National statistics

Unscheduled corrections to overseas trade statistics for 2011 to 2017: summary report

Published 9 August 2019

About this release

This article summarises the unscheduled corrections made to overseas trade in goods statistics for 2011 to 2017. Supporting data tables which detail the corrections implemented can be found at UK Trade Info

Summary

Following quality assurance and checking procedures, HMRC has identified several areas where businesses had submitted incorrect trade data on their original trade declarations.

Corrections have been applied to the Overseas Trade in Goods statistics from 2011 to 2017.

These corrections have been released today in line with the UK Statistical Authority Code of Practice for Statistics and the HMRC Revision Policy.

These revisions are reflected in the interactive data tables available on the HMRC trade data website. These revisions are reflected in the interactive data tables available on the HMRC trade data website.

Unscheduled corrections - exports 2011 to 2017

The corrections made to exports from 2011 to 2017 are:

• Beverages, UK exports to EU countries
  • £78.3 million decrease for Chapter 22, 2017
• Mineral Fuels, UK exports to EU countries in Chapter 27
  • Electricity
    • £0.1 million decrease for 2012
    • £2.3 million decrease for 2013
    • £1.0 million decrease for 2014
    • £0.5 million decrease for 2016
  • Natural Gas
    • £7.4 million increase for 2015
  • Below Threshold Trade (BTTA), Chapter 27
    • £0.2 million decrease for 2015
    • £0.1 million decrease for 2016
• Trousers, UK exports to EU countries
  • 101 million kg decrease for Chapter 62, 2015, with no change to associated value
• Iron and Steel, UK exports to EU countries
  • £4.5 million of movement within Chapter 72, 2017
• Articles of Iron or Steel, UK exports to EU countries
  • £17,779 decrease of BTTA for Chapter 73, 2017, and other movement within the chapter
• Mechanical Appliances, UK exports to EU countries
  • £10,830 decrease of BTTA for Chapter 84, 2017, and other movement within the chapter
• Electronic Equipment, UK exports to EU countries
  • £41,861 decrease for Chapter 85, 2017, and other movement within the chapter
• Fish, UK exports to non-EU countries
  • £24,702 decrease for Chapter 03, 2012.
  • £117,536 decrease for Chapter 03, 2013,
  • £1,263 decrease for Chapter 03, 2014, and other movement within the chapter
• Tea, UK exports to non-EU countries
  • £1.9 million decrease for Chapter 09, 2015, with no changes to associated net mass or supplementary units
• Beverages, UK exports to non-EU countries
  • £52.7 million decrease for Chapter 22, 2016, with no changes to associated net mass or supplementary units
• Diesel Generators, UK exports to non-EU countries
  • £4,400 decrease for Chapter 85, 2016, with other movement within the chapter
• Sports Equipment, UK exports to non-EU countries
  • £0.2 million of movement within Chapter 95, 2016
  • 3.3 million unit decrease of supplementary units for Chapter 95, 2016

Unscheduled corrections - imports 2011 to 2017

The corrections made to imports from 2011 to 2017 are:

• Live Animals, UK imports from EU countries
  • £1.4 million decrease for Chapter 01, 2014, and other movement within the chapter
• Meat and Edible Offal, UK imports from EU countries
  • £0.6 million decrease for Chapter 02, 2016, and other movement within the chapter
• Apples, UK imports from EU countries
  • 145 million kg decrease to net mass for Chapter 08, 2017, with no change to associated value
• Coal, UK imports from EU countries
  • £12.6 million increase for HS4 2701, 2011
  • £4.8 million increase for HS4 2701, 2012
• Cosmetics, UK imports from EU countries
  • £23.7 million increase for Chapter 33, 2017
• Leather goods, UK imports from EU countries
  • £0.2 million increase for Chapter 42, 2017
• Wood, UK imports from EU countries
  • £4.4 million decrease for Chapter 44, 2014, and other movement within the chapter
• Paper, UK import from EU countries
  • £0.3 million increase for Chapter 48, 2017
• Articles of Stone, UK imports from EU countries
  • £1.2 million increase for Chapter 68, 2014
• Electronic Equipment, UK imports from EU countries
  • £0.3 million decrease for Chapter 85, 2017, and other movement within the chapter
• Motor Vehicles, UK imports from EU countries
  • £424 million of movement within Chapter 87, 2013
  • £418 million of movement within Chapter 87, 2014
  • £467 million of movement within Chapter 87, 2015
  • £468 million of movement within Chapter 87, 2016
  • £544 million of movement within Chapter 87, 2017
• Beverages, UK imports from non-EU countries
  • £1,708 of movement between countries within Chapter 22, 2015
• Coal, UK imports from non-EU countries
  • £12.6 million decrease for HS4 2701, 2011, and other movement within the chapter
  • £4.8 million decrease for HS4 2701, 2012, and other movement within the chapter
  • £36.6 million of movement within HS4 2701, 2013
  • £116 million of movement within HS4 2701, 2014
• Natural Gas, UK imports from non-EU countries
  • £292 million increase for HS4 2711, 2011
  • £349 million increase for HS4 2711, 2012
  • £305 million increase for HS4 2711, 2013
  • £210 million increase for HS4 2711, 2014
  • £136 million increase for HS4 2711, 2015
  • £148 million increase for HS4 2711, 2016
• Books and Newspapers, UK imports from non-EU countries
  • £787 of movement between countries within Chapter 49, 2016
• Articles of Iron or Steel, UK imports from non-EU countries
  • £1,904 of movement between countries within Chapter 73, 2015
• Machinery, UK imports from non-EU countries
  • £3.4 million of movement within Chapter 84, 2011
  • £1.3 million of movement within Chapter 84, 2012

Explanatory notes

1. The Code of Practice for statistics defines unscheduled corrections as “Amendments made to published statistics in response to the identification of errors following their initial publication” https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/code-of-practice/

2. These unscheduled corrections have been made in accordance with the Code of Practice for statistics principles and practices, namely: T3.9 which states that “Scheduled revisions or unscheduled corrections to the statistics and data should be released as soon as practicable. The changes should be handled transparently in line with a published policy”; and Q3.4 “Scheduled revisions, or unscheduled corrections that result from errors, should be explained alongside the statistics, being clear on the scale, nature, cause and impact”.

3. Please note that all value (£) changes listed in this document have associated net mass and supplementary changes, unless otherwise stated.

4. Corrections to the regional trade in goods statistics (2013 to 2017) and UK trade in goods by business characteristics (2013 to 2017) will be made within future releases respectively.

Affected Commodity Codes

Code	Commodity Description
01051119	Grandparent and parent female chicks fowls of the species Gallus domesticus of a weight of <= 185g (excl. laying stocks)
01051199	Live fowls of the species Gallus domesticus of a weight of <= 185 g (excl. grandparent and parent female chicks and laying stocks)
01059400	Live fowls of the species Gallus domesticus, weighing > 185
02031190	Fresh or chilled non-domestic swine carcases and half-carcases
02031211	Fresh or chilled with bone in, domestic swine hams and cuts thereof
02031911	Fresh or chilled fore-ends and cuts thereof of domestic swine
02031955	Fresh or chilled boneless meat of domestic swine (excl. bellies and cuts thereof)
02101950	Meat of domestic swine, salted or in brine (excl. hams, shoulders and cuts thereof, bellies and cuts thereof, bacon sides or spencers, three-quarter sides or middles, and fore-ends, loins and cuts thereof)
02101981	Dried or smoked boneless domestic swine meat (excl. bellies and cuts thereof)
03019500	Live southern bluefin tunas “Thunnus maccoyii”
03033130	Frozen Atlantic halibut “Hippoglossus hippoglossus”
03044410	Fresh or chilled fillets of cod “Gadus morhua, Gadus ogac, Gadus macrocephalus” and of Boreogadus saida
08081080	Fresh apples (excl. cider apples, in bulk, from 16 September to 15 December)
09021000	Green tea in immediate packings of <= 3 kg
09023000	Black fermented tea and partly fermented tea, whether or not flavoured, in immediate packings of <= 3 kg
22030009	Beer made from malt, in containers holding <= 10 l (excl. in bottles)
22042197	White wines not produced in EU, in containers holding <= 2 l (other than sparkling wine, semi-sparkling wine and varietal wines)
22083011	Bourbon whiskey, in containers holding <= 2 l
22083030	Single malt Scotch whisky
22083041	Blended malt Scotch whisky, in containers holding <= 2 l
22083061	Single grain and blended grain Scotch whisky, in containers holding <= 2 l
22083071	Scotch whisky, in containers holding <= 2 l (other than single malt, blended malt, single grain and blended grain whisky)
22083079	Scotch whisky, in containers holding > 2 l (other than single malt, blended malt, single grain and blended grain whisky)
22083082	Whisky, in containers holding <= 2 l (other than Bourbon whiskey and Scotch whisky)
22084011	Rum with a content of volatile substances (other than ethyl and methyl alcohol) of >= 225 g/hl of pure alcohol “with a 10% tolerance”, in containers holding <= 2 l
22084039	Rum and other spirits obtained by distilling fermented sugar-cane products, of a value <= 7,9 €/l of pure alcohol, in containers holding <= 2 l (excl. rum with a content of volatile substances [other than ethyl and methyl alcohol] of >= 225 g/hl of pure alcohol “with a 10% tolerance”)
22085011	Gin, in containers holding <= 2 l
22085019	Gin, in containers holding > 2 l
22086011	Vodka of an alcoholic strength of <= 45,4% vol, in containers holding <= 2 l
22086019	Vodka of an alcoholic strength of <= 45,4% vol, in containers holding > 2 l
22086091	Vodka of an alcoholic strength of > 45,4% vol, in containers holding <= 2 l
22087010	Liqueurs and cordials, in containers holding <= 2 l
22089054	Tequila in containers holding <= 2 l
22089069	Spirituous beverages, in containers holding <= 2 l (excl. ouzo, spirits, liqueurs and cordials)
22089078	Spirituous beverages, in containers holding > 2 l (excl. spirits, liqueurs and cordials and ouzo)
27011290	Bituminous coal, whether or not pulverised, non-agglomerated (excl. coking)
27112100	Natural gas in gaseous state
27160000	Electrical energy
33030010	Perfumes (excl. aftershave lotions and personal deodorants)
33030090	Toilet waters (excl. aftershave lotions, deodorants and hair lotions)
33041000	Lip make-up preparations
33042000	Eye make-up preparations
33043000	Manicure or pedicure preparations
33049100	Make-up or skin care powders, incl. baby powders, whether or not compressed (excl. medicaments)
42029211	Travelling-bags, toilet bags, rucksacks and sports bags, with outer surface of plastic sheeting
44032091	Sawlogs of coniferous wood, whether or not stripped of bark or sapwood, or roughly squared (excl. spruce of the species “Picea abies Karst.”, silver fir “Abies alba Mill.” and pine of the species “Pinus sylvestris L.”) (Invalid from 2017)
44079190	Oak “Quercus spp.”, sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, of a thickness of > 6 mm (excl. planed, sanded or end-jointed)
44079998	Wood, sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, of a thickness of > 6 mm (excl. planed, sanded or end-jointed, and tropical wood, coniferous wood, oak “Quercus spp.”, beech “Fagus spp.”, maple “Acer spp.”, cherry “Prunus spp.”, ash “Fraxinus spp.” and poplar) (Invalid from 2017)
44219097	Articles of wood, n.e.s (Invalid from 2017)
48025400	Uncoated paper and paperboard, of a kind used for writing, printing or other graphic purposes, and non-perforated punchcards and punch-tape paper, in rolls or in square or rectangular sheets, of any size, not containing fibres obtained by a mechanical or chemi-mechanical process or of which <= 10% by weight of the total fibre content consists of such fibres, weighing < 40 g/m², n.e.s.
49119900	Printed matter, n.e.s.
62034235	Men’s or boys’ trousers and breeches of cotton (excl. denim, cut corduroy, knitted or crocheted, industrial and occupational, bib and brace overalls and underpants)
62034319	Men’s or boys’ trousers and breeches of synthetic fibres (excl. knitted or crocheted, industrial and occupational, bib and brace overalls and underpants)
68069000	Mixtures and articles of heat-insulating, sound-insulating or sound absorbing mineral materials (excl. slag-wool, rock-wool and similar mineral wools, exfoliated vermiculite, expanded clays, foamed slag and similar expanded mineral materials, articles of light concrete, asbestos-cement, cellulose fibre-cement or the like, mixtures and other articles of or based on asbestos, and ceramic products)
72044930	Waste and scrap of iron or steel, not fragmentised “shredded”, in bundles (excl. slag, scale and other waste of the production of iron and steel; radioactive waste and scrap; fragments of pigs, blocks or other primary forms of pig iron or spiegeleisen; waste and scrap of cast iron, alloy steel or tinned iron or steel; turnings, shavings, chips, milling waste, sawdust, filings, trimmings and stampings; waste and scrap of primary cells, primary batteries and electric accumulators)
72191410	Flat-rolled products of stainless steel, of a width of >= 600 mm, not further worked than hot-rolled, in coils, of a thickness of < 3 mm, containing by weight >= 2,5 nickel
73101000	Tanks, casks, drums, cans, boxes and similar containers, of iron or steel, for any material, of a capacity of >= 50 l but <= 300 l, n.e.s. (excl. containers for compressed or liquefied gas, or containers fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment)
73181558	Screws and bolts, of iron or steel other than stainless “whether or not with their nuts and washers”, with slotted or cross-recessed heads (excl. wood screws and self-tapping screws)
73181559	Slotted and cross-recessed screws and bolts, of iron or steel other than stainless “whether or not with their nuts and washers”, with heads (excl. wood screws and self-tapping screws) (Invalid from 2017)
73181590	Screws and bolts, of iron or steel “whether or not with their nuts and washers”, with heads (excl. slotted and cross-recessed screws and bolts, hexagon head screws and bolts; wood screws, self-tapping screws and screws and bolts for fixing railway track construction material, screw hooks, screw rings and lag screws) (Invalid from 2017)
73181595	Screws and bolts, of iron or steel “whether or not with their nuts and washers”, with heads (excl. with slotted, cross-recessed or hexagonal head; wood screws, self-tapping screws and screws and bolts for fixing railway track construction material, screw hooks and screw rings)
84213920	Machinery and apparatus for filtering or purifying air (excl. isotope separators and intake air filters for internal combustion engines) (Invalid from 2017)
84213925	Machinery and apparatus for filtering or purifying air (excl. intake air filters for internal combustion engines, and those with stainless steel housing and with inlet and outlet tube bores with inside diameters <= 1,3 cm)
84331190	Mowers for lawns, parks or sports grounds, powered non-electrically, with the cutting device rotating in a horizontal plane not self-propelled
84331970	Motor mowers for lawns, parks or sports grounds, powered non-electrically, with the cutting device rotating in a vertical plane or with cutter bars, not self-propelled
84339000	Parts of harvesting machinery, threshing machinery, mowers and machines for cleaning, sorting or grading agricultural produce, n.e.s.
85021180	Generating sets with compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine “diesel or semi-diesel engine” of an output > 7,5 kVA but <= 75 kVA
85021200	Generating sets with compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine “diesel or semi-diesel engine” of an output > 75 kVA but <= 375 kVA
85021340	Generating sets with compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine “diesel or semi-diesel engine” of an output > 750 kVA but <= 2.000 kVA
85021380	Generating sets with compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine “diesel or semi-diesel engine” of an output > 2.000 kVA
85371098	Boards, cabinets and similar combinations of apparatus for electric control or the distribution of electricity, for a voltage <= 1.000 V (excl. switching apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy, numerical control panels with built-in automatic data-processing machines, programmable memory controllers and touch screens)
85371099	Boards, cabinets and similar combinations of apparatus for electric control or the distribution of electricity, for a voltage <= 1.000 V (excl. switching apparatus for line telephony or line telegraphy, numerical control panels with built-in automatic data-processing machines and programmable memory controllers) (Invalid from 2017)
87032110	Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of <10 persons, incl. station wagons and racing cars, with only spark-ignition internal combustion reciprocating piston engine of a cylinder capacity <= 1.000 cm³, new (excl. vehicles for travelling on snow and other specially designed vehicles of subheading 8703.10)
87032210	Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of <10 persons, incl. station wagons and racing cars, with only spark-ignition internal combustion reciprocating piston engine, of a cylinder capacity > 1.000 cm³ but <= 1.500 cm³, new (excl. vehicles for travelling on snow and similar vehicles of subheading 8703.10)
87032319	Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of <10 persons, incl. station wagons and racing cars, with only spark-ignition internal combustion reciprocating piston engine, of a cylinder capacity > 1.500 cm³ but <= 3.000 cm³, new (excl. those of subheading 8703.10 and motor caravans)
87033110	Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of <10 persons, incl. station wagons and racing cars, with only diesel engine of a cylinder capacity <= 1.500 cm³, new (excl. vehicles for travelling on snow and other specially designed vehicles of subheading 8703.10)
87033219	Motor cars and other motor vehicles, principally designed for the transport of <10 persons, incl. station wagons, with only diesel engine of a cylinder capacity > 1.500 cm³ but <= 2.500 cm³, new (excl. motor caravans and vehicles for travelling on snow and other specially designed vehicles of subheading 8703.10)
87034010	Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of <10 persons, incl. station wagons and racing cars, with both spark-ignition internal combustion reciprocating piston engine and electric motor as motors for propulsion, new (excl. vehicles for travelling on snow, other specially designed vehicles of subheading 8703.10 and plug-in hybrids)
87042131	Motor vehicles for the transport of goods, with compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine “diesel or semi-diesel engine” of a gross vehicle weight <= 5 t, of a cylinder capacity > 2.500 cm³, new (excl. dumpers for off-highway use of subheading 8704.10, special purpose motor vehicles of heading 8705 and special motor vehicles for the transport of highly radioactive materials)
87042191	Motor vehicles for the transport of goods, with compression-ignition internal combustion piston engine “diesel or semi-diesel engine” of a gross vehicle weight <= 5 t, of a cylinder capacity <= 2.500 cm³, new (excl. dumpers for off-highway use of subheading 8704.10, special purpose motor vehicles of heading 8705 and special motor vehicles for the transport of highly radioactive materials)
95061110	Cross-country skis
95063200	Golf balls