UK Balance of Payments, The Pink Book: 2026

• The UK's current account deficit moved to £91.6 billion, or 3.0% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, widening slightly both in cash terms and as a proportion of GDP; from a revised deficit of £84.3 billion (2.9% of GDP) in 2024.

• The trade balance, including trade in precious metals, widened to a deficit of 1.3% of GDP in 2025, from a revised deficit of 0.7% of GDP in 2024.

• The primary income account deficit narrowed to a deficit of 1.2% of GDP in 2025, from 1.6% of GDP in 2024.

• The rate of return on foreign investment in the UK fell to 3.7% in 2025, and the rate of return on investment abroad fell to 3.4%, as interest rates in the UK and abroad reduced.

• The financial account recorded a net inflow of £85.6 billion (2.8% of GDP) in 2025, with net financial inflows of £574.3 billion (18.9% of GDP) and net financial outflows of £488.7 billion (16.1% of GDP).

• The value of the UK's net international investment liability position at the end of 2025 was £60.7 billion (2.0% of GDP), compared with a revised £40.9 billion (1.4% of GDP) at the end of 2024.

• Data for all periods have been open to revisions; revisions to the current account balance are because of incorporating methods improvements and updated trade, and foreign direct investment survey data.

The current account captures the flow of transactions between the UK and the rest of the world.

This includes:

• the trade balance, which is the difference between the value of exports and imports

• the primary income balance, which mainly covers investment income associated with the international ownership of financial assets, along with compensation of employees and other income

• the secondary income balance, which measures transfer payments (for example, foreign aid), made or received between residents and non-residents

The UK’s current account deficit widened slightly to 3.0% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, from a revised deficit of 2.9% of GDP in 2024. In cash terms, the deficit increased from £84.3 billion in 2024 to £91.6 billion in 2025.

The trade balance widened to a deficit of 1.3% of GDP in 2025 from a revised deficit of 0.7% of GDP in 2024. The primary income balance narrowed to a deficit of 1.2% of GDP in 2025 from 1.6% of GDP in 2024, as the direct investment surplus widened. The secondary income deficit was unchanged at 0.6% of GDP in 2025.

The UK recorded the second largest current account deficit of the G7 economies in 2025, at 3.0% of nominal GDP.

The US recorded the largest deficit in the G7, at 3.8% of GDP in 2025. The US consistently ran a high trade in goods deficit accompanied by a low average savings ratio among its residents. However, Germany had a much higher domestic savings ratio with a persistent trade in goods surplus. Japan recorded the highest current account surplus, at 4.8% of its GDP; its current account surplus was particularly supported by a large primary income surplus from its holdings of foreign assets. 

The UK trade balance widened to a deficit of £39.5 billion, which was 1.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, from a deficit of £21.1 billion (0.7% of GDP) in 2024. The UK trade balance in 2025 reflected a widening of the trade in goods deficit, partially offset by a proportionally smaller increase in the trade in services surplus (Figure 3).

Trade in goods

The trade in goods deficit widened to 7.7% of GDP (£234.3 billion) in 2025, from 6.8% of GDP (£198.0 billion) in 2024. This is largely because of a £17.8 billion widening of the deficit in commodities and transactions not classified according to kind ("unspecified goods"), which is dominated by precious metals.

There were other noteworthy contributors to the widening of the trade in goods deficit. These included a:

• £12.2 billion increase in the finished manufactured goods deficit, to £113.1 billion
  

• £5.6 billion increase in total semi-manufactured goods deficit, to £23.6 billion
  

• £3.0 billion expansion in the food, beverages and tobacco deficit, to £40.7 billion

These were partially offset by decreases in the oil deficit, which decreased by £3.4 billion to £15.0 billion, reflecting lower oil prices over the year, while the UK remained a net importer of oil.

The widening of the trade in goods deficit in 2025 was attributed to a rise in the value of goods imports compared with 2024. Total goods imports increased by £31.5 billion over the year to £624.7 billion. The largest increases were recorded in:

• total finished manufactured goods, which rose by £17.4 billion to £319.3 billion

• unspecified goods, which rose from £12.5 billion in 2024 to £27.9 billion in 2025

These increases were partly offset by imports of total oil, which fell from £51.8 billion to £43.3 billion.

Exports of goods decreased by £4.7 billion in 2025 compared with 2024, to £390.4 billion. The largest falls were recorded in:

• total oil, which fell by £5.2 billion to £28.2 billion

• total semi-manufactured goods, which decreased by £4.6 billion to £104.1 billion

• unspecified goods, which fell by £2.4 billion to £5.2 billion

These decreases were partly offset by increases in exports of total finished manufactured goods, which rose by £5.2 billion to £206.2 billion.

Trade in goods data can be found in our 02 Trade in goods, The Pink Book dataset.

Explore UK trade in goods country-by-commodity data for 2025

Explore the 2025 trade in goods data using our interactive tools. Our data break down UK trade in goods with 236 countries, by 126 commodities in our Trade in goods: country-by-commodity exports dataset and our Trade in goods: country-by-commodity imports dataset.

Use our map to get a better understanding of what goods the UK traded with countries in 2025. Select a country by hovering over it or using the drop-down menu.

Notes:

1. For more information about our methods and how we compile these statistics, see our Trade in goods, country-by-commodity experimental data: 2011 to 2016 article. Users should note that the data published alongside this release are official statistics and are no longer in development.

2. These data are our best estimate of these bilateral UK trade flows. Users should note that alternative estimates are available, in some cases, through the statistical agencies for bilateral countries or through central databases, such as United Nations (UN) Comtrade.

3. This interactive map denotes country boundaries in accordance with statistical classifications set out in Appendix A4 of the Balance of Payments (BoP) Vademecum (PDF, 1.6MB) and do not represent the UK policy on disputed territories.

You can also explore the 2025 trade in goods data by commodity, such as car exports to the EU, and UK tea or coffee imports.

Select a commodity from the drop-down menu or select the levels with your digit or cursor to explore the data.

Notes:

1. For more information about our methods and how we compile these statistics, see our Trade in goods, country-by-commodity experimental data: 2011 to 2016 article. Users should note that the data published alongside this release are official statistics and are no longer in development.

2. These data are our best estimate of these bilateral UK trade flows. Users should note that alternative estimates are available, in some cases, through the statistical agencies for bilateral countries or through central databases, such as United Nations (UN) Comtrade.

3. These interactive charts denote country boundaries in accordance with statistical classifications set out within Appendix A4 of the Balance of Payments (BoP) Vademecum (PDF, 1.6MB) and does not represent the UK policy on disputed territories.

Trade in services

The trade in services surplus widened from 6.1% of GDP (£176.9 billion) in 2024, to 6.4% of GDP (£194.8 billion) in 2025. Exports of services increased from £487.2 billion to £522.8 billion, and imports increased from £310.3 billion to £328.0 billion. The UK's strength in services continued to support export growth in 2025, benefiting from continued global demand.

The largest increases in exports were recorded in:

• financial services (by £8.4 billion)

• telecommunication, computer and information services (by £7.5 billion)

• other business services (by £7.3 billion)

• travel services (by £3.2 billion)

The largest increases in services imports, meanwhile, were recorded in:

• other business services (£6.2 billion)

• financial services (£3.2 billion)

• intellectual property services (£3.1 billion)

Trade in services data can be found in our 03 Trade in services, The Pink Book dataset.

The primary income deficit narrowed from £45.5 billion, or 1.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024, to £35.3 billion (1.2% of GDP) in 2025. This was because of an increase in net earnings on direct investment (Figure 6), which rose from £25.2 billion in 2024 to a total of £40.1 billion (1.3% of GDP) in 2025. This was partially offset by a widening of £6.4 billion in net earnings on total portfolio investment, to a total deficit of £53.4 billion (1.8% of GDP) in 2025.

Primary income data can be found in our 04 Primary income, The Pink Book dataset.

Direct investment

Net foreign direct investment (FDI) earnings have remained positive annually since 2021. In 2025, the UK's net FDI income surplus widened to £40.1 billion, above its long-term average, following a reduction in 2024. This is because of a sharper fall in FDI debits (£125.5 billion to £95.3 billion) than credits (£150.8 billion to £135.5 billion) in 2025.

Within debits, non-residents earned £27.1 billion less from earnings on their UK equity investments, down over a quarter from £99.8 billion in 2024 to £72.7 billion in 2025. Dividend payments decreased to a total of £64.1 billion, a fall of £43.5 billion from an unusually high level of dividend payments in 2024.

Within credits, UK residents received lower direct investment income from abroad in 2025, falling by £15.3 billion to £135.5 billion. Equity earnings fell by £8.3 billion, led by a fall of £17.7 billion in dividends.

In 2025, the private non-financial corporation sector accounted for the largest changes in direct investment income compared with 2024, with credits £10.0 billion lower and debits £40.5 billion lower.

Portfolio investment

The widening of the net portfolio investment deficit by £6.4 billion in 2025 was largely from an increase in earnings of £8.4 billion paid out on UK debt securities to non-resident portfolio investors. This included an £8.9 billion increase in earnings on British government stocks (gilts). This was partially offset by increased earnings on equity and investment fund shares of £4.0 billion for UK residents.

Rate of return

The rate of return reflects how much income is produced from a stock of external investment that is held by UK and non-resident investors. The rate of return is influenced by economic and financial factors, such as changes in interest rates.

In 2024, the rates of return for both UK investors abroad and non-resident investors in the UK had been at their highest point since 2008. In 2025, UK investors saw a decrease in the rate of return on their overseas investments abroad (assets) from 3.8% in 2024 to 3.4% in 2025. Non-residents saw a comparative decrease in their rate of return in the UK (liabilities), from 4.1% to 3.7%. The reduction in rates of return for assets and liabilities occurred as the Bank of England and foreign central banks lowered interest rates throughout 2025.

Figure 8 shows the rate of return for UK investments abroad, broken down by continent. In 2025, the rate of return decreased for all continents compared with the previous year. The largest decline in the rate of return was in Africa, which decreased from 7.4% in 2024 to 1.6% in 2025, making it the continent that provided the lowest rate of return.

The rate of return on African assets has historically been volatile because of their developing economies, and the proportion of investments in cyclical industries, like mining and quarrying. The rate of return from assets in more developed economies decreased much less in Europe, the Americas and Asia. Asia provided the highest rate of return, at 3.9%.

Figure 9 shows the rate of return for foreign investments in the UK, broken down by continent.

The financial account records transactions in the net acquisition of financial assets and net incurrence of liabilities of the UK. It consists of direct, portfolio and other investment, along with financial derivatives, employee stock options and reserve assets. For more detailed definitions, refer to our interactive glossary.

The UK is a net borrower with the rest of the world because of its current account deficit, and it must attract net financial inflows to finance this current (and capital) account deficit. This can be achieved by disposing of overseas assets to overseas investors, or by accruing liabilities with the rest of the world. The UK has run an annual current account deficit since 1984.

The financial account recorded a net inflow of £85.6 billion, or 2.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025. Figure 10 shows that in 2025, financial outflows increased by £198.0 billion from 2024 to a total of £488.7 billion. This was mainly because of increased investment in currency and deposits abroad by UK residents. Financial inflows increased by £189.6 billion to £574.3 billion in 2025; this was affected by higher foreign currency deposits from abroad with UK monetary financial institutions.

Net outflows from other investment, which includes transactions in loans, deposits and currency, decreased from £23.5 billion in 2024, to £0.9 billion in 2025. In contrast, total net portfolio investment was broadly unchanged, with net inflows of £83.8 billion in 2024 and £83.9 billion in 2025. Net direct investment inflows narrowed, from £46.2 billion in 2024 to £21.2 billion in 2025.

UK assets (outflows)

The largest change for UK assets from 2024 to 2025 was in other investment abroad, increasing to an outflow of £401.8 billion in 2025, compared with an outflow of £297.1 billion in 2024. UK residents increased their investments in currency and deposits abroad from £50.6 billion to £212.0 billion. This was partially offset by a fall in UK residents' investments in short-term loans abroad, from £243.4 billion in 2024 to £193.7 billion in 2025.

UK residents increased portfolio investments overseas to £60.6 billion in 2025, compared with £37.5 billion in 2024. Contributing to this change was an increase in net purchases of debt securities, from £70.0 billion in 2024 to £81.0 billion in 2025. UK residents continued to sell equity securities, with inflows of £37.1 billion in 2025, compared with £43.0 billion in 2024. This is because UK monetary financial institutions (MFIs) and other financial intermediaries (OFIs) sold their equity overseas.

UK liabilities (inflows)

The most notable change in UK liabilities was in other investment. This rose from £273.5 billion in 2024 to £400.9 billion in 2025, as foreign residents increased their investment in foreign currency deposits in UK banks from £252.6 billion in 2024 to £360.3 billion in 2025. This was partially offset by foreign residents reducing their investment in UK loans, from £46.4 billion in 2024 to £42.7 billion in 2025. These movements were consistent with increased cross-border banking activity during 2025, contributing to higher deposit positions held overseas by UK residents, and in UK banks by foreign residents.

Total portfolio investment inflows into the UK rose from £121.3 billion to £144.4 billion. This was largely because foreign investment in UK equity and investment fund shares switched from net sales of £5.7 billion in 2024 to net purchases of £34.7 billion in 2025. Foreign demand for UK equities strengthened during 2025, possibly reflecting comparatively strong performance in UK equity markets, and portfolio diversification by international investors.

Net purchases of short-term debt securities issued by UK MFIs rose to £32.2 billion. This was partially offset by lower net foreign purchases of UK government stock (gilts), which fell from an unusually high level of £102.0 billion in 2024 to £28.5 billion in 2025. Transactions in gilts by foreign residents (excluding central banks) fell from £78.7 billion in 2024 to £37.6 billion in 2025, while foreign central banks were net sellers of £9.1 billion in 2025.

Information on the financial account can be found in our 07 Financial account, The Pink Book dataset.

The international investment position (IIP) measures the stock of assets and liabilities at the end of a period. For the annual IIP position, this is 31 December. The IIP reflects the financial flows through the year, and other changes, such as price movements and currency changes.

If all else remained the same, a current account deficit would be expected to lead to a fall in the net IIP. This would happen when an economy either incurred net financial liabilities or sold existing assets to finance its net borrowing from the rest of the world. However, there can also be revaluation effects and other changes in volume that do not reflect financial flows. Information on the IIP can be found in our 08 International investment position, The Pink Book dataset.

The net IIP liability position was valued at £60.7 billion, or 2.0% of gross domestic product (GDP), at the end of 2025. This is compared with £40.9 billion (1.4% of GDP) at the end of 2024. The change was largely because of portfolio investment, which moved from a net asset position of £22.1 billion, to a net liability position of £84.8 billion. This was partially offset by direct investment, which reduced its net liability position from £271.4 billion in 2024 to £114.7 billion in 2025.

The remainder of this section considers the main contributors of change in the IIP, referring to investments that include the three main types of investments:

• direct investment

• portfolio investment

• other investment

This section excludes financial derivatives, employee stock options, and reserve assets because it is only possible to estimate the impact of both currency and price changes on the three main types of investments.

In most years, the financial flows are one of the main factors causing the change in the UK's assets and liabilities. However, the variations in stock reflect not only the net accumulation of new assets and liabilities, but also the revaluation of existing ones, and changes in the sterling exchange rate.

Changes in exchange rates affect the sterling value of UK assets abroad, as they are mainly denominated in foreign currencies. Equity price movements can also affect the value of assets and liabilities, but not the underlying volume.

Figure 12 and Figure 13 show how net financial inflows, together with larger price increases on UK liabilities (compared with UK assets), contributed to the widening of the UK's net liability position by the end of 2025. This was partially offset by other changes, largely in direct investment.

UK assets

The total value of UK assets, excluding derivatives and reserve assets, increased by £542.5 billion from the end of 2024 to the end of 2025. UK assets rose across portfolio investment (by £414.1 billion) and other investment (by £264 billion), partially offset by a £135.6 billion fall in direct investment. Total flows increased by £191.9 billion, to £470.1 billion.

Price changes further boosted asset values by £421.6 billion, which was caused largely by strong performance in international markets. Strong gains across major international equity markets during 2025 increased the value of UK-held overseas assets. Price increases in overseas equity markets were therefore a major contributor to the rise in UK external asset values.

The US stock markets reached an all-time high in December 2025 during unexpected resilience to trade policy, optimism about artificial intelligence (AI), and interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

However, the overall appreciation of the British pound against the US dollar reduced the value of foreign assets when converted to sterling, decreasing UK asset values by £175.7 billion. In addition, other changes, such as financial adjustments not attributed to price or exchange rate effects, contributed to a further £173.6 billion fall in assets, mostly in direct investment (£153.6 billion).

UK liabilities

The value of UK liabilities, excluding derivatives and special drawing rights, increased by £606.4 billion between 2024 and 2025. Other investment and portfolio investment rose by £377.8 billion and £520.9 billion, respectively. This was partially offset by a £293.3 billion fall in direct investment into the UK.

Overall, flows amounted to £574.3 billion, while price changes added a further £455.7 billion. This was largely the effect of the FTSE 100 increasing throughout 2025, as interest rate cuts increased confidence in the prospects for British banking, mining and defence companies. Currency revaluations, however, offset part of these gains as the strengthening British pound reduced the sterling value of foreign-held UK assets, by £170.4 billion. Other changes also affected the total, decreasing liabilities by £253.1 billion. This was largely in direct investment (£321.2 billion), partially offset by an increase of £110.9 billion in other investment.

Overall net price changes were negative in the IIP, as the FTSE 100 outperformed global equity markets during 2025. Additionally, net currency changes were negative, since some UK liabilities are denominated in sterling, and therefore are unaffected by the British pound's appreciation, reducing total assets more than total liabilities.

Although both UK assets and liabilities increased in value during 2025, the increase in liabilities exceeded the increase in assets. As a result, the UK's net IIP moved further into a net liability position during the year.

We have calculated currency changes by calculating sterling exchange rate movements against a weighted basket of the US dollar, euro and Japanese yen to estimate the exchange rate impact. Similarly, we model price movements using a combination of stocks and bond indices, including end-quarter share prices for:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average index

• Euro Stoxx 50 index

• FTSE 100 index

• Nikkei 225 index

For more information, see our Understanding the UK's net international investment position article.

UK international investment position (IIP) assets and liabilities 2025

Notes:

1. Please note, this experimental map includes the UK's largest counterpart countries.
2. Investment data for 2025 does not include annual benchmark data.
3. Historical data can be found in 10 Geographical breakdown of the UK international investment position, The Pink Book.

Data sources

Balance of payments statistics are compiled from a variety of sources produced in the national accounts sector and financial accounts (SFA) framework. Some of the main sources used in the compilation are:

• overseas trade statistics – HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)

• International Trade in Services Survey (ITIS) – Office for National Statistics (ONS)

• International Passenger Survey (IPS) – ONS; this was suspended between March 2020 and January 2021 because of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, and is currently undergoing transformation

• foreign direct investment (FDI) survey – ONS and the Bank of England (BoE)

• various financial inquiries – ONS and BoE

• ownership of UK quoted shares survey – ONS

Trade is measured through exports and imports of goods and services. Data are supplied by over 30 sources, including several administrative sources. HMRC is the largest for trade in goods. ITIS is the largest single data source for trade in services.

Changes affecting UK trade statistics

Removal of European Monetary Union series

Following a review of our publication tables, we are proposing to no longer publish the data series for European Monetary Union (EMU) member countries in our future releases, starting in July 2027. The following series would be removed from chapter 9.8 of our Pink Book dataset and our corresponding time series dataset: 

• N3BZ

• N3SJ

• N3XV

• N3SP

• N3XW

• N3C2

• N3SK

• N3XX

• N3SQ

• N3XY

• N3C3

• N3SL

• N3XZ

• N3SR

• N3Y2 

Historical EMU data would remain available in previously published datasets. 

We welcome feedback on this proposal and any potential impact it may have on your use of these statistics.

Please contact bop@ons.gov.uk by 10 November 2026 if you would like to share your views or require further information.

Trade in Goods data collection changes

Since the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, the arrangements for how the UK trades with the EU have changed. HMRC implemented some data collection changes following Brexit, which affected statistics on UK trade in goods with the EU.

We have made adjustments to our estimates of goods imports from the EU in 2021 and 2022 to account for these changes. However, a structural break remains in the full time series for goods imports from and exports to the EU from January 2021.

We therefore advise caution when interpreting and drawing conclusions from these statistics. Our Impact of trade in goods data collection changes on UK trade statistics: summary of adjustments and the structural break from 2021 article provides more detail.

In this Pink Book, we have incorporated updated 2024 data to inform our measurement of globalisation and multi-national enterprises (MNEs). This replaces the imputed data previously used for 2024 estimates and mainly affects chemicals, expanding upon the pharmaceutical industry review, implemented in Blue Book and Pink Book 2025.

Allocation of precious metals

Our headline trade statistics contain the UK's exports and imports of non-monetary gold, in line with international standards. More information is available in our National Accounts article: A brief explanation of non-monetary gold in national accounts article.

We previously implemented improvements to the way we record trade in precious metals from 2024 onwards, as part of our methods improvements for Blue Book and Pink Book 2025. For more information, see our Blue Book and Pink Book 2025: UK trade impact estimates article.

We have continued to monitor trends and make improvements to our methods for recording trade in precious metals. In spring 2026, we identified and removed further double counting of some precious metals bars for periods across 2024 and 2025. As part of methods improvements for Blue Book and Pink Book 2026, we have implemented these changes prior to 2024.

We have made improvements to the allocation of precious metals in Blue Book and Pink Book 2026. As a result, we have reallocated silver, platinum and palladium bullion from the "semi-manufactured goods" commodity group to the "in commodities and transactions not classified according to kind" commodity group.

Precious metals include non-monetary gold, silver bullion, platinum bullion, and palladium bullion. Non-monetary gold forms the majority of the commodity group "commodities and transactions not classified according to kind", and is the technical term for gold bullion not owned by central banks.

International trade in services estimates

From September 2025 until early 2027, ITIS data, which account for approximately 50% of total trade in services, are being processed once per quarter. During this period, the data are based on a survey response rate of approximately 60% to 70%. This enables more focus on improving processing systems and ensuring methods and quality in the future.

The ITIS data that inform trade in services estimates have been updated in this publication to incorporate the 2024 annual survey.

The IPS, which is the source of travel services estimates, accounting for approximately 8% of total trade, is being transformed under our travel and tourism project. The travel services estimates have been forecast since Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2024 and will be forecast during travel and tourism transformation.

Financial sector statistics

Our Financial Services Survey (FSS) is undergoing transformation to improve the quality of our financial sector statistics. Since the transformation period started in 2025, financial services statistics in this release have been based on forecasts.

Foreign direct investment statistics

The main source of information for UK FDI statistics is the annual FDI survey. Separate surveys are used to collect data on inward and outward FDI. This is combined with data from the BoE on the banking sector.

The statistics in this bulletin are compiled using the asset and liability measurement principle, which uses residency as the main distinction between outward and inward investments. This publication includes updated benchmarked FDI data for 2023.

Quality and methodology

More quality and methodology information (QMI) on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Balance of payments QMI.

We will continue to produce our UK balance of payments statistics in line with the UK Statistics Authority's Code of Practice for Statistics and in accordance with internationally agreed statistical guidance and standards. This is based on the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) Balance of Payments Manual sixth edition (BPM6) (PDF, 3.0MB), until those standards are updated.