The UK’s exporters are being squeezed from both directions – falling volumes and rising costs – according to a new analysis of official trade and business survey data by the international delivery expert Parcelhero. The findings come as the ONS’s latest UK trade bulletin shows goods exports slumped by £2.2bn (6.3%) in a single month.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) UK trade June 2026 bulletin, goods exports fell by £2.2bn in June, with exports to the EU down £1.3bn (7.4%) and exports to non-EU markets down £1 bn (5.4%). The EU decline was driven by weaker fuel, chemical and machinery exports, including a fall in pharmaceutical shipments to Germany, while the non-EU fall was linked to lower car exports to China and reduced shipments of power generation equipment to the UAE.
Goods imports fell by a much smaller £0.4bn (0.7%), meaning the UK’s goods trade deficit widened to £60.7bn for Quarter 2 (April to June) 2026 as a whole.
The international delivery expert Parcelhero has cross-referenced the ONS trade figures against the export-specific questions in the ONS’s recent Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS Wave 161), which asks businesses that have exported in the last 12 months directly about their experience. The results support the picture of a sector under sustained pressure.
Parcelhero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks, M.I.L.T., says: ‘Asked how their exporting in June 2026 compared with the same month a year earlier, 28.6% of currently trading exporters said they had exported less – up from 24.4% when the same question was last asked in March 2026. Only 13.8% said they had exported more, down from 15.1% three months earlier, while 2.5% said they had been unable to export at all. Looking specifically at manufacturing and retail, the results are even more concerning. 31.6% of manufacturers and 31.5% of wholesalers & retailers said they exported less than in June 2025.
‘The cost of exporting is climbing too. 39% of exporters said the cost of exporting in June 2026 was higher than a year ago, up from 35.3% in March, while just 2.4% reported falling costs. The manufacturing and retail sectors again fared particularly badly. 44.1% of currently trading manufacturers and 60% of wholesale & retailers said their export costs were higher than last year. On top of this, 22.9% of exporters said costs directly linked to post-EU-transition export regulation changes were still increasing, up from 21.5% in the previous survey round, and the proportion reporting no such cost increases at all fell from 42.2% to 39.2%.
‘There are signs of growing complexity too. Time spent on exporting increased for 18.9% of businesses, but the share saying their export workload had stayed the same fell sharply, from 57.1% to 47.2%, while the proportion saying they were “not sure” how it had changed rose from 17.4% to 23.1% – suggesting more exporters are finding it harder to judge or predict their own admin burden.
‘These figures confirm what a lot of exporters have been telling us anecdotally for months: it’s not just that overseas demand has gone quiet, it’s that exporting itself has become more expensive and more time-consuming. With nearly 40% of exporters saying the cost of exporting has gone up year-on-year, and almost a quarter saying costs linked to post-Brexit export rules are still rising, that’s a real drag on competitiveness for UK firms trying to sell into the EU and beyond.
‘The jump in businesses saying they’re unsure how their export workload has changed is also worth flagging. When more businesses can’t confidently say whether their admin burden has gone up or down, that’s usually a sign the rules or processes around them are shifting, not settling.
‘Our advice to exporters is to treat customs and compliance as a cost centre worth actively managing, not a fixed overhead. Reviewing paperwork processes, consolidating shipments where possible, and working with a delivery partner who understands current EU and non-EU import requirements can meaningfully reduce both direct costs and the hidden time costs that are clearly building up across the sector.
‘One chink of light on the horizon for exporters is that the amount of time they spend booking international deliveries has been slashed thanks to the introduction of Parcelhero’s new international pallet service. Until now, businesses shipping pallets and heavy freight often had to wait up to 48 hours for manual air freight quotes – an outdated process that slowed purchasing, inventory planning and delivery schedules. Parcelhero’s new door-to-door pallet shipping means quotes can now be generated in seconds, allowing businesses to compare prices, complete bookings and track shipments online – as easily as sending a parcel. To find out more about the new system and get an instant pallet freight quote online, visit https://www.parcelhero.com/en-gb/courier-services/freight
