UK exporters suffered a £27billion drop in goods sales to the EU after Brexit, with smaller firms bearing the brunt of new trade barriers, a think tank has said.
Research from the Centre for Economic Performance said Brexit led to a 6.4% drop in the UK’s global exports and a 3.1% decline in imports into the UK from the rest of the world.
“The decline in exports was concentrated among smaller firms, but insignificant for the largest firms,” the report said.
The research found that businesses exporting and importing with the EU suffered “a sharp and sustained fall in trade” from 2021, with the disruption mainly affecting smaller companies.
Relative EU goods exports dropped by 30% for the smallest firms and 15% for medium-sized companies. The decline in exports is worth £27billion.
The figure is calculated by estimating the value of trade after the Brexit deal, compared with what was expected if the UK had remained in the EU.
The research also found that "importers and larger exporters adapted to the shock in ways that dampened the reduction in trade. Consequently, aggregate trade has, at least so far, been more resilient to Brexit than forecasters predicted.
"If this resilience is sustained, the economic costs of reversing deep integration may be lower than anticipated."
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