BERLIN, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- One year after the United Kingdom's (UK) withdrawal from the European Union (EU), Germany's exports to the UK decreased by 2.5 percent year-on-year to 65.4 billion euros (72.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) said on Friday.
In 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany's exports to the UK had already plummeted by 15.3 percent.
After the UK ceased to be part of the EU's single market, the two sides concluded a comprehensive trade and cooperation agreement, which entered into force on Jan. 1, 2021.
In 2021, the UK fell from fifth to eighth place in terms of exports and from 11th to 13th place in terms of imports in the ranking of Germany's most important trading partners Destatis said.
"Brexit has had an unfavorable impact on trade between the EU and the United Kingdom," the German ifo Institute said on Friday.
Although the trade and cooperation agreement did manage to avoid higher tariffs, barriers such as inspection certificates as well as other documents and requirements "make the border crossing more time-consuming and complicated, resulting in higher trade costs," the ifo Institute said. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollar) ■