Britain's goods trade deficit widened in September to its highest since the series began in 1998 after a record rise in imports, official data showed today.

The Office for National Statistics said that Britain's goods trade deficit widened to £9.814 billion in September from an upwardly revised £8.617 billion in August. Economists had forecast a much smaller widening in the deficit to £8.0 billion.

The rise in the deficit was driven by a £1.2 billion surge in imports to £34.273 billion, a series high and which reflected imports of oil, chemicals and silver. Exports, meanwhile, rose by less than £0.1 billion.

The ONS said there were bigger than usual changes to the August data, following a seasonal adjustment review and revised data from the tax authorities - which is the main source of data - and resulted in the August rise in exports being revised away.

The goods trade gap with non-EU countries widened to £5.715 billion in September from an upwardly revised £5.142 billion August. That was the highest since December 2010 and well above forecasts for a deficit of £4.88 billion.

The British economy has barely grown in the last year and policymakers are worried that a sharp slowdown in Britain's main trading partners could tip the UK back into recession.

The Bank of England last month resumed its quantitative easing programme with a £75 billion cash injection aimed at shoring up the recovery.

Many economists reckon the central bank will have to add more cash in February as the spiralling debt crisis presents a further threat to economic prospects.

Policymakers have long hoped that manufacturing will help drive the recovery, but output growth has been hit by falling demand for exports, while cash-strapped Britons are increasingly reining in spending, hurting domestic demand.

Reuters