Friday marks five years since Britain left the European Union on Jan. 31, 2020. People and businesses are still wrestling with the economic, social and cultural aftershocks.

Representatives of the United Kingdom and the European Union look on as Britain and the European Union face a hearing at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the first post-Brexit trade dispute that has gone to arbitration over a ban on catching sandeels in British waters, in The Hague, Netherlands, January 28, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

Five years on from the day Britain formally left the EU, BBC Verify has examined five important ways Brexit has affected Britain. Economists and analysts generally assess the impact of leaving the EU single market and customs union on 1 Jan 2021 on the UK's goods trade as having been negative.

Five years after the UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020, the country is still adjusting to life outside the bloc. Brexit has strained small businesses more than big ones, changed university campuses and the NHS,

This is not the first time that the UK and the EU have expressed their readiness for a "reset" in relations. But now, five years after Britain left the European Union, there appears to be more momentum for making a reset happen,

Britain left the European Union five years ago on Friday, but the anniversary was met with little fanfare as Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks closer relations with the bloc. Starmer, who voted to remain during the 2016 Brexit referendum,