A trade balance is the difference between the value of a country’s exports to other countries compared with imports from them. A positive balance is generated when a country exports more than it imports and is referred to as a trade surplus. A negative balance is referred to as a trade deficit or trade gap and shows the opposite situation.
For more information about Britain’s trade in pharmaceuticals, please visit Pharmaceutical trade in the UK.
Figure 1 – World trade in pharmaceuticals
The UK is ranked in the group of countries with substantial positive trade balances. The table below shows the trade values in £million for a number of key countries.
| Ireland |
459,061.50 |
63,556.16 |
395,505.33 |
|---|
| Switzerland |
641,208.98 |
259,881.29 |
381,327.68 |
|---|
| Germany |
818,881.76 |
616,729.46 |
202,152.30 |
|---|
| Sweden |
111,351.12 |
49,436.07 |
61,915.06 |
|---|
| France |
422,541.38 |
366,778.00 |
55,763.38 |
|---|
| Netherlands |
348,811.42 |
327,682.57 |
21,128.85 |
|---|
| UK |
22,245.03 |
15,515.45 |
6,729.58 |
|---|
| Spain |
145,967.24 |
194,075.19 |
-48,107.95 |
|---|
| Italy |
222,092.29 |
278,248.01 |
-56,155.72 |
|---|
| Japan |
62,507.39 |
228,504.39 |
-165,997.01 |
|---|
| USA |
570,084.36 |
877,982.51 |
-307,898.15 |
|---|
Sources:
OECD, STAN Bilateral Trade Database by Industry and End-use category.
HM Revenue and Customs, UK Trade Info 2010, released February 2011.