Check yourself
Can you name the five biggest exporters? Total exports of goods and services in US dollars, not per person, in any order.
China is first and the United States second. Germany is third, the United Kingdom fourth and France fifth. The Netherlands is sixth, not far behind France.
The five largest exporters of goods and services
| Rank | Country | US$ trillion | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 4.11 | 2025 |
| 2 | United States | 3.22 | 2024 |
| 3 | Germany | 2.04 | 2025 |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 1.22 | 2025 |
| 5 | France | 1.12 | 2025 |
Total for the whole economy, not per person
Data: World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0).
Services lift Britain above France
The United Kingdom sells more to the rest of the world than France does, and the difference lies in services. Banking, insurance, law, consulting, shipping and teaching foreign students all count as exports when the customer is abroad, and together services make up more than half of what Britain sells. France outsells Britain on goods, so it is services alone that put the United Kingdom fourth.
On goods alone Britain ranks tenth
Count only physical goods and the United Kingdom is tenth, behind China, Germany, South Korea, Japan, Italy, France, Mexico, the Netherlands and Canada on the Growth Lab at Harvard’s customs figures. Gold makes the goods figure harder to read still: London is one of the world’s main centres for trading gold bullion, and gold that changes hands between British and foreign owners counts as trade wherever it is stored, although Britain produces very little of it.
Name whether a trade figure includes services
Before you use the UK’s export record as evidence, say whether the figure covers goods, services or both. Britain ranks fourth on goods and services together but tenth on goods alone, so the measure you choose can change the conclusion.
Add services and Britain ranks fourth among exporters; count goods alone and it ranks tenth.