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Watch: Find out about trade

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How do countries make money?

  • Trade is an important way for countries to make money and has been happening across the world for hundreds of years.

  • Buying and selling things is called trade.

  • Today, goods are transported around the world in large container ships and by aeroplane.

Container ships are used to transport goods all around the world.
Image caption,
Container ships are used to transport goods all around the world.
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What is exporting?

A cartoon of Sue holding money at a bank counter.
  • People in the UK can sell goods to other countries who want to buy them.

  • Sending goods to sell in other countries is called export.

  • People might buy goods from other countries for various reasons:

    • they can’t make the goods themselves
    • the goods could be cheaper
    • they might be better quality.
A cartoon of Sue holding money at a bank counter.
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What is importing?

A cartoon of a field growing crops in another country.
  • Importing is when one country buys things from another country. For example, in the UK it is hard to grow fruit such as bananas and oranges, so these are imported from other countries.

  • In the UK, we import more than we export.

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Who does the UK trade with?

The UK's biggest trading partners are the United States of America (USA), Germany and China.

A cartoon of two people in suits shaking hands in an office. There are graphs and clocks with different time zones behind them.

Some of the UK's top exports are:

  • cars
  • medicine
  • aircraft parts
  • gold
  • financial services
A cartoon globe with ships and planes all over it.

Some of the UK's top imports are:

  • crude oil and gas from Norway and the USA
  • clothing from China
  • computers from China
  • cars from Germany
  • fruit from Spain
  • fish from Iceland
A cartoon globe with ships and planes all over it.
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Activity: Quiz – Trade

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