LONDON: Britain's trade deficit for goods with the rest of the world dropped in October but reached a record high with the European Union, official data showed on Tuesday.

The overall deficit decreased to £9.7 billion ($15.9 billion, 11.6 billion euros) compared with £10.1 billion in September, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

With the EU, the trade in goods balance reached a record deficit of £6.5 billion, the ONS said.