The slowdown in emerging markets has forced the UK’s trade deficit to its largest level since last summer after exports to non-EU countries decreased by £2.2bn.
Seasonally adjusted, the UK’s deficit on trade in goods and services was estimated to have been £3.1bn in July, compared with a deficit of £1.3bn in June, the Office for National Statistics said.
Exports of goods to countries outside of the EU fell by £2.2bn to £11.8bn, while exports within the EU rose slightly to £13bn.
Overall, there was a deficit of £9.9bn on goods which was partly offset by an estimated surplus of £6.8bn from services.
Samuel Tombs, UK economist at Capital Economics, said the fall in exports could be a sign of things to come.
“It seems as if the slowdown in growth in emerging markets has sapped demand for UK exports - the value of goods exports to outside the EU fell by £2.2bn,” the economist said.
“What’s more, the fact that many emerging market currencies have depreciated sharply since July, thus reducing the competitiveness of UK exports, suggests that further falls in exports to those regions may be in store.
“As a result, today’s trade figures could be an early warning that the economy cannot depend on the strong support that it received from net trade in the first half of the year for much longer.”
Elsewhere, UK production was flat between June and July, although manufacturing rose by 0.2 per cent.
