--UK Aug non-EU goods trade gap 3.029 bln stlg; Jul 2.510 bln
--UK Jul world goods trade gap 2.544 bln stlg; Jun 3.415 bln
--UK Aug PSNCR surplus 213 mln stlg
--UK Jul EU goods trade deficit 34 mln stlg; Jun 385 mln stlg
--UK Jul total trade deficit 1.781 bln stlg vs Jun 2.530 bln
--UK Jul services trade surplus 763 mln stlg; Jun 885 mln
--UK Aug non-EU goods trade gap ex-oil erratics 1.906 bln stlg
--UK Aug non-EU goods exports 6.3 bln stlg; imports 9.3 bln
--UK Jul world goods exports 15.8 bln stlg; imports 18.4 bln
--ONS says trend shows UK goods, services deficit widening
--ONS says lower imports from EU help narrow UK trade gap

London, Sept. 20 (BridgeNews) - The U.K.'s global trade deficit narrowed in July, helped lower by declining imports. The trade balance on goods and services came in at 1.8 billion sterling, comfortably less than the record 2.5 billion gap recorded in June. Total trade imports fell to 23.152 billion sterling, down from 24.316 billion sterling, their lowest level since July 2000, the data issued Thursday by the Office for National Statistics showed.
The underlying picture was not encouraging, however. In spite of the narrowing of the global trade gap on the month, the ONS said the underlying trend was for the deficit to widen and the trend also showed a widening of the world goods trade gap.
The non-E.U. goods trade gap widened in August to 3.0 billion sterling, up from 2.5 billion in July. Imports from non-E.U. countries edged up to 9.3 billion sterling from from 9.2 billion in July, while exports declined to 6.3 billion from 6.7 billion.
Looking at the three monthly, May to July, picture for global trade, the ONS said ere was a notable decline in imports of electrical components and electrical machinery. This would appear to reflect the slump in output from U.K. manufacturers in the "new technology" sectors that has been evident in recent manufacturing data. The ONS said the fall in these imports was partly offset by higher imports of chemicals and cars. The data indicated that, although U.K. consumer demand has remained robust, the weakness in U.K. manufacturing demand has eased the pressure on the nation's trade balance.