A Snapshot: UK-Greenland Trade Relations

• Greenland
• United Kingdom
• 18 February 2021

By Shaan Afzal-Khan

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Shaan Afzal-Khan

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Expanding on our UK-Arctic Trade and Investment Observatory, we are now building a collage of all the relevant information pertaining to UK-Greenland trade relations – with particular attention on the everyday relationship between the two countries – so all the information is at your fingertips. 

Period: Four quarters to the end of Q2 2021 (unless specified otherwise)

• Rank as trading partner (goods and services):
  • 200th largest trading partner (accounting for <0.1% of total UK trade)
  • Joint 191st largest goods trading partner (accounting for <0.1% of UK goods trade)
  • 187th largest services trading partner (accounting for <0.1% of UK services trade)
• Rank as export market:
  • 192nd largest export market (accounting for <0.1% of total UK exports)
  • 193rd largest goods export market (accounting for <0.1% of UK goods exports)
  • 170th largest services export market (accounting for <0.1% of UK services exports)
• Rank of import market:
  • Joint 188th largest import market (accounting for <0.1% of total UK imports)
  • Joint 152nd largest goods import market (accounting for <0.1% of UK goods imports)
  • Joint 211th largest services import market (accounting for <0.1% of UK services imports)
• Total trade in goods and services: £12 million (increase of 9.1% or £1 million from previous year)
• Total UK exports to Greenland: £10 million (decrease of 9.1% or £1 million from previous year)
• Total UK imports from Greenland: £2 million (increase of £2 million from previous year)
• Outward stock of FDI (2019): £5 million (<0.1% of the total UK outward FDI stock)
• Inward stock of FDI (2019): <£1 million (<0.1% of the total UK inward FDI stock)

For further information, visit DIT’s Trade and Investment Factsheet for Greenland. 

Note: According to PRPI’s data based on submissions by companies engaged in UK-Greenland trade, the bilateral trade between the two countries is much greater. For additional information, check PRPI’s UK-Greenland trade policy brief, which has the latest data as of November 2020. An addendum to the report will be published here early in March 2021, with the latest statistics as of end-February 2021.

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Latest News about UK-Greenland Trade: 

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1. CEO of Greenland-focused UK mining company AEX Gold states that ‘Greenland is a potential boom area’ for mining (08/02/2022): https://www.mining-technology.com/features/aex-gold-greenland-gold-mining/
2. Seafood sector set to benefit as UK starts Greenland trade talks (27/01/2022): https://www.gov.uk/government/news/seafood-sector-set-to-benefit-as-uk-starts-greenland-trade-talks
3. AEX Gold provides a positive update regarding survey results from Tartoq project in Southern Greenland (23/11/2021): https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/967070/aex-gold-reports-positive-survey-results-from-tartoq-project-in-southern-greenland-967070.html
4. Uranium mining officially banned in Greenland following campaign promise (10/11/2021): https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1238626.shtml
5. London-listed mining company AEX Gold provides a positive updates regarding its Nalunaq gold project in Greenland and other prospects (02/11/2021): https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/964961/aex-gold-updates-on-progress-at-nalunaq-project-in-greenland-964961.html
6. A pension fund from Greenland joins Nordic and British pension funds to invest $130 billion by 2030 to fight climate change (02/11/2021): https://finance.yahoo.com/news/climate-investment-coalition-cic-announcement-102500570.html
7. Mining giant De Beers has commissioned a survey of the Ocean floor off Greenland’s coast in a first step to determine whether it could hold deposits of diamonds (05/10/2021): https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-diamond-giant-beers-hunts-114729203.html
8. The National Federation of Fishermen warn that there have been concerns over trade negotiations with other countries (such as Greenland) now that the UK is out of the EU (30/09/2021): https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1498867/brexit-news-fishing-latest-eu-trade-deal-cost-update
9. Greenland-focused GreenRoc Mining has debuted on the London AIM exchange (27/09/2021): https://www.mining.com/greenland-focused-greenroc-ipos-on-the-aim/
10. A British mining company with rights to explore in Greenland has struck an investment worth up to $15 million with an American mining company backed by Bill Gates (09/08/2021): https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bill-gates-backed-kobold-funding-bluejay-battery-metals-mine-in-greenland-hnh9zh5d2.
11. The UK has held crunch talks on a bilateral trade agreement with Greenland (20/06/2021): https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1451657/brexit-news-greenland-trade-deal-pele-broberg-liz-truss

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Shaan Afzal-Khan is a Global Leadership Fellow at Polar Research and Policy Initiative. He is part of the PRPI team behind the UK-Arctic Trade and Investment Observatory, and serves as the lead for the Kingdom of Denmark and Russia. 

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