Analyzing International Trade Reports for British Industry

Trading organizations were asked how their turnover in January 2026 compared with December 2025, leaving out any seasonal trading. Data are outlined in the middle of the period of each wave. Almost a 3rd (31%) of trading services reported that their turnover had reduced in January 2026 compared to the previous month.

The movements are broadly in line with those observed around this time in previous years, with peaks in December followed by small falls in January. The industries with the greatest proportion reporting that turnover decreased in January 2026 were: the accommodation and food service activities market (52%, which is a 21 portion point increase from December 2025) the other services market (45%) the arts, home entertainment and leisure industry (40%) Roughly 16% of trading companies reported that their turnover increased in January 2026, which was a 3 portion point boost compared to December 2025.

For trading companies with 10 or more employees, 33% reported that their turnover had reduced, which was broadly steady compared with December and January 2025. More than one in 5 (23%) businesses reported that their turnover had actually increased, up 2 percentage points compared with December 2025. Normally, the proportion of businesses reporting that their turnover increased associated to the size of the company.

The exception to this was the proportion for businesses with 250 or more staff members, which was 25%, and 5 portion points lower than December 2025 (30%). Trading organizations were asked how they anticipate their turnover to change in the coming month. This can then be used to forecast how the business's turnover will actually change as soon as that calendar month concludes.

Reviewing Global Trade Outlooks for UK Industry

Although trends between predicted turnover and real turnover have actually broadly moved in the same instructions, the motions for expectations tend to be bigger. For presentational purposes, some action options have actually been eliminated. Data are outlined in the middle of the duration of each wave. Caution must be taken when translating expectations concerns, as the workers responding on behalf of services may not have complete oversight of all of their organization's future expectations.

ANSR July UK PRs

More than one in 5 (21%) trading organizations expect their turnover to increase in March 2026. This is a 6 portion point increase from February 2026 however was broadly steady compared to expectations for March 2025 (22%). The percentage of trading services anticipating an increase in January 2026 was 13%, while the percentage that reported a real increase in turnover in January 2026 was 16%, suggesting a small pessimism in businesses expectations.

However, the trends have actually broadly followed each other because the concerns were presented in April 2022. The results for March 2026 follow the trend from previous years, with the percentage of companies anticipating turnover to increase peaking after a decrease in January. Larger companies were most likely to expect a boost in turnover in March, with the proportion varying from 20% for companies with 0 to 9 staff members, to 42% for services with 100 to 249 employees.

For presentational functions, some reaction alternatives have been removed. Information are outlined in the middle of the duration of each wave. Care should be taken when interpreting expectations concerns, as the employees reacting on behalf of businesses might not have complete oversight of all of their business's future expectations. "." represents information not yet available.

Analyzing Global Trade Reports for UK Industry

The proportion of trading organizations that expected a reduction in January 2026 was 25%, while the proportion that reported a real reduction in turnover in January 2026 was 31%. The percentage of businesses expecting turnover to decrease for a specific month ahead of time has actually stayed considerably lower than the percentage of companies reporting a real reduction because month given that April 2022.

Expectations for turnover to reduce have consistently followed the same pattern, as actual reported turnover decreases throughout this time. Trading companies were asked what challenges, if any, were affecting their turnover in early February 2026. Around 3 in 10 (30%) trading services reported that financial uncertainty was having an influence on their turnover, which was broadly stable with early January 2026.

This is broadly steady compared with early January 2026 and 2 portion points down compared with a year back. For trading businesses with 10 or more staff members, expense of labour was the most regularly reported difficulty, at 36%. This was broadly stable compared to early January 2026. Businesses with 10 to 49 staff members were more likely to report expense of labour as an obstacle than companies with 250 or more workers (37%, compared with 20%). One in five (20%) trading services with 10 or more workers indicated that they were not presently experiencing any turnover challenges in early February 2026. More details on monetary performance, including all action options categorised by industry and size band, are readily available in our accompanying dataset.