Britain's trade deficit grew to £2.179 billion sterling (€3.2 billion) in April from a revised £1.913 billion in March, official figures showed yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics reported that Britain's trade gap with countries outside the European Union fell slightly to £1.164 billion in May from a revised figure of £1.367 billion in April. The global trade deficit was bigger than economists had expected. The market median forecast was for a deficit of £1.9 billion in April.