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What is trade?

Container ships are used to transport goods all around the world.
Image caption,
Container ships are used to transport goods all around the world.

Buying and selling things is called trade.

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

Today, goods are carried around the world in container ships from port to port and by aeroplane.

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Export and import

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.
Bananas in a factory, ready to be exported.

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.

A scientist looking through a microscope.

Sometimes countries need experts from abroad such as engineers, scientists or teachers. These experts can sell their services to people around the world and this is called a service industry.

The service industry is the UK's main industry today. We import more goods than we export.

A scientist looking through a microscope.
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Watch: Trade

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Important trade relationships

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, the USA and the Middle East
  • 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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Watch: What happens at ports?

Goods for trade are transported in different ways such as by road, sea, air, or river. A lot of trade is moved across seas and oceans in large containers, which are loaded and unloaded onto ships at ports.

Port of Rotterdam is one of the busiest ports in the world. Find out more about what happens there in this 成人快手 Teach video.

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Activity: Quiz 鈥 Trade

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