UK Oct goods trade deficit widest since Jan

Britain's goods trade deficit with the rest of the world widened unexpectedly in October to its biggest since January as imports rose more than exports despite the weakness of the pound, official data showed on Wednesday.

The Office for National Statistics said that Britain's goods trade gap widened to 7.108 billion pounds in October from a downwardly revised 6.939 billion pounds in September. Economists had forecast a deficit of 6.85 billion pounds.

Exports volumes rose by 3.8 percent in October while imports rose by 4.3 percent.

Both exports and imports have been rising in recent months, reflecting a recovery in global trade after last year's sharp downturn.

So far, the weakness of sterling has done little to reduce Britain's trade gap, but economists are hoping it will help net trade make a positive contribution to growth going forward.

The goods trade gap with non-EU countries narrowed slightly more than expected to 3.533 billion pounds from September's 3.774 billion pounds, broadly in line with forecasts for a deficit of 3.6 billion pounds.

Britain's oil deficit narrowed to 92 million pounds in October, the smallest since May, helped by growth in exports which were boosted as maintenance work on North Sea oil rigs came to an end. Oil imports also fell slightly.