Britain's trade deficit with the rest of the world widened unexpectedly to £4.41 billion (€6.4 billion) in November from £4.25 billion the month before as exports fell faster than imports, official data showed yesterday.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said exports in the month fell 2 per cent to £15.5 billion, mainly due to a sharp fall in oil exports, while imports sank just under 1 per cent to £19.9 billion.

The surplus on trade in oil fell to just £202 million from £235 million in October. The ONS said the Department of Trade and Industry could offer no explanation for the low number although previous months had been dogged by maintenance shutdowns in the North Sea.

In the latest three months, the UK suffered a record trade deficit of £13.1 billion, up from £11.6 billion in the three months to August. The breakdown of the numbers also showed that exports to the US fell by nearly 10 per cent on the month to £2.3 billion in spite of the rapid growth in the US economy. - (Reuters)