Leaders | Growing apart

How Britain can benefit from Brexit

Damage is inevitable, but there are ways of mitigating it

Mar 13th 2021

IN JANUARY BRITAIN faced two simultaneous problems. Its departure from the European Union’s single market and customs union on the first day of the month hit trade. Exports of goods to the European Union (EU) fell by 40% between December 2020 and January 2021, while imports dropped by almost 30%. While the pandemic disrupted trade, much of that seems to have been the effect of Brexit. The second blow came from a surge in covid-19 cases. Britain, which already had the highest death rate in any big economy, saw deaths peak at 1,361 on January 19th.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Growing apart”