Exporters and importers in the North East
High level statistics on the number of exporters and importers per region are available from the ONS annual business survey. This survey asks VAT/PAYE registered businesses outside the financial sector about their activities.
The results for 2021 suggest there are slightly more buisnesses that are importers than exporters in the North East region. 4,400 buisnesses reported being importers compared to 4,000 who reported being exporters. There was also significant crossover between these two groups. More than half of the buisnesses involved in exporting were also involved in importing.
In terms of goods and services, the North East has about the same number of goods exporters and services exporters (around 2,400), but there are many more goods importers than services importers (3,100 compared to 1,700).
Despite having a high value of exports per head compared the rest of England the results of this survey suggest that relatively few businesses are involved in exporting and importing in the region. This implies that it is high value exports from a few firms that are responsible for the high levels of overall exports from the North East.