n years
our export of our own manufactures and produce to German ports was at
the rate of L17,800,000 a year, against a total import from German ports
of L25,900,000, this figure including both German goods and other
countries' goods passing through Germany. If we recollect that on the
whole our imports from the outside world must be very much larger than
our exports, for the reasons detailed in the preceding chapter, it will
be seen that these two figures, even by themselves, are not
unsatisfactory.

ANALYSIS OF OUR TRADE WITH GERMAN PORTS.

In Millions Sterling.

----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----
|1886|1887|1888|1889|1890|1891|1892|1893|1894|1895
----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----
British Goods exported|15.7|15.7|15.8|18.5|19.3|18.8|17.6|17.7|17.8|20.6
to German ports | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
Foreign and Colonial |10.6|11.5|11.6|12.8|11.2|11.1|12.1|10.3|11.4|12.2
Goods exported from | | | | | | | | | |
British ports to | | | | | | | | | |
German ports | | | | | | | | | |
----------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----

OUR PRINCIPAL CUSTOMERS.

Let us now go a step further and compare our trade with Germany and our
trade with other principal customers. The comparison is worked out in
the following table, which shows the total imports into the United
Kingdom from the respective countries, and the total exports from the
United Kingdom to the same countries:--

TRADE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM WITH THE FOLLOWING COUNTRIES.

Ten Years' Average, in Millions Sterling, according to _British_
Returns.

----------------------------------+-----------+-----------
| Imports | Exports
| into U.K. | from U.K.
----------------------------------+-----------+-----------
From and to Germany | 25.9 | 29.2
" " France | 42.6 | 21.7
" " United States | 91.8 | 40.2
" " British India | 30.5 | 31.3
" " Australasia | 28.3 | 23.1
" " British North America | 12.2 | 8.4
----------------------------------+---------