Britain's goods trade deficit with the rest of the world narrowed sharply in June, according to figures released today.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the goods trade gap narrowed to £4.277 billion from £4.981 billion in May - and well below expectations for a gap of £4.9 billion.
The goods deficit with non-EU countries was £1.44 billion compared with £2.283 billion in May and forecasts for £2.3 billion.
The ONS said it had concerns that the breakdown between EU and non-EU trade may have been distorted by changes that were under investigation in the pattern of "missing trader fraud" - tax avoidance by companies which reclaim VAT only to disappear.
