Market access barrier statistics: financial year 2022 to 2023
Updated 24 June 2024
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1. Purpose
This release covers statistics related to the Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) activities to record and address market access barriers (MAB). Barriers refer to any legal, regulatory or administrative restriction imposed by another government or regulator that can impede a business exporting or investing overseas. It contains information on the number of market access barriers reported and resolved by DBT and other government departments (OGD) in the financial year ending (FYE) 2023.
This publication includes:
- headline statistics on the number of MABs reported in the previous financial year
- headline statistics on the number of MABs resolved in the previous financial year
- a breakdown of the above statistics by HMTC regions and sectors
- total numbers of trading partners where barriers were resolved
- a comparison of the above statistics with previous financial years
- previous financial year’s revised data to ensure that data is easily accessible to allow for comparison across time
This will be the third official statistics release (following from the second market access barrier statistics: financial year 2021 to 2022 release published in June 2022).
These statistics were designated as ‘official statistics’ to improve process, accuracy and consistency of the data. This is because they are DBT’s Outcome Delivery Plan metrics and are regularly published in the DBT Annual Report and Accounts as indicators on departmental performance.
Although these statistics provide a picture of market access activity, they do not provide an indication on the complexity or value represented by barriers that have been resolved, or that are currently the subject of DBT’s market access activity.
Currently, DBT publishes the headline figures on market access barriers annually as official statistics. To meet users’ demand, we will also be moving to quarterly publication after June 2023.
1.1 Context
DBT is alerted to the presence of potential market access barriers in a number of ways, including through other government departments, by UK officials working in overseas diplomatic missions as part of the overseas network and directly by UK businesses using the report a trade barrier service.
DBT records these barriers on a system internal to government called Digital Market Access Service (DMAS). DMAS is an operational system used to ensure all relevant details relating to an identified barrier are recorded consistently and are accessible to those involved in addressing them across government. DMAS is also accessible by Devolved Administration officials to report, update, and track market access barriers.
The headline MAB figures are designated as Official Statistics under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. Its aim is to support users to understand the strengths and limitations of these statistics, ensuring that DBT is compliant with the quality principles as stated in the Code of Practice for Statistics, and therefore, should help to reduce the risk of misusing data. The figures used to produce these official statistics are drawn from DMAS operational system where all reported market access barriers are recorded.
DBT has also released information on trade barriers through the Check International Trade Barriers service. This provides information on barriers reported and barriers resolved by sector and location. It serves to raise awareness for UK businesses on a selection of the barriers DBT has worked to resolve or is working to resolve. Check International Trade Barrier service only publishes details for a selection of barriers. Barriers can be deemed unsuitable for publication for a variety of reasons, these include potential commercial or trade negotiation sensitivities. Therefore, the official statistics provide a more complete picture of market access activity than the Check international Trade Barriers service.
2. Reported market access barriers headline statistics
2.1 Reported market access barriers in FYE 2023
371 reported barriers on DMAS
In the FYE 2023, 371 market access barriers were reported, which is a decrease by half (49.9%) compared to the previous FYE 2022 when 741 barriers were reported.
Figure 1: Number of reported market access barriers by FYE 2020, FYE 2021, FYE 2022 and FYE 2023
| Barrier status | FYE 2020 | FYE 2021 | FYE 2022 | FYE 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of reported barriers | 1,011 | 680 | 741 | 371 |
Source: DBT internal Digital Market Access Service (DMAS).
Download more detailed data on number of reported market access barriers by FYE 2020, FYE 2021, FYE 2022 and FYE 2023 in open document spreadsheet (ods) format.
The reduction in number of barriers reported in FYE 2023 could be due to several reasons. Levels of barrier reporting are affected by operational factors such as focus on identifying barriers or resolving identified barriers which can vary over time and region.
Furthermore, when DMAS was set up in 2019, DBT officials would have reported as many barriers as possible (both long standing and relatively newer ones) with DMAS going live. As the pool of outstanding, unresolved barriers declines over time, it could be the case that the number of barriers reported in a financial year start to fall. This could possibly explain the reason for a decrease in reported barriers in FYE 2023.
2.2 Reported market access barriers by HMTC region in financial year ending (FYE) 2023
Highest - 118 reported on DMAS in Europe
Lowest - 6 reported on DMAS in North America
The number of barriers reported within a geographic area or for a particular sector can provide an indication of market access activity. However, this should not be understood as a complete indicator of the market access conditions within HMTC regions, or how they have changed. Instead, it represents the market access barriers that have been reported to DBT.
Table 1 shows that in FYE 2023, the highest number of barriers were reported in Europe (118) and the lowest number of barriers were reported in North America (6).
The number of barriers reported in most regions shows volatility between time periods . This is likely to reflect varying operational activity by DBT within the regions from a focus on developing a more in depth understanding of the market access issues to addressing the barriers that have been identified by DBT. This has less to do with changes in market access conditions.
Table 1: Number of reported market access barriers by HMTC regions for financial years from April 2019 to March 2023
| HMTC region | FYE 2020 | FYE 2021 | FYE 2022 | FYE 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 106 | 66 | 301 | 58 |
| Asia Pacific | 173 | 101 | 72 | 49 |
| China and Hong Kong | 83 | 33 | 43 | 18 |
| Eastern Europe and Central Asia | 114 | 84 | 67 | 30 |
| Europe | 115 | 140 | 130 | 118 |
| Latin America | 132 | 86 | 77 | 44 |
| Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan | 104 | 93 | 26 | 25 |
| North America | 116 | 46 | 6 | 6 |
| South Asia | 68 | 31 | 19 | 23 |
| Total | 1,011 | 680 | 741 | 371 |
Source: DBT internal Digital Market Access Service (DMAS).
Download more detailed data on number of reported market access barriers by HMTC regions for financial years from April 2019 to March 2023 in open document spreadsheet (ods) format.
Table 2 below presents the percent share of HMTC regions in total barriers reported across FYE 2020 to FYE 2023. Europe had the largest proportion of total barriers reported (31.8%) and North America had the lowest proportion (1.6%) of total barriers reported in FYE 2023.
Table 2: Proportion of reported market access barriers by HMTC regions for financial years from April 2019 to March 2023
| HMTC region | FYE 2020 % of total | FYE 2021 % of total | FYE 2022 % of total | FYE 2023 % of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 10.5% | 9.7% | 40.6% | 15.6% |
| Asia Pacific | 17.1% | 14.9% | 9.7% | 13.2% |
| China and Hong Kong | 8.2% | 4.9% | 5.8% | 4.9% |
| Eastern Europe and Central Asia | 11.3% | 12.4% | 9.0% | 8.1% |
| Europe | 11.4% | 20.6% | 17.5% | 31.8% |
| Latin America | 13.1% | 12.6% | 10.4% | 11.9% |
| Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan | 10.3% | 13.7% | 3.5% | 6.7% |
| North America | 11.5% | 6.8% | 0.8% | 1.6% |
| South Asia | 6.7% | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6.2% |
| Total | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Source: DBT internal Digital Market Access Service (DMAS).
Download more detailed data on proportion of reported market access barriers by HMTC regions for financial years from April 2019 to March 2023 in open document spreadsheet (ods) format.
2.3 Distribution of reported market access barriers by sector for financial year ending (FYE) 2023
Section 2.3 was first published on 8 June 2023. Following quality assurance of our formulas we found an error in the calculation of the statistics related to the space sector. This had a minor impact on figures related to the space sector in Table 3 and Figure 2. We rectified this error on 24 June 2024. Table 3 and Figure 2 (marked as ‘r’) now display revised numbers for the space sector and the percentage share of sectors.
Reported market access barriers by sector on DMAS (% share in FYE 2023)
Highest – food and drink (15.2% of total sectors)
Table 3 and Figure 2 show proportion of market access barriers reported by sector in FYE 2023. Food and drink sector had the highest (15.2%) proportion of market access barriers followed by energy (8.7%) and agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and pets (8.5%). It’s important to note that the number of barriers reported per sector is not a definitive indication of the market access conditions experienced by businesses exporting in those sectors.
Table 3: Proportion and number of reported market access barriers by sector in FYE 2023 (r)
| Sectors affected | Number of barriers affected by sector in FYE 2023 | % of total sectors FYE 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced engineering | 17 | 3.4% |
| Aerospace | 7 | 1.4% |
| Agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and pets | 43 | 8.5% |
| Airports | c | c |
| Automotive | 18 | 3.6% |
| Chemicals | c | c |
| Construction | 9 | 1.8% |
| Consumer and retail | 31 | 6.1% |
| Creative industries | 11 | 2.2% |
| Cross sector | 39 | 7.7% |
| Defence | 6 | 1.2% |
| Education and training | 22 | 4.3% |
| Energy | 44 | 8.7% |
| Environment | 10 | 2.0% |
| Financial and professional services | 34 | 6.7% |
| Food and drink | 77 | 15.2% |
| Healthcare services | 16 | 3.2% |
| Logistics | 6 | 1.2% |
| Maritime | c | c |
| Medical devices and equipment | 12 | 2.4% |
| Mining | 13 | 2.6% |
| Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology | 41 | 8.1% |
| Railways | 9 | 1.8% |
| Security | 7 | 1.4% |
| Space | 0 | 0.0% |
| Sports economy | 6 | 1.2% |
| Technology and smart cities | 14 | 2.8% |
| Water | c | c |
Note: A particular market access barrier may affect several sectors. Hence the total number of barriers in the above table will not match with the total number of reported barriers in Section 2.1.
The data for certain sectors have been suppressed to reduce risks of identifying individual businesses, and the letter ‘c’ is used to denote this.
The data for airports, chemicals, maritime and water have been suppressed.
See correction note.
Source: DBT internal Digital Market Access Service (DMAS).
Figure 2: Proportion of reported market access barriers (including in part and in full), by sector for FYE 2023 (r)
| Sectors affected | % of total sectors FYE 2023 |
|---|---|
| Food and drink | 15.2% |
| Energy | 8.7% |
| Agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and pets | 8.5% |
| Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology | 8.1% |
| Cross sector | 7.7% |
| Financial and professional services | 6.7% |
| Consumer and retail | 6.1% |
| Education and training | 4.3% |
| Automotive | 3.6% |
| Advanced engineering | 3.4% |
| Healthcare services | 3.2% |
| Technology and smart cities | 2.8% |
| Mining | 2.6% |
| Medical devices and equipment | 2.4% |
| Creative industries | 2.2% |
| Environment | 2.0% |
| Construction | 1.8% |
| Railways | 1.8% |
| Aerospace | 1.4% |
| Security | 1.4% |
| Space | 1.4% |
| Defence | 1.2% |
| Logistics | 1.2% |
| Sports economy | 1.2% |
| Space | 0.0% |
Note: The data for certain sectors have been suppressed to reduce risks of identifying individual businesses.
The data for airports, chemicals, maritime and water have not been included in Figure 2 as these have been suppressed.
See correction note.
Source: DBT internal Digital Market Access Service (DMAS).
Download more detailed data on proportion and number of reported market access barriers by sector for FYE 2023 in open document spreadsheet (ods) format.
2.4 Number of trading partners where barriers were reported in financial year ending (FYE) 2023
Reported market access barriers by trading partners (numbers reported on DMAS in FYE 2023)
Figure 3 shows a count of the number of trading partners where barriers were reported from FYE 2020 to FYE 2023. In the FYE 2023, there were 358 barriers reported on DMAS.
Figure 3: Number of reported market access barriers by trading partners for FYE 2020 to FYE 2023
| Number of Trading Partners/Barriers Reported | FYE 2020 | FYE 2021 | FYE 2022 | FYE 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of trading partners reporting a barrier | 109 | 99 | 96 | 101 |
| Number of barriers reported from partner countries | 998 | 648 | 716 | 358 |
Source: DBT internal Digital Market Access Service (DMAS).
Download more detailed data on number of reported market access barriers by trading partners for FYE 2020, FYE 2021, FYE 2022 and FYE 2023 in open document spreadsheet (ods) format.
3. Resolved market access barriers headline statistics
3.1 Resolved market access barriers in financial year ending (FYE) 2023, as recorded on DMAS
145 resolved in full
33 resolved in part
When the underlying issues related to a market access barrier have been addressed and are no longer acting as an impediment to trade, DBT staff update the DMAS entry with status as “resolved”. Barriers on DMAS can be marked as “resolved in full” when the issue has been fully addressed or “resolved in part” when only a part of the issues related to a barrier is resolved.
A total of 178 barriers were marked as either resolved in full or resolved in part - this is a 9.6% decrease compared with the previous FYE 2022. Of this:
- 145 barriers were resolved in full in FYE 2023 - this is an 8.8% decrease compared with the previous financial year ending (FYE) 2022
- 33 barriers were resolved in part in FYE 2023 - this is a 13.2% decrease compared with the previous FYE 2022
Note: Some of the barriers resolved in full in later years could have been “resolved in part” in earlier years. Therefore, an aggregate of barriers resolved over the period is not appropriate as it may cause double counting.
Table 4: Number of resolved market access barriers, in part and in full, by FYE 2020, FYE 2021, FYE 2022, and FYE 2023
| Barrier status | FYE 2020 | FYE 2021 | FYE 2022 | FYE 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resolved: in part | 33 | 40 | 38 | 33 |
| Resolved: in full | 122 | 157 | 159 | 145 |
| Total | 155 | 197 | 197 | 178 |
Source: DBT internal Digital Market Access Service (DMAS).
Download more detailed data on number of resolved market access barriers, in part and in full, by FYE 2020, FYE 2021, FYE 2022, and FYE 2023 in open document spreadsheet (ods) format.
Notes: Statistics on resolved barriers will be affected by factors such as:
- scope of resolution (whether it is fully or partially resolved)
- profile of barriers resolved (the time and action required to resolve any individual barrier can vary considerably)
- operational factors and reporting behaviour (for instance, data lags between a barrier being resolved and its DMAS status being updated to reflect this)
3.2 Resolved market access barriers by HMTC region in financial year ending (FYE) 2023, as recorded on DMAS
Highest- 45 resolved in Europe
Lowest- 2 resolved in North America
The number of barriers resolved within a geographic area or for a particular sector can provide an indication of market access activity. It is not however, the sole means to determine the effectiveness or impact of market access barrier resolution activity. Headline figures on resolved barriers do not give any indication of the level of activity required to achieve a resolution, nor the scale of opportunities posed by the barriers resolved.
Table 5 below shows that in FYE 2023, Europe (45) had the highest number of barriers resolved followed by Latin America (34) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (25). North America (2) had the lowest number of resolved barriers on DMAS.
Table 5: Number of resolved market access barriers, in part and in full by HMTC region in FYE 2022 and FYE 2023
| HMTC region | Resolved: In part | Resolved: In full | FYE 2022 Total | Resolved: In part | Resolved: In full | FYE 2023 Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 5 | 17 | 22 | 7 | 13 | 20 |
| Asia Pacific | 5 | 18 | 23 | 4 | 17 | 21 |
| China and Hong Kong | 7 | 7 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Eastern Europe and Central Asia | 6 | 36 | 42 | 4 | 21 | 25 |
| Europe | 10 | 31 | 41 | 6 | 39 | 45 |
| Latin America | 1 | 33 | 34 | 3 | 31 | 34 |
| Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan | 4 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 13 | 19 |
| North America | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| South Asia | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Total | 38 | 159 | 197 | 33 | 145 | 178 |
Source: DBT internal Digital Market Access Service (DMAS).
Download more detailed data on number of reported market access barriers by HMTC regions for FYE 2022 and FYE 2023 in open document spreadsheet (ods) format.
Table 6: Resolved market access barriers (including in part and in full) by HMTC regions as a percentage share of total for FYE 2020, FYE 2021, FYE 2022 and FYE 2023
| HMTC region | FYE 2020 % of total | FYE 2021 % of total | FYE 2022 % of total | FYE 2023 % of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa | 4.5% | 5.6% | 11.2% | 11.2% |
| Asia Pacific | 20.6% | 19.3% | 11.7% | 11.8% |
| China and Hong Kong | 4.5% | 4.1% | 7.1% | 3.4% |
| Eastern Europe and Central Asia | 17.4% | 13.7% | 21.3% | 14.0% |
| Europe | 12.3% | 20.8% | 20.8% | 25.3% |
| Latin America | 14.8% | 15.2% | 17.3% | 19.1% |
| Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan | 17.4% | 12.7% | 7.1% | 10.7% |
| North America | 3.2% | 4.1% | 1.5% | 1.1% |
| South Asia | 5.2% | 4.6% | 2.0% | 3.4% |
| Total | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
Source: DBT internal Digital Market Access Service (DMAS).
Download more detailed data on resolved market access barriers (including in part and in full) by HMTC regions as a percentage share of total for FYE 2020, FYE 2021, FYE 2022 and FYE 2023 in open document spreadsheet (ods) format.
3.3 Resolved market access barriers by sector (% share in financial year ending (FYE) 2023), as recorded on DMAS
Section 3.3 was first published on 8 June 2023. Following quality assurance of our formulas we found an error in the calculation of the statistics related to the space sector. This had a minor impact on figures related to the space sector in Table 7 and Figure 4. We rectified this error on 24 June 2024. Table 7 and Figure 4 (marked as ‘r’) now display revised numbers for the space sector and the percentage share of sectors.
Highest - food and drink (18.6% of total sectors)
In the FYE 2023, food and drink sector had the largest share (18.6%) of market access barriers resolved (including both in full and in part) followed by agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and pets (10.5%), and energy (8.9%). However, this measure does not indicate sectoral prioritisation. The sectors in which barriers were resolved is affected by the number of barriers identified and reported on DMAS. This metric provides no additional insight into the complexity of barriers affecting different sectors, nor the level of activity involved in the resolution of barriers in each sector.
Table 7: Proportion and number of resolved market access barriers (including in part and in full), by sector for FYE 2023[r]
| Sectors affected | Number of barriers affected by sector in FYE 2023 | % of total sectors in FYE 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced engineering | 6 | 2.5% |
| Aerospace | c | c |
| Agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and pets | 25 | 10.5% |
| Airports | c | c |
| Automotive | c | c |
| Chemicals | c | c |
| Construction | c | c |
| Consumer and retail | 8 | 3.4% |
| Creative industries | 0 | 0% |
| Cross sector | 20 | 8.4% |
| Defence | c | c |
| Education and training | 16 | 6.8% |
| Energy | 21 | 8.9% |
| Environment | c | c |
| Financial and professional services | 15 | 6.3% |
| Food and drink | 44 | 18.6% |
| Healthcare services | 14 | 5.9% |
| Logistics | 0 | 0.0% |
| Maritime | c | c |
| Medical devices and equipment | c | c |
| Mining | 6 | 2.5% |
| Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology | 19 | 8.0% |
| Railways | c | c |
| Security | c | c |
| Space | 0 | 0.0% |
| Sports economy | 0 | 0.0% |
| Technology and smart cities | 9 | 3.8% |
| Water | c | c |
Note: A particular sector may be affected by several market access barriers. Hence the total number of barriers resolved in the above table will not match with the total number of barriers resolved in Section 3.1.
The data for certain sectors data have been suppressed to reduce risks of identifying individual businesses, and the letter ‘c’ is used to denote this.
The data for aerospace, airports, automotive, chemicals, construction, defence, environment, maritime, medical devices and equipment, railways, security, water, have been suppressed .
See correction note.
Source: DBT internal Digital Market Access Service (DMAS).
Figure 4: Proportion of resolved market access barriers (including in part and in full) by sector for financial year 2022 to 2023
| Sectors affected | % of total sectors in FYE 2023 |
|---|---|
| Food and drink | 18.6% |
| Agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and pets | 10.5% |
| Energy | 8.9% |
| Cross sector | 8.4% |
| Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology | 8.0% |
| Education and training | 6.8% |
| Financial and professional services | 6.3% |
| Healthcare services | 5.9% |
| Technology and smart cities | 3.8% |
| Consumer and retail | 3.4% |
| Advanced engineering | 2.5% |
| Mining | 2.5% |
| Creative industries | 0.0% |
| Logistics | 0.0% |
| Space | 0.0% |
| Sports economy | 0.0% |
Note: The data for certain sectors data have been suppressed to reduce risks of identifying individual businesses,
The data for aerospace, airports, automotive, chemicals, construction, defence, environment, maritime, medical devices and equipment, railways, security, water, have been removed from Figure 4.
See correction note.
Source: DBT internal Digital Market Access Service (DMAS).
Download more detailed data on on proportion and number of resolved market access barriers by sector for FYE 2023 in open document spreadsheet (ods) format.
3.4 Number of trading partners where market access barrier was resolved in financial year ending (FYE) 2023
Resolved (in part and in full) market access barriers by trading partners (numbers as reported on DMAS in FYE 2023)
The number of trading partners in which a barrier was resolved can provide some illustration on the breadth of market access activity being undertaken, although this provides no indication of the depth of the market access activity in the domain of the trading partner.
Figure 5 shows a count of the number of trading partners for which a barrier was marked as resolved across FYE 2020, FYE 2021, FYE 2022 and FYE 2023. In the FYE 2023, 176 barriers were resolved across 75 trading partners.
Figure 5: Number of trading partners where barriers were resolved in part and in full, across FYE 2020, FYE 2021, FYE 2022, and FYE 2023
| Barrier status | FYE 2020 | FYE 2021 | FYE 2022 | FYE 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resolved: in full | 45 | 58 | 73 | 72 |
| Resolved: in part | 28 | 27 | 28 | 23 |
| Total countries | 54 | 63 | 79 | 75 |
Source: DBT internal Digital Market Access Service (DMAS).