Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many UK businesses recorded by HMRC as exporting goods to the EU in 2019 remained trading in 2024 but recorded no goods exports to the EU that year.

HMRC does not hold information on the number of UK businesses that exported goods to the European Union (EU) in 2019 and remained trading in 2024 but recorded no goods exports to the EU in that year.

Prior to the end of the EU Exit transition period on 31 December 2020, goods movements between the UK and EU were not subject to customs declarations. Information on trade in goods between the UK and EU was instead collected through the Intrastat system, which was designed to support trade statistics rather than identify the full population of EU-exporting businesses.

As a result, HMRC does not hold a complete and directly comparable record of all businesses exporting goods to the EU in 2019. Consequently, it is not possible to accurately determine how many businesses that exported to the EU in 2019 remained trading in 2024 but recorded no exports to the EU during that year.