Official Statistics

DBT national survey of registered businesses’ exporting behaviours, attitudes and needs 2023 (executive summary)

Published 29 August 2024

For the full report, read the DBT national survey of registered businesses’ exporting behaviours, attitudes and needs 2023 in PDF format.

About the National Survey of Registered Businesses (NSRB)

The National Survey of Registered Businesses’ exporting behaviours, attitudes and needs (NSRB) is commissioned by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). It monitors exporting behaviours, plans, capabilities, and attitudes of businesses across the UK. It is also used as a tool for evaluating the performance of DBT communication campaigns. Fieldwork for this wave took place in 2023, beginning shortly after the creation of the new Department for Business and Trade on 7 February 2023. Therefore, this report will refer to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) when examining the 2023 data.

In total, 8 annual waves of the NSRB have been completed, commencing in 2015. This report is focused on the eighth and most recent wave of data collected across 2023. In 2023, a total of 3,004 responses were collected from businesses throughout the year, split into 4 quarters, across 3 collection periods. Data for quarter 1 was collected between 27 February and 31 March. Data for quarter 2 was collected between 19 April and 30 May. Data for quarter 3 and quarter 4 was collected across an extended collection period between 23 August and 23 November. This report focuses on findings from across the year, though some notable changes from quarter-to-quarter are highlighted where appropriate. Throughout the report, figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number and as such, breakdowns may not always sum to the expected total.

The primary focus of the NSRB is on businesses with an annual turnover of £500,000 or more. This is on the basis that these larger businesses can potentially generate high value exports at larger scale. Throughout most of this report, ‘UK businesses’ is referring only to those with a turnover of £500,000 or higher. This is not true of chapter 12, which reports on findings from the ‘total business population’. The ‘total business population’ refers to the whole respondent population, incorporating businesses with a turnover of less than £500,000.

Overall context and main findings (£500,000+ turnover businesses)

Throughout 2023, businesses continued to face significant challenges, including pre-existing concerns around the UK exit from the EU, COVID-19, inflation and economic uncertainty, rising energy prices, and the war in Ukraine, which have continued to create a volatile and uncertain business environment.

Exporting behaviour

The proportion of businesses currently exporting has remained stable in 2023. However, since 2021 there has been a downward trend in the proportion of businesses who have ever exported (45% in 2021 to 43% in 2022 and 39% in 2023), although the 2023 figure is not significantly different from levels seen between 2015 and 2020 (40% to 42%). Overall, reported exporting volumes were in line with 2022, and businesses were more optimistic that exports will grow in the future. Over 9 in 10 (94%) businesses who had ever exported said they had exported to one of the ‘core markets’,^{[footnote 1]} including 88% who said they had previously exported to the EU, consistent with 2022.

Business concerns

General concerns around COVID-19 appear to have decreased further in 2023 compared with 2022. However, concerns relating to the UK’s exit from the EU continued to be prominent. This included concerns about demand for UK products and services, customs procedures, documentation, and administrative burdens.

Exporting barriers

Across almost all business capabilities for exporting measured in previous years, findings were consistent with 2022. The exception was in reported access to export support and advisory services, which has improved since 2022. Thinking about respondents’ ability to export to core markets, issues relating to customs procedures and compliance with regulations were seen as the greatest barriers.

Free trade agreements (FTAs)

Three quarters (76%) of businesses had heard of FTAs, although less than 1 in 5 (17%) reported any knowledge about them. Despite this, over 2 in 5 (45%) felt that FTAs would benefit their business. Businesses also reported low confidence in how to trade through an FTA, and a lack of information or support to access the benefits of FTAs, indicating a need for further guidance.

Information sources and awareness

The proportion of businesses that reported high levels of knowledge on how to export (18%), and where to go for information about exporting (29%), decreased in 2023 (down from 24% and 33% in 2022 respectively). The proportion of businesses who had ever sought advice or support about exporting remained stable, however (42% in 2022 and 40% in 2023). GOV.UK pages remained the main source of government support on exporting and trade, however most services were still not familiar to or used by the majority of businesses.

Campaign recognition

Just over 1 in 10 businesses (13%) were able to recall the DBT ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’ campaign. Fewer recognised the UK Export Academy campaign (5%). One-fifth of businesses who were able to view the DBT campaigns during the interview felt they were relevant to their business (20%). These campaigns were largely seen to be clear (71%) and trusted (66%) sources of information, however both of these measures declined since 2022 (84% and 76%, respectively).

Key findings by theme – (£500,000+ turnover businesses)

General exporting behaviours

The NSRB allocates businesses into 4 separate segments as described below (see also section 3.5 for segment definitions) to reflect their exporting behaviour. The proportion of businesses falling into each of these segments has remained relatively stable across all 8 waves of the NSRB:

• just under a third (31%) of businesses had exported goods and/or services in the past 12 months and fell into the ‘Sustain’ segment
• an additional 8% of businesses were either lapsed or intermittent exporters meaning they had not exported in the last 12 months but had done so previously – these businesses made up the ‘Reassure’ segment
• a third segment, accounting for 18% of businesses, were those that had never exported before but believed that they could – these businesses reported having a product or service that they self-identified as being suitable, or could be developed to be suitable, for export, and formed the ‘Promote’ segment
• the final segment is made up of businesses that have never exported and do not see their goods or services as being suitable for export – this group is referred to as the ‘Challenge’ segment and accounted for 42% of all businesses
• a remaining 1% of businesses fell outside of these segment definitions, as they were unsure of their exporting potential or history

Figure 1.1: Percentage of respondents in each exporting segment from 2015 to 2023

Segment	2015	2016	2017	2018	2020	2021	2022	2023
Sustain	33%	33%	35%	33%	34%	35%	34%	31%
Reassure	8%	9%	7%	7%	6%	10%	9%	8%
Promote	11%	12%	12%	13%	15%	15%	15%	18%
Challenge	43%	41%	39%	38%	44%	38%	42%	42%
Not specified	5%	5%	7%	8%	1%	1%	1%	1%
Total (Base)	1,160	1,139	2,535	2,448	2,557	2,485	2,405	2,181

In 2023, 39% of respondents had exported before and 60% had never exported. This represents a significant decrease in the proportion of businesses that have ever exported since 2022 and a continued downward trend since 2021 (45% in 2021, 43% in 2022 and 39% in 2023). The overall trend arises through incremental changes across the ‘Sustain’ and ‘Reassure’ segments. However, the 2023 figure is not significantly different to levels observed between 2015 and 2020 (between 40% and 42%). The proportion of businesses in the ‘Promote’ segment has been trending up over the 8 waves of the NSRB, while the proportion of ‘Challenge’ businesses has fluctuated across years but remained stable in the past 12 months.^{[footnote 2]}

Exporting behaviour in Northern Ireland (NI) remained high in comparison to the rest of the UK. However, a large proportion of NI businesses that exported did so only to the Republic of Ireland. In 2023, 31% of NI businesses reported that they had exported in the previous 12 months, but only to the Republic of Ireland. A further 19% said they exported both to the Republic of Ireland and overseas in the previous 12 months. Finally, 2% said they exported to overseas destinations only. These figures were in line with previous years.

The proportion of exporting businesses reporting either an increase or a reduction in their exports of goods and services in 2023 remained consistent with 2022. Among exporters of goods, 2 in 10 (21%) stated that their exports of goods had increased in the past 12 months. Around 4 in 10 (39%) stated that they had decreased. For service exporters, the picture was slightly more favourable, with 25% stating that their exports had increased in the past year, whilst the same proportion (25%) stated that exports had decreased.

Around 7 in 10 exporters (71%) said that they were ‘passive’ in their exporting behaviour. This means that they responded to orders from other countries but did not actively target these customers. Conversely, just over 1 in 4 exporters (27%) said they did actively target customers abroad. The proportions of businesses that actively and passively export have remained stable since 2022. Just under 1 in 5 potential or lapsed exporters (17%) were planning to start or resume exporting at some point in the future. This is equivalent to 4% of the whole £500,000+ business sample.

Barriers to exporting

Across almost all aspects of capabilities and capacity in relation to exporting that had been measured in previous years, findings were consistent with 2022. Around 2 in 3 businesses that have products suitable for export felt they had the capability to assess the cost of exporting (68%) and had the financial resources (66%) and adequate supply chains (65%) to export. This also applied to staff skills (61%), and the capability to develop an export business plan (63%). There was less confidence overall in having sufficient managerial time (56%), staff capacity for exporting (52%) and capability to assess international competition for products or services (51%), although all were also unchanged since 2022. One area of improvement was seen in having access to support and advisory services, which increased from 55% in 2022 to 63% in 2023.

Businesses who had exported goods were asked a set of questions on barriers, last asked in 2021. A greater share (58%) reported facing any barriers, up from 45% in 2021. The most mentioned barriers to exporting goods were those relating to customs procedures (49%, up from 32% in 2021). These changes are likely to be driven by the change in core markets from 2021 to 2023, including the addition of the European Union (EU) as a core market for the first time in 2023. Reported barriers for goods exports to the EU were higher than for other core markets, driven by barriers related to customs procedures. There were no changes in reported barriers to exporting to the USA or Australia, both of which had previously been included in the 2021 survey.^{[footnote 3]}

Just over 1 in 3 (36%) of those who had exported services reported facing any barriers to their exports of services. In contrast to the equivalent measure for barriers to goods exports, this was unchanged from when it was previously asked in 2018 and 2021. As with exporters of goods, those describing their exports of services to the EU were more likely to report facing barriers to doing so (45%) than those describing their exports of services to one of the other core markets. However, unlike for exports of goods, there was no one barrier which stood out as being more likely to be faced by those exporting services to the EU than those exporting services to other core markets.

Free trade agreements^{[footnote 4]}

Across all businesses with a turnover of £500,000 or more, 76% had heard of FTAs, however, less than 1 in 5 (17%) reported knowing anything about them. Among only businesses who have or could export (‘Sustain’, ‘Reassure’ and ‘Promote’ segments), 82% had heard of FTAs, with 1 in 5 (21%) knowing anything about them. Current or previous exporters (‘Sustain’ 24% and ‘Reassure’ 26%) were more likely to report knowledge of FTAs compared with non-exporters (‘Promote’ 14%, and ‘Challenge’ 11%).  

Despite overall low knowledge levels, 45% of all respondents agreed that FTAs will benefit their business, which was higher among current and previous exporters. However, just under 1 in 4 (23%) felt that they are confident in knowing how to trade through an FTA, and fewer (18%) agreed that the government is providing information and support to help businesses access the benefits of FTAs. For most businesses, GOV.UK was seen as the primary source they would use to find information about FTAs (81%). At least half would utilise other business or professional contacts (59%), the UK government (including DBT, 53%) or trade bodies and business groups (50%). 

Just over half (53%) of businesses who have ever exported reported that their goods or services were eligible for any FTA benefits, with the most commonly reported benefit being reduced customs duties (30%). Just over 2 in 5 of those aware of any benefit (42%) said they benefited always or most of the time, 34% some of the time, and 22% said they never or almost never benefit. 

Importers were more likely to have heard of FTAs (83%) than non-importers (69%). Importers were also more likely to agree that FTAs will benefit their business (58% compared with 33% of non-importers), that they feel confident they would know how to trade through an FTA (33% compared with 15% of non-importers) and that the government is providing information and support to help businesses access the benefits of FTAs.

Supply chains

In 2023, all businesses were asked about their experience of supply chains. Just over 6 in 10 (62%) had ever experienced supply chain issues. Among these, 31% were currently experiencing supply chain issues, and 31% said these had been resolved.

Quarters 3 and 4 of 2023 saw a higher proportion of businesses saying they had experienced supply chain issues, but that these were now resolved (34%) compared with Quarters 1 and 2 (28%). This could be due to a longer period of time having passed since the coronavirus outbreak, which was cited as one of the main causes of current issues by 61% in Quarters 1 and 2 and 56% in Quarters 3 and 4. Among all those who had experienced supply chain issues in the last 3 years, the most commonly cited causes for supply chain issues were COVID-19 (72%), EU Exit (65%) and general economic or inflationary pressure (58%). Other causes of supply chain issues included the cost of shipping (53%), difficulty sourcing suitable or affordable parts (53%), rising energy prices (49%) and the war in Ukraine (46%).

Export knowledge and support

Less than a fifth of businesses who do or could export felt that they had a high level of knowledge of how to export (18%), a decline from 24% in 2022, while a greater proportion felt they had low knowledge (28%, up from 23% in 2022).

The proportion of businesses that do or could export who sought advice and support was stable at 40% in 2023, following an increase from 33% in 2020 to 42% in 2022.

Over three quarters of businesses that do or could export reported being aware of at least one UK government trade support service (77% compared to 78% in 2022). In line with previous years, the most common of these were GOV.UK tools (68%). Awareness of International Trade Advisers (34%) and the Export Support Service (23%) declined in 2023 (from 38% and 31% in 2022, respectively). Awareness of the Export Academy was much lower at 8% and unchanged since 2022 (7%). Levels of usage were typically lower than their level of awareness, with GOV.UK tools at 45% and the Export Academy at 2%.

Expectations for growth and trade

Around 7 in 10 (73%) businesses were aiming to grow their business, up from 69% in 2022. A further 14% were aiming for consolidation (down from 19% in 2022) and 13% felt they needed to return to profitability.

The proportion of businesses agreeing that there is a lot of opportunity for their business to grow internationally (53%) was not statistically significantly different from 2022 (58%). The proportion who felt there would not be enough demand for their business overseas to make it worthwhile increased (31%, up from 26% in 2022).^{[footnote 5]} Perceptions of there being a lot of demand for UK products and services has continued to decline. In 2023, 52% thought there was a lot of demand. For reference, this measure peaked in 2017 when 73% thought there was a lot of demand, and has declined steadily since. It is possible that EU Exit is a contributing factor to this trend. In 2023, half (50%) agreed that since the UK left the EU, there has been less demand for UK products and services. This was unchanged from 49% in 2022 (but up from 39% in 2021).

Businesses’ views on the prospect of UK exports increasing over the next 12 months suggest that businesses are beginning to feel a stabilisation. Just under 4 in 10 (37%) felt that the value of exports will stay the same in the next 12 months (up from 32% in 2022). Almost 3 in 10 (28%) felt that exports will increase, consistent with 2022 (31%) while a smaller proportion felt that exports will decrease (21%), down from 26% in 2022.

Importing

Just under half of businesses stated that they had ever imported (47%), with 2 in 5 (41%) having imported in the last 12 months. This is consistent with a similar measure in 2022 which indicated that 46% had ever imported, with 44% who had imported in the last 12 months. In 2023, current exporters (those in the ‘Sustain’ segment) were most likely to have also imported in the last 12 months, and lapsed exporters (‘Reassure’) were most likely to have previously imported but not in the last 12 months.

Advertising and campaign metrics

In 2021, high profile information and publicity around the EU Exit transition period contributed to higher awareness levels of communications activity on exporting. In 2022, awareness returned to the levels more typically seen in the years prior (28%), however this declined further in 2023 (24%). Government remains the main source to which businesses attribute publicity around exporting. In 2023 there was an increase in general mentions of the UK government (63%, up from 54%) but no significant change in specific mentions of the Department for Business and Trade or predecessor departments (12% in 2023, 15% in 2022).^{[footnote 6]} The ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’ campaign was recognised by 13% of businesses, with fewer recognising ads for the UK Export Academy campaign (5%). The 2023 DBT campaigns were largely seen as clear (71%) and trusted sources of information (66%) and 20% thought the campaigns were relevant to them. The campaigns were seen to contain new information for 5 in 10 (51%) businesses, although this was higher among those who had not previously exported. Businesses who recognised the ads were asked if they had taken any action as a result. Overall, 26% had either taken some action, planned to take action, or would consider doing so in future.

1. There were 5 overseas markets designated as ‘core markets’ at Wave 8: the EU, the USA, the Gulf States, Australia and India. The EU was included as a core market for the first time in 2023. These markets were chosen at the start of the 2023 wave on the basis of strategic significance for UK trade. ↩

2. In 2020, the exporting segments were measured using a new set of questions in the NSRB questionnaire, which improved the allocation of respondents to segments, leaving fewer respondents unallocated. Questions have remained consistent since then. Most respondents were allocated to one of the 4 exporting segments, with a small number of unallocated businesses being those who reported being unsure of exporting behaviour, or who refused to answer questions necessary for the segmentation. ↩

3. Two sets of barriers questions alternate between waves, covering internal and external barriers. Wave 8 covered external barriers, last asked in Wave 6. ↩

4. FTAs set out the rules that cover trade between 2 or more countries and aim to make trading between these countries easier. This may include the removal or reduction of customs duties. See the UK’s trade agreements. ↩

5. Multiple factors such as the effective base size and design weight influence ‘significance’, this means that the absolute size of the difference between 2 proportions does not alone determine whether the difference is statistically significant. For example, a difference of 5 percentage points may in one case be a significant difference, and in another case it may not. See section 3.4 for further details. ↩

6. In previous waves, mentions of Department for International Trade. DBT came into existence in February 2023. In the 2023 survey, mentions of Department for International Trade (DIT) or Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) were included in the DBT attribution figure. ↩