LONDON: Exports from the UK grew at a faster rate last year than world exports for the first time in nearly a decade, according to official figures, as British businesses increased the share of goods they sold outside the European Union.
The ability of British companies to increase trade outside the single currency bloc drove the change, according to the Office for National Statistics. The figures reveal that the UK’s exporters were spreading their markets before the referendum, selling £151 billion outside the EU last year, compared with £134 billion inside.