Table 9.3 of the ONS UK Balance of Payments Pink Book implies that in 2005 1.1 per cent. of imports of goods and services into the United Kingdom came from India. UK exports of goods and services to India were 1.2 per cent. of total UK exports. Similar figures for trade in goods and services on a balance of payments basis are not yet available for 2006.
HM Revenue and Customs' Overseas Trade Statistics imply that in 2005 1 per cent. of imports of goods into the United Kingdom came from India and 1.3 per cent. UK exports of goods went to India, while in 2006 1.1 per cent. of imports of goods came from India and 1.1 per cent. of exports of goods went to India.
The sectors with the highest share of UK imports of goods from India in 2006 were:
Articles of apparel and clothing accessories—20.2 per cent.
Textile yarn, fabrics, made up articles etc—8.3 per cent.
Miscellaneous manufactured articles—7.2 per cent.
Petroleum and products and related articles—6.7 per cent.
Manufactures of metal not elsewhere specified—5.8 per cent.
The sectors with the highest share of UK exports of goods to India in 2006 were:
Non-metallic mineral manufacturers (almost entirely diamonds)— 41.5 per cent.
Power generating machinery and equipment—6.7 per cent.
General industrial machinery and equipment—4.9 per cent.
Other transport equipment—4.7 per cent.
Metalliferous ores and metal scrap—4.5 per cent.
The ONS estimate of the level of UK foreign direct investment (FDI) in India at the end of 2005 was 0.3 per cent. of the total UK level of outward FDI. The estimate of the level of Indian FDI in the UK was 0.1 per cent. of the total level of inward FDI in the UK.
In 2005-06 UK Trade and Investment saw a 111 per cent. rise in the number of inward investment projects from India, which reached 76 (including mergers and acquisitions) worth £1.02 billion. As a result of this increase, India rose from eighth to third in UKTI’s FDI league table by project numbers, behind the USA and Japan.