Trade value of UK automotive imports and exports 2018-2020

The value of automotive trade between the United Kingdom (UK) and the UK's trade partners exceeded 100 billion British pounds in 2018 and 2019 but dropped to some 73.8 billion British pounds in 2020. The value of automotive imports came to 30 billion British pounds in 2020, a decrease of some 48 percent compared with 2019.

Economic contribution

The UK’s overall trade balance of goods was a negative 231 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. That same year, the motor industry contributed about 15.3 billion British pounds to the UK’s economy. This was a decrease compared with the previous year when the motor industry was responsible for adding 18.6 billion British pounds to the country’s gross domestic product.

Production figures

In 2020, the UK produced roughly 921,000 million cars, a notable drop from over 1.3 million cars produced in 2019. Although the UK car production was declining for the past three years, the significant decrease in production that occurred in 2020 was mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.