The UK’s trade deficit – the gap between imports and exports – has hit its highest level for almost seven years.

Official figures for this April put the deficit at £4.4bn – compared with £3bn in March.

The widening of the deficit has been blamed on a slump in car and chemical exports. There has also been a 8.6% fall in overall exports, which includes a 6.8% drop in exports to other European Union nations.

In April, the total goods trade deficit was £10.1bn – compared with £8.7bn in March.At the same time, the services surplus was £5.7bn in April, slightly lower than March’s £5.8bn.