Eight months have passed since the UK definitively leave the European Union, so it is a good time to analyze the consequences, especially in economic matters, of the Brexit.
Despite strong signs of economic recovery beginning to appear after the crisis caused by the coronavirus, the United Kingdom has seen a series of images in recent weeks that have become commonplace.
Stockouts in supermarkets, energy crisis, and massive closures of gas stations due to the lack of supplies have taken over the covers of the British tabloids. A situation that, although it may have been aggravated by the COVID-19 crisis, has its main reason for being in Brexit itself. The excessive bureaucratic complication, the expulsion of foreign labor and the application of the British ‘VAT’ instead of the place of origin, are the main cause of the complicated situation that the British live.
But the consequences of Brexit are not experienced solely by the citizens of Great Britain. According to Packlink data, 52% of British people make their purchases online in virtual stores outside the United Kingdom, the percentage in Spain standing at 6.5%. “Brexit particularly affects eCommerce, which is exposed to longer delivery times due to increased bureaucracy. In addition, cancellation and refund policies, or the declaration of taxes such as VAT in the United Kingdom, have a direct impact on the way of working of Spanish and European merchants », says Noelia Lázaro, Packlink’s marketing director.
The relationship between Spain and the United Kingdom in figures
Although for the moment no tariff controls have been established and products such as phytosanitary products, of a complex nature at customs level, will maintain a uniformity of criteria with the British border with the rest of the Member States of the Single Market, at least until July 2022, the The reality is that the first economic indicators already show the strong impact of Brexit on trade relations between the United Kingdom and Spain.
Between January and July of this year alone, Spain has exported goods worth 8,267 million pounds to the United Kingdom, a figure that represents almost 19% less than the last comparable year, 2019, when Spain exported goods worth 10,195 million pounds during the same period of the year. Data that represents a six-year setback, the last time such low numbers were observed between both countries and, precisely, the same year that the Brexit referendum was held.
But the UK’s exit from the Single Market has affected its own businesses even more if possible. In the case of imports from the United Kingdom, these have been reduced by 30%, going from 6,242 million pounds between January and July 2019 to 4,339 million in the same period of 2021, according to statistics from the British Government , which has meant a record surplus for the Spanish trade balance with its former partners in the EU bloc.
“These weeks we have seen the first impacts in the supply chain of a decision as drastic as Brexit. Although logic invites us to think that the situation will normalize in the coming months, the complexity of commercial relations and the increases in prices and times will be a constant, at least for the next few years. Although this allows us to open a window of opportunity with other European markets », concludes Noelia Lázaro, Packlink’s marketing director.
