The value of trade imports into the UK has increased by 13.1 per cent between February and March 2016, taking it to £39.8 billion.
This is £4.6 billion higher than it was in February, and £3 billion more than in March 2015, according to the latest report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
For the first quarter of the year, the total road, rail and air import trade reached £107 billion, rising by one per cent from £105 billion in 2015’s first three months.
Imported precious metals totalled £5,127 million out of an overall value of £39,807 million in March this year. Accounting for 13 per cent of the whole worth, it was the top commodity in terms of value.
ONS figures showed this was double the price from the previous month when imports of precious metals only amounted to £2,563 million.
Motor vehicles and mechanical appliances also led the import commodities, with imports reaching £5,101 million and £4,777 million respectively. However, they only increased in value by 1.4 per cent and 8.3 per cent from the previous month.
The top five commodities, which also included electronic equipment (£3,340 million) and mineral fuels (£2,240 million), made up 52 per cent of the total UK trade imports for March.
With regards to trade exports, March figures were £24.9 billion, a growth of £0.7 billion from February. However, it declined by 12.3 per cent from March last year, dropping by £3.5 billion.
This supports trade minister Lord Maude’s predictions Britain will be unable to fulfil its target to double exports to £1 trillion over the next five years. He stated that UK Trade and Investment needs to work better alongside other governmental organisations to achieve this goal, the Daily Telegraph reported.