The UK is the single biggest exporter of services in EU, accounting for more than a fifth of the services sold by the trading bloc, statistics have revealed.

Services worth €183bn (£161bn) were exported by the UK in 2016, equivalent to 22.3pc of the services exported by the EU to non-member countries, according to the EU's statistical body Eurostat. The UK is also the third biggest importer of services.

In 2016, seven EU member states recorded their largest trade surplus for goods with the United Kingdom, making it a highly significant trading partner within the single market.

Eleven member states including Germany, the Netherlands, and Ireland list the UK as one of their top four trading partners for exporting goods.

Trade within the EU accounted for less than half of the UK’s trade in goods last year, down from just under 60pc in 2002 to 49.3pc in 2016, making it the country with the smallest proportion of of its trade being made among other EU member states and the only nation, save Malta, to do less than 50pc of its trade within the EU.

Among EU members, the UK had by far the biggest trading deficit in goods (meaning the UK imports far more than it exports). Its deficit of €204bn in 2016, was more than three times as high as the next largest deficit, recorded in France €65bn. That compares with a €257bn surplus of goods exported by Germany.