UK trade deficit narrows less than expected in July

09:30 09Sep09 RTRS-UK trade deficit narrows less than expected in July

LONDON, Sept 9 - Britain's goods trade deficit with the rest of the world narrowed less than expected in July as the oil deficit rose to its widest in a year, official data showed on Wednesday.

The Office for National Statistics said Britain's global goods trade gap narrowed fractionally to 6.479 billion pounds from an upwardly revised 6.515 billion in June. Economists had forecast a deficit of 6.3 billion pounds.

The value of British exports rose 5 percent on the month to 19.187 billion pounds, its fastest increase since January 2008. The total value of imports, meanwhile, rose by 3.5 percent to 25.666 billion pounds. -

The oil deficit widened to 537 million pounds from 433 million pounds in June as summer maintenance work curbed North Sea production. That deficit was the highest since July 2008, when there was also maintenance work.

Britain's goods trade gap with non-EU countries widened to 3.925 billion pounds from 3.667 billion pounds. Analysts had forecast a deficit of 3.5 billion pounds.

The total global trade gap, which includes services where Britain runs a surplus, widened to 2.447 billion pounds from 2.366 billion pounds, taking it to its highest since March.