Since 2020 shipping has increased in cost , materials have increased in cost , some factories have not yet fully returned to airsoft after switching to making medical and safety gear , fuel cost increases world wide .
All of these are world wide but especially in some parts of Asia. Brexit may not help locally with the economy but it has nothing to do with the shortage of product being produced and shipped from Asia . Hong Kong shipping and warehousing companies have increased their charges exponentially the last few years which means retailers and factories are increasingly going back to sea shipping which is still very backed up from the pandemic rush and has also increased costs due to the global increase in fuel cost.
If you think we have it bad the European shops have it even worse as the buying power in Euros is even lower currently according to my colleagues in the Europe offices.
Add to this that there just hasn't been the new releases this year that we see some years but that fluctuates year on year