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When it comes to exports and national GDPs perception and reality often rarely align.

Example: almost everyone thinks UK manufacturing has been in decline for decades. In reality when measured in absolute amounts the UK manufactures more than ever before. People think it's declined only because it employs fewer people (but still manages to make more). A more optimistic way to look at it would be to say that UK manufacturing has become wildly more productive than in the past.

So when you say they're "diminishing" you need to square that with the fact that the UK economy is actually doing pretty well, by European standards, hence the large migratory net inflows as people vote with their feet.