U.K. Visible Trade Gap Narrows In February

The U.K. visible trade deficit narrowed in February, while the surplus on services declined from the prior month, data from Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday. The deficit on trade in goods fell to GBP 9.1 billion in February from GBP 9.5 billion in January. The shortfall was expected to decline to GBP 9.2 billion. Exports of goods slipped 1.6 percent from January to GBP 23.5 billion. Similarly, imports dropped 2.2 percent to GBP 32.6 billion. Meanwhile, the surplus on services totaled GBP 7 billion compared to January's GBP 7.3 billion surplus. The combined deficit on trade in goods and services decreased marginally to GBP 2.1 billion from GBP 2.2 billion in January.