Trade: Key Economic Indicators
Latest statistics on UK's trade performance and balance of payments
Documents to download
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The establishment of free ports in the UK (219 KB , PDF)
- Free ports are generally understood to be designated areas inside a country geographically, but outside of that country’s established customs area, allowing manufacturing, warehousing and trade outside of the host country’s standard tariffs and export/import procedures.
- There are estimated to be 3,500 free ports in the world, employing 66 million people.
- There are no free ports in the UK, though there is one on the Isle of Man.
- Seven free ports operated in the UK at various points between 1984 and 2012; the remaining five closed in 2012.
Documents to download
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The establishment of free ports in the UK (219 KB , PDF)
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