The findings in detail:
- There were an average of 62,967 exporters per month in the 12 months to January 2022. This compares to an average of 35,864 exporters per month in the 12 months to January 2021 and takes into account an increase on average of 24,543 exporters per month from February 2021.
Figure 1: Counts of Exporters over time
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NOTE: The data for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are given in the Appendix
Wales and Northern Ireland have seen the biggest proportionate increase in the numbers of exporters post-Brexit. They have also appeared to be the most resilient with the declines less substantial since April last year than for Scotland or England.
- These businesses employed on average 12,938,795 (nearly 13m) people per month over the past 12 months to January 2022. This compares to 9,409,215 in the 12 months to January 2021 taking in an increase on average of 4,438,787 additional employees from February 2021.
Figure 2: Exporter employment over time, January 2020-January 2022
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NOTE: The data for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are presented in the appendix
Wales and Northern Ireland saw the number of employees in exporting businesses fall back in January 2022 by over 5% and nearly 1% respectively.
- Over the last 12 months to January 2022, exporting businesses contributed a total of nearly £5bn per month in revenues to the UK economy. This compares to an average of £3.4bn in the 12 months to January 2021 and takes into account an increase of £1.7bn from February 2021.
Revenues declined in all UK nations except England in January 2022 compared to December 2021.
Figure 3: Exporter revenues over time, January 2020-January 2022
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NOTE: The data for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are presented in the appendix
- The 12 month moving average number of exporters grew in January 2022 by 5.5%. This compared to a drop of 9.2% in the number of exporters in the 12 months to January 2021. The growth was particularly strong in small exporting businesses, not least because these were also the ones that were hardest hit in December 2021 by supply chain shortages.
Figure 4: 12 month moving average change in exporter numbers (%)
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- The number of employees in UK exporting businesses grew by 1.9%. This compares to a drop in employment in January 2021 of -0.65%. Small and micro businesses saw the biggest 12 month moving average increase in their employment, although they were also the businesses that were impacted most 12 months ago with changes to customs declarations.
Figure 5: 12 month moving average change in exporter employment
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- The amount of revenue generated by exporting businesses grew by 0.7%. in the 12 months to January 2022 grew by 0.7% . This compares to a drop in revenues in the 12 months to January 2021 of 2.6%. Medium sized businesses saw their revenues fall back by 2%, which is attributable to on-going supply chain issues affecting both imports and exports.
Figure 6: 12 month moving average change in exporter revenues
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- We expect the 12 month moving average number of exporters to fall back in February 2022 to fall back by over 4% and the average number of people they employ to decline by 0.7%. However, we also expect revenues to increase by over 4% into February. This is accounted for by a large increase in revenues for the largest exporting firms who have been streamlining their operations over the past 18 months by reducing employment numbers while increasing revenues.
Data Appendix
Figure A-1 : UK exporter counts by UK nation, January 2020-January 2022
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NOTE : data is presented for England on the left hand vertical axis, and for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on the right hand axis for ease of trend comparison
Figure A-2 : UK exporter employment by UK nation, January 2020-January 2022
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NOTE : data is presented for England on the left hand vertical axis, and for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on the right hand axis for ease of trend comparison
Figure A-3 UK exporter revenues by UK nation (£m), January 2020-January 2022
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NOTE : data is presented for England on the left hand vertical axis, and for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on the right hand axis for ease of trend comparison