an original SellerBundle explanation with practical editorial suggestions. Check current official terms and suitability before changing your business processes.

More business news ↗