British Trade Deficit Falls Sharply in April

Britain's trade-in-goods deficit shrank by more than expected in April on the back of falling imports, boosting hopes over its slow economic recovery, official data showed on Friday.

The deficit dipped to £8.2 billion ($12.8 billion, 9.6 billion euros) in April, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. That compared with a deficit of £9.2 billion in March.

"April's trade figures added to the growing list of positive economic news and tentatively suggested that net trade might be playing some role in the apparent acceleration in economic growth shown by business surveys," said Vicky Redwood from the Capital Economics research group.

Market expectations had been for an April deficit of £8.8 billion, according to analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

The improvement in Britain's goods trade balance in April was driven by a fall in imports, which sank by £1.3 billion.