By . Hugo Duncan . PUBLISHED: . 17:52 EST, 11 September 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 03:36 EST, 12 September 2012 . Britain's economy received a much-needed fillip yesterday after exports to countries beyond Europe surged to an all-time high. Official figures showed UK firms sold a record £13.2billion worth of goods to non-European Union markets in July - up 11 per cent on the previous month. Sales to the EU were also up 7.7 per cent to £12.4billion but the proportion of exports going to the 17-nation eurozone fell to 43.6 per cent - the lowest since records began in 1988. Exports to countries beyond Europe have surged to an all-time high, shrinking the UK's trade deficit with the rest of the world . The shift to growing markets in Asia and Latin America, hailed by economists as a revolution in British trade, will cheer ministers and businesses who have toured emerging economies to forge new trade links as the single currency bloc lurches from crisis to crisis. Office for National Statistics figures showed it helped shrink Britain’s trade deficit with the rest of the world - the shortfall between exports and imports - from £4.3billion in June to £1.5billion in July. It was the largest narrowing of the trade deficit on record and fuelled hopes that Britain may finally be pulling out of recession. ‘Tellingly, non-EU exports have now been greater than exports to the EU for three consecutive months,’ said Colin Edwards, an economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research. ‘This is perhaps unsurprising given the economic malaise gripping much of the EU, driven by the sovereign debt crisis gripping the eurozone. ‘While the figures may demonstrate the weakness of the European export market more than the strength of UK exporters in non-EU markets, the change in export share may represent an important shift in the focus of UK exporters, as emerging economies become a more attractive proposition than struggling European economies.’ Number crunching: Balance of UK trade over past year (Source: ONS) The British economy shrank by 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of the year and has now been in decline for nine months - marking the longest double-dip recession for more than 50 years. But hopes are rising that the economy will finally clock up growth again in the current third quarter as business bounces back from the disruption caused by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. A Treasury spokesman said: ‘These figures are encouraging news on the UK economy and show that we are starting to earn our way in the world. The Government is working hard to deliver sustainable, export-led growth.’ The latest export figures followed the biggest surge in industrial production for 25 years. ‘It is looking ever more likely that growth in the third quarter will more than outweigh the 0.5 per cent contraction suffered in the second quarter,’ said Howard Archer, chief UK economist at research group IHS Global Insight. But with the crisis raging in the eurozone, and the global economy showing signs of slowing from the United States to China, the outlook is still uncertain. Mark Gregory, chief economist at accountant Ernst & Young, said: ‘The short-term outlook for exports remains fragile, with the eurozone on the brink of slipping back into recession and signs of a slowdown in the US and some of the main emerging markets like China and India. ‘But we are more optimistic about prospects further out, providing that the eurozone remains intact and drags itself out of recession.’
Shift to growing markets in Asia and Latin America hailed as a revolution in British trade .
By . Hugo Duncan . PUBLISHED: . 17:52 EST, 11 September 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 03:36 EST, 12 September 2012 . Britain's economy received a much-needed fillip yesterday after exports to countries beyond Europe surged to an all-time high. Official figures showed UK firms sold a record £13.2billion worth of goods to non-European Union markets in July - up 11 per cent on the previous month. Sales to the EU were also up 7.7 per cent to £12.4billion but the proportion of exports going to the 17-nation eurozone fell to 43.6 per cent - the lowest since records began in 1988. Exports to countries beyond Europe have surged to an all-time high, shrinking the UK's trade deficit with the rest of the world . The shift to growing markets in Asia and Latin America, hailed by economists as a revolution in British trade, will cheer ministers and businesses who have toured emerging economies to forge new trade links as the single currency bloc lurches from crisis to crisis. Office for National Statistics figures showed it helped shrink Britain’s trade deficit with the rest of the world - the shortfall between exports and imports - from £4.3billion in June to £1.5billion in July. It was the largest narrowing of the trade deficit on record and fuelled hopes that Britain may finally be pulling out of recession. ‘Tellingly, non-EU exports have now been greater than exports to the EU for three consecutive months,’ said Colin Edwards, an economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research. ‘This is perhaps unsurprising given the economic malaise gripping much of the EU, driven by the sovereign debt crisis gripping the eurozone. ‘While the figures may demonstrate the weakness of the European export market more than the strength of UK exporters in non-EU markets, the change in export share may represent an important shift in the focus of UK exporters, as emerging economies become a more attractive proposition than struggling European economies.’ Number crunching: Balance of UK trade over past year (Source: ONS) The British economy shrank by 0.5 per cent in the second quarter of the year and has now been in decline for nine months - marking the longest double-dip recession for more than 50 years. But hopes are rising that the economy will finally clock up growth again in the current third quarter as business bounces back from the disruption caused by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. A Treasury spokesman said: ‘These figures are encouraging news on the UK economy and show that we are starting to earn our way in the world. The Government is working hard to deliver sustainable, export-led growth.’ The latest export figures followed the biggest surge in industrial production for 25 years. ‘It is looking ever more likely that growth in the third quarter will more than outweigh the 0.5 per cent contraction suffered in the second quarter,’ said Howard Archer, chief UK economist at research group IHS Global Insight. But with the crisis raging in the eurozone, and the global economy showing signs of slowing from the United States to China, the outlook is still uncertain. Mark Gregory, chief economist at accountant Ernst & Young, said: ‘The short-term outlook for exports remains fragile, with the eurozone on the brink of slipping back into recession and signs of a slowdown in the US and some of the main emerging markets like China and India. ‘But we are more optimistic about prospects further out, providing that the eurozone remains intact and drags itself out of recession.’
the world . The shift to growing markets in Asia and Latin America, hailed by economists as a