Official Statistics

Benefits of Expo 2020 Dubai: export wins and business won by UK companies

Published 23 December 2021

This release details statistics related to the Expo 2020 Dubai and Department for International Trade’s (DIT) activities to support UK companies.

It contains information on:

• export wins
• the limitations of linking exports wins to benefits for the UK economy
• wider statistics relating to UK companies gaining business

Headline metrics

From April 2015 to 24 November 2021, £188 million of ‘export wins’ have been gained by UK companies associated with Expo 2020 Dubai. These export wins relate to companies who have received support from DIT.

Companies supported by the DIT are distinct from companies which attend Expo 2020 itself (from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022).

Data explanatory notes

The following sub-sections detail export wins related to Expo 2020 Dubai and limitations to linking these wins with economic benefits.

Export wins

An export win is one of the following which has resulted from significant DIT support for eligible UK companies:

• a deal
• a contract
• a sale
• an outward direct investment (ODI)
• other specific type of agreement

An export win is created using a digital framework which registers information entered by a lead officer from the DIT network. Lead officers are responsible for the quality and accuracy of the data they enter. Once the win has been entered, the UK customer which received support in exporting is required to confirm the win through a separate online form. A win counts once it has been confirmed by the customer and this must be done within 12 months of the company winning the deal.

Each export win is self-reported by the UK company and:

• captures the expected value of the win
• includes specific expectations and forecast values up to a 5-year period (subjective)

A small change in underpinning assumptions used could lead to a significant variation in results.

The export win metric relies on the level of information customers can and are prepared to share.

Some deals are very complex, involving:

• global supply chains and in-market requirements for local supply / presence
• the ask of customers to separate UK export value from others (a distinction that is artificial for them)

The information captured, therefore, represents a snapshot at a certain point in time based upon what the customer is willing or able to provide. The win metric contains some inherent characteristics that will always present challenges in assuring value and data accuracy.

The level of support provided by DIT varies by company and the metric:

• only captures customers DIT has assisted who have realised a deal
• does not capture those DIT has worked with but have not reached a deal

The export win metric is a departmental performance measure and does not capture exporting activity on the same basis as measured in official statistics.

Individual businesses provide DIT with export wins data on the understanding that it will:

• be treated as confidential
• be only used internally
• not be released for individual companies

Limitations of linking to economic benefits to the UK

Exports wins are not equivalent to economic return to the UK. Any use of ratios based on the costs of a programme versus export wins does not equate to an economic return. This is because the ratio does not robustly capture all the benefits and costs to the whole economy.

Between April 2015 and March 2020, UK companies DIT had helped told us they had won £1.2 billion worth of business with:

• Expo 2020 organisers and suppliers
• other countries participating at Expo 2020

This includes both export and non-export components.

Component definition: export

The exchange of ownership of goods/services from a UK resident to a non-UK resident. For example, the signing of a contract; winning an export order; an increase in export sales from a company based in the UK to a company / government overseas or advisory / legal / other services to overseas customers. The transaction involves payment (financial, promise to pay or barter). Aid and gifts do not count as payment.

Component definition: non-export

Collection of cash from an overdue invoice; a reduced tax burden on a customer achieved by lobbying; exports from a subsidiary in a third market; repatriation of profits to the UK.

No DIT validation is carried out relating to non-export components meaning this statistic is of low quality. Such deals are independent of the UK presence at Expo 2020. Whilst this demonstrates the opportunity for UK companies at Expo 2020, this does not equate to economic return for the UK.