Why has the UK's export performance been so poor?

The UK's export performance since 2008 has been disappointing, especially when sterling's depreciation in 2008–09 is taken into account. This reflects a deterioration in relative wage costs, particularly relative to the US and Germany. In the four years from Q2 2009, export volumes grew by 17%. In contrast, Germany's exports grew by 34% over the same period. The poor performance of exports is one of the key reasons for lacklustre growth in the UK, with GDP still below pre‐crisis levels…