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GSS Trade workplan

Headline official statistics for UK trade are produced and published by Office for National Statistics (ONS) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Primary data sources for trade in goods collected and processed by HMRC are customs declarations data (GB trade) and the Intrastat survey (NI and EU trade). Trade in services data are collected via several business surveys, for example, the International Trade in Services survey.

Other departments also collect or compile and publish trade statistics relevant to their policy area, including the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Medium-term objectives

As well as producing and publishing the statistics listed on this page and making the underlying data available, where appropriate to do so, work is undertaken across the GSS to further develop trade statistics, improve approaches to producing and communicating statistics, and develop new statistics to meet user needs.

This section outlines key cross-cutting objectives for the medium-term (3 years). Some of these development areas represent longer-term ambitions rather than confirmed objectives, as their delivery is contingent on securing appropriate resources and funding across the relevant GSS departments.

The activities described in this work plan relate to existing statistical publications, their improvement, and in some cases the development of new statistical outputs to meet user needs.

To meet evolving user needs and support government growth objectives, it is important to identify and address gaps in trade data and evidence. This includes ensuring the availability of robust datasets for trade policy analysis including sanction circumvention and supply chain monitoring (in particular the DBT Global Supply Chains Intelligence Programme).

Improving the completeness, granularity, and timeliness of trade statistics will underpin better decision-making and strengthen the UK’s ability to respond to global economic challenges. There is particular focus on national and regional trade in services data.

The measurement of digital trade is another area of focus. Development work involves incorporating administrative data sources and exploring the potential reinstatement of the Digital Economy Survey, subject to ongoing prioritisation discussions at ONS.

Alongside this, innovation in statistical methods and data collection will be promoted to improve data quality and responsiveness to emerging trends.

Research and analytical development will focus on understanding the complex relationships between trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), business characteristics, and intra-firm trade.

Linked firm-level datasets will be developed to investigate how international trade influences labour productivity, while further analysis will examine the impact of imports on jobs and incomes.Monitoring the uptake and effects of freeports on trade statistics coverage will also be important.

To capture the dynamic nature of global trade, real-time data sources such as customs declarations and shipping information could be leveraged to analyse the impacts of global events.

Continuous enhancements to core trade statistics methodology including national and regional chain volume measures and deflators will improve accuracy and relevance.

Regional and sectoral detail of trade statistics is another area of focus. The harmonisation and coherence of trade statistics across the UK should be strengthened with work towards comparable regional and interregional trade statistics, including investigating the potential for a UK-wide trade survey.

Northern Ireland aim to develop more granular trade in goods and country-level imports data. Collaboration across departments should work towards more consistency in sector definitions, while international engagement could help reduce trade asymmetries. Preparatory work for implementing new international frameworks such as SNA, BPM7, and OECD definitions will also be undertaken.

Modernisation of statistical processes for trade statistics is another objective across the GSS. Transitioning to open-source software and reproducible analytical pipelines will improve efficiency, quality and transparency. New platforms for analysis and quality assurance of trade in goods statistics will be investigated incorporating advanced techniques such as AI and machine learning.

Enhanced data sharing arrangements will facilitate access to detailed, unpublished trade microdata, while improved dissemination tools — including consolidated HTML pages, improving signposting between trade statistics publications and expanded dashboards — will make trade statistics more accessible and user-friendly.

Priority areas of activity for 2026

ONS will focus on preparing for the implementation of updated international statistical frameworks, monitoring the effects of policy changes and global events on trade through:

  • regular releases
  • developing a comprehensive national trade statistics user guide
  • transitioning away from outdated processing systems
  • investigating as well as addressing any potential bias in trade in services data revisions.

Further details on ONS’ priorities for improving UK trade statistics are available in the plan for ONS economic statistics.

Key priorities for HMRC include launching the new Trade-in-Good System platform, which will be used for processing and producing trade statistics. There will also be continued efforts to pursue ongoing methodological improvements to the statistics produced.

Additionally, a review will be undertaken to assess the appropriateness of including ‘unallocated known’ importers within UK business counts.

DBT is progressing a comprehensive research agenda to address key data gaps and improve the measurement of UK trade flows, enabling more informed policy and economic analysis.

A central focus is on improving access to granular trade data and developing innovative methodologies, including a novel regional dataset that will offer for the first time insights into how UK ITL1 regions are economically connected – both within the UK (inter-regionally) and with the rest of the world (internationally) – within the OECD’s Trade in Value Added (TiVA) framework.

Additional research priorities include better capturing complex trade phenomena such as transit and intra-firm trade, and improving understanding of the labour market implications of import activity by business and personal characteristics.

DCMS will publish annual trade statistics for DCMS sectors and work with users to understand their needs and identify improvements and development priorities. This will include starting to assess the feasibility of developments such as inflation-adjusted estimates, regional trade statistics and aligning goods and services estimates.

Defra will publish annual UK trade in Food, Feed and Drink statistics adjusted for trade price inflation and improve internal access to trade data.

NISRA will develop a consolidated HTML page for NI-GB trade statistics, create country-level imports data from NIETS, explore development of chained volume measures for NI trade in goods using HMRC data.

The Scottish Government intends to adopt open-source software for the production of trade statistics and publish Export Statistics Scotland in November 2025, including its back-series.  They will also develop and review inflation-adjusted trade in goods estimates and broaden the Export Performance Monitor to provide more comprehensive analysis, particularly with inflation-adjusted data.

Subject to available resources, further analysis will be developed on trade in renewables and minority representation in exports.

The Welsh Government’s priorities for the coming year include updating the International goods trade dashboard in line with HMRC RTS releases and exploring supplemental data to assess the future viability of the paused Trade Survey for Wales.

Efforts will be made to work with HMRC to access trade statistics for economic analysis relating to tariffs and free trade agreements, and to update comparative advantage analysis for Welsh exports.

Collaboration with the ONS and Scottish Government will focus on developing chained volume measures for Welsh trade in goods.

Further objectives involve supporting Border Target Operating Model data sharing to analyse Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) trade through Welsh ports, monitoring and planning future iterations of Wales’ supply and input-output tables, and refreshing work on Welsh trade patterns, with ONS support where possible.

Trade statistics publications across the GSS

In addition to publishing headline trade statistics, UK government departments offer secure access to detailed, unpublished trade data for accredited analysts and researchers under specific conditions.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) provides trade in services data through the Secure Research Service (SRS), a trusted research environment, enabling collaborative, de-identified data research for public benefit.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) shares detailed trade in goods data through the HMRC Data Lab and SRS with legal data sharing arrangements available under frameworks such as the Trade Act 2021. The implications of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 on data sharing will need to be considered.

The Scottish Government’s Global Connections Survey (GCS) data is shared with the ONS under data agreements, while aggregated and controlled data is available more broadly for statistical purposes.

Northern Ireland’s Business Data for Research (BDR), developed by Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and partners, is accessible to accredited researchers with relevant approvals. NISRA can also make detailed business survey microdata available to Government Departments through data access agreements, facilitated through a Ministerial Direction process.

Access to Welsh Government trade microdata requires a formal request and agreement, with past privacy notices permitting anonymous data linkage for approved research projects.

No substantial changes are planned to existing publications. Changes will be made in accordance with ongoing development work, where required, which may involve new publications, for example on digital trade.

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