Germany’s exports to the United Kingdom decreased by 30% in January compared to a year ago, official estimates showed Tuesday, as the demand hurt both by Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Federal statistics agency Destatis said German exports to Britain have been declining since 2016, the year when the U.K. voted in a referendum to leave the European Union.
But the drop in demand has sharply accelerated over the last year.
For 2020, German exports to Britain declined 15.5% compared to 2019, marking the biggest drop on an annual basis since the financial and economic crisis of 2009.
German exports to Britain were worth 66.9 billion euros ($80.3 billion), compared with 89 billion euros in 2015 before the Brexit vote.
Likewise, Germany imported less from Britain over the last year, at 34.7 billion euros marking a drop of 9.6% from 2019.
The decline was most dramatic in the second half of the year when shipments plunged 16.2% compared with a fall of 2.5% in the first six months of 2019.
British exporters and cross-Channel freight haulers have encountered severe delays and disruption since Britain departed the EU market.
But European leaders see this as the inevitable consequence of the U.K. government's decision to pursue a complete break from the EU.
