UK–China trade: August 2026
UK imports from China were £5.97bn in August 2026, up 18.0% compared with August 2025. UK exports to China, excluding precious metals (HS chapter 71), were £902m in August 2026, down 3.9% compared with August 2025.
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UK imports from China
| Month / Year to date (January to the note month) | Value (£) | Same period a year earlier (£) | Change (£) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | 5,969,432,980 | 5,060,909,117 | +908,523,863 | +18.0% |
| Year to date (January to the note month) | 45,159,944,130 | 40,102,507,043 | +5,057,437,087 | +12.6% |
HS chapters: five largest rises in pounds
| HS code | HMRC description | Value (£) | Same period a year earlier (£) | Change (£) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof | 1,127,178,593 | 544,958,370 | +582,220,223 | +106.8% |
| 85 | Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles | 1,064,503,650 | 823,759,229 | +240,744,421 | +29.2% |
| 84 | Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof | 897,739,575 | 781,731,929 | +116,007,646 | +14.8% |
| 24 | Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes | 112,559,830 | 67,646,144 | +44,913,686 | +66.4% |
| 76 | Aluminium and articles thereof | 81,394,180 | 44,804,814 | +36,589,366 | +81.7% |
HS chapters: five largest falls in pounds
| HS code | HMRC description | Value (£) | Same period a year earlier (£) | Change (£) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 95 | Toys, games and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof | 300,392,059 | 390,301,474 | -89,909,415 | -23.0% |
| 27 | Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes | 1,517,000 | 86,465,600 | -84,948,600 | -98.2% |
| 61 | Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted | 194,057,743 | 222,187,439 | -28,129,696 | -12.7% |
| 62 | Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted | 137,145,284 | 152,004,438 | -14,859,154 | -9.8% |
| 64 | Footwear, gaiters and the like; parts of such articles | 81,257,074 | 94,159,962 | -12,902,888 | -13.7% |
HS4 headings: five largest rises in pounds
| HS code | HMRC description | Value (£) | Same period a year earlier (£) | Change (£) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8703 | Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of <10 persons, incl. station wagons and racing cars (excl. motor vehicles of heading 8702) | 979,919,876 | 407,886,683 | +572,033,193 | +140.2% |
| 8517 | Telephone sets, incl. smartphones and other telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks; other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, incl. apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless ne | 292,255,319 | 173,094,520 | +119,160,799 | +68.8% |
| 2404 | Products containing tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, nicotine, or tobacco or nicotine substitutes, intended for inhalation without combustion; other nicotine containing products intended for the intake of nicotine into the human body | 112,559,830 | 67,646,144 | +44,913,686 | +66.4% |
| 8411 | Turbojets, turbopropellers and other gas turbines | 72,223,263 | 29,833,139 | +42,390,124 | +142.1% |
| 8507 | Electric accumulators, incl. separators therefor, whether or not square or rectangular; parts thereof (excl. spent and those of unhardened rubber or textiles) | 105,965,083 | 69,274,012 | +36,691,071 | +53.0% |
HS4 headings: five largest falls in pounds
| HS code | HMRC description | Value (£) | Same period a year earlier (£) | Change (£) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9504 | Video game consoles and machines, table or parlour games, incl. pintables, billiards, special tables for casino games and automatic bowling equipment, amusement machines operated by coins, banknotes, bank cards, tokens or by any other means of paymen | 67,603,286 | 163,503,871 | -95,900,585 | -58.7% |
| 2710 | Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals (excl. crude); preparations containing >= 70% by weight of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the preparations, n.e.s.; was | 459,826 | 83,403,657 | -82,943,831 | -99.4% |
| 8541 | Semiconductor devices "e.g. diodes, transistors, semiconductor-based transducers"; photosensitive semiconductor devices, incl. photovoltaic cells whether or not assembled in modules or made up into panels (excl. photovoltaic generators); light emitti | 32,784,953 | 47,933,847 | -15,148,894 | -31.6% |
| 6110 | Jerseys, pullovers, cardigans, waistcoats and similar articles, knitted or crocheted (excl. wadded waistcoats) | 66,585,909 | 79,542,025 | -12,956,116 | -16.3% |
| 7308 | Structures and parts of structures "e.g., bridges and bridge-sections, lock-gates, towers, lattice masts, roofs, roofing frameworks, doors and windows and their frames and thresholds for doors, shutters, balustrades, pillars and columns", of iron or | 22,995,368 | 35,049,846 | -12,054,478 | -34.4% |
UK exports to China (excluding HS chapter 71)
| Month / Year to date (January to the note month) | Value (£) | Same period a year earlier (£) | Change (£) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | 901,890,584 | 938,260,443 | -36,369,859 | -3.9% |
| Year to date (January to the note month) | 7,563,840,738 | 8,651,479,538 | -1,087,638,800 | -12.6% |
| Chapter 71 separately: month | 2,457,345,775 | 802,741,487 | +1,654,604,288 | +206.1% |
| Chapter 71 separately: year to date | 20,990,136,735 | 11,496,329,510 | +9,493,807,225 | +82.6% |
Precious metals and stones (HS chapter 71, mostly non-monetary gold) are counted separately. Gold shipments are large and lumpy. Left in, they would decide the headline on their own, so chapter 71 is kept out of export headline totals and movers.
HS chapters: five largest rises in pounds
| HS code | HMRC description | Value (£) | Same period a year earlier (£) | Change (£) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 84 | Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof | 217,512,431 | 149,193,588 | +68,318,843 | +45.8% |
| 74 | Copper and articles thereof | 103,978,328 | 53,555,722 | +50,422,606 | +94.1% |
| 90 | Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; parts and accessories thereof | 70,502,147 | 53,615,440 | +16,886,707 | +31.5% |
| 73 | Articles of iron or steel | 20,903,611 | 7,790,231 | +13,113,380 | +168.3% |
| 85 | Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television image and sound recorders and reproducers, and parts and accessories of such articles | 60,433,374 | 53,745,794 | +6,687,580 | +12.4% |
HS chapters: five largest falls in pounds
| HS code | HMRC description | Value (£) | Same period a year earlier (£) | Change (£) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 87 | Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof | 82,042,337 | 292,071,388 | -210,029,051 | -71.9% |
| 21 | Miscellaneous edible preparations | 12,980,199 | 16,717,700 | -3,737,501 | -22.4% |
| 02 | Meat and edible meat offal | 10,716,910 | 12,457,540 | -1,740,630 | -14.0% |
| 76 | Aluminium and articles thereof | 10,993,177 | 11,898,660 | -905,483 | -7.6% |
| 75 | Nickel and articles thereof | 10,088,086 | 10,689,935 | -601,849 | -5.6% |
HS4 headings: five largest rises in pounds
| HS code | HMRC description | Value (£) | Same period a year earlier (£) | Change (£) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8411 | Turbojets, turbopropellers and other gas turbines | 116,728,454 | 43,880,651 | +72,847,803 | +166.0% |
| 7404 | Waste and scrap, of copper (excl. ingots or other similar unwrought shapes, of remelted copper waste and scrap, ashes and residues containing copper, and waste and scrap of primary cells, primary batteries and electric accumulators) | 103,089,606 | 52,689,808 | +50,399,798 | +95.7% |
| 3002 | Human blood; animal blood prepared for therapeutic, prophylactic or diagnostic uses; antisera and other blood fractions and immunological products, whether or not modified or obtained by means of biotechnological processes; vaccines, toxins, cultures | 39,625,716 | 19,508,745 | +20,116,971 | +103.1% |
| 9027 | Instruments and apparatus for physical or chemical analysis, e.g. polarimeters, refractometers, spectrometers, gas or smoke analysis apparatus; instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking viscosity, porosity, expansion, surface tension or the | 19,356,095 | 11,907,003 | +7,449,092 | +62.6% |
| 8413 | Pumps for liquids, whether or not fitted with a measuring device (excl. ceramic pumps and secretion aspirating pumps for medical use and medical pumps carried on or implanted in the body); liquid elevators (excl. pumps); parts thereof | 12,982,925 | 5,693,008 | +7,289,917 | +128.1% |
HS4 headings: five largest falls in pounds
| HS code | HMRC description | Value (£) | Same period a year earlier (£) | Change (£) | Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8703 | Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of <10 persons, incl. station wagons and racing cars (excl. motor vehicles of heading 8702) | 74,130,992 | 276,295,939 | -202,164,947 | -73.2% |
| 3004 | Medicaments consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, put up in measured doses "incl. those for transdermal administration" or in forms or packings for retail sale (excl. goods of heading 3002, 3005 or 3006) | 55,634,692 | 72,916,004 | -17,281,312 | -23.7% |
| 8408 | Compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine "diesel or semi-diesel engine" | 16,592,426 | 24,613,250 | -8,020,824 | -32.6% |
| 2106 | Food preparations, n.e.s. | 12,583,759 | 15,709,711 | -3,125,952 | -19.9% |
Method and source
Source: HMRC overseas trade statistics (OTS), CountryId 720 (China), FlowTypeId 3 (non-EU imports) and FlowTypeId 4 (non-EU exports). Figures cover goods, in nominal GBP; they are not seasonally adjusted or adjusted for inflation. They do not cover services.
Each month is compared with the same calendar month a year earlier. Year-to-date figures cover January through the note month in each year. Chapter 99 and unclassified codes are excluded from totals and tables. As on the Export Pulse, precious metals (HS chapter 71) are excluded from export monthly and year-to-date headline totals and changes, chapter movers and all HS4 heading movers under 71, and reported separately. Imports include chapter 71, as on the Import Pulse.
Movers are ranked by the absolute change in pounds, with positive and negative changes listed separately, up to five per table. A chapter or heading must have a value of at least £10 million in either comparison month. Products traded in only one month are included; a zero prior value has no percentage change. Ties are ordered by HS code. Descriptions follow HMRC, as on the Import Pulse.
HMRC may revise earlier figures. Rebuilding a month replaces that month's note with the latest available figures. The revision date below changes only when the data changes. Earlier notes are retained at their own URLs.
HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics · HMRC OTS API
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