Britain’s Reliance on EU for Trade Reaches a 14-Year High

UK trade with the European Union is holding up better than expected — but that’s a result of lackluster activity with the rest of the world rather than any Brexit-defying boost to business with Europe, official data indicates.

Combined, the volume of exports to the EU and imports from the bloc accounted for 53.5% of all UK trade in the three months through November, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. That matches the largest proportion since mid-2008.

Taken at face value, the figures appear to dispel expectations that the UK’s trading relationship with the EU would ...