Britain’s trade deficit wide-ned in the first quarter of 2016 to its biggest since the early days of the financial crisis, adding to signs that global weakness is weighing on the economy.

The shortfall in the first three months of the year widened to £13.27 billion from £12.20 billion in the last three months of 2015, its biggest for any calendar quarter since the first quarter of 2008, the Office for National Statistics said. The deficit in goods alone widened to its highest since comparable records began in 1998 at £34.694 billion.

Figures for March alone showed some improvement with the deficit in the trade in goods narrowing a bit to £11.20 billion, slightly under economists’ forecasts for £11.3 billion in a Reuters poll.

British economic growth slowed to a quarterly rate of 0.4 per cent in the first three months of 2016, down from 0.6 per cent in the last three months of 2015, and the ONS said trade would be a drag over the period.

Tuesday’s figures showed that goods export volumes in the first quarter of 2016 slipped by 0.1 per cent, a smaller decline than at the end of 2015, while goods imports rose by 1.5 per cent.

China’s economic slowdown has hit global trade since the middle of last year, and Markit’s survey of British manufacturers has shown lower export orders every month so far this year — the longest run of falls in three years.

Britain’s large current account deficit hit a record seven per cent of the economy in late 2015, which the Bank of Engl-and has said potentially leaves Britain vulnerable if the country votes to lea-ve the EU in a referendum on June 23.