Import/export HS code 18: Cocoa and cocoa products

All types of cocoa items, including cocoa beans, cocoa powder, and chocolate preparations

Why this is important if you are looking for potential customers in the UK:

  • It helps you understand the market size for your product in the UK.
  • It provides you with a list of potential leads who have bought similar products.

* UK only, last 24 months analysed

Imports by country

What this shows: Import market volume by exporter country into the UK.

Top 5 values

Country £
Netherlands 1,398,323,809
Germany 1,391,490,102
Belgium 1,071,979,270
Ivory Coast 953,434,707
Poland 836,143,365

Countries rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month volume, right side by second 12-month volume, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Country First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Netherlands 661,105,151 737,218,658 +76,113,507
Germany 648,898,837 742,591,265 +93,692,428
Belgium 532,860,092 539,119,178 +6,259,086
Ivory Coast 512,013,805 441,420,902 -70,592,903
Poland 394,388,233 441,755,132 +47,366,899
France 416,659,097 407,821,587 -8,837,510
Ireland 284,628,882 311,329,637 +26,700,755
Italy 250,218,725 294,702,489 +44,483,764
Switzerland 90,688,261 80,975,406 -9,712,855
Spain 67,393,617 79,572,282 +12,178,665

Imports by country of origin

What this shows: Import volume by production origin country. Differences from exporter-country data can indicate re-export routes.

Top 5 values

Origin £
Germany 1,462,180,967
Netherlands 1,326,714,587
Ivory Coast 982,104,867
Poland 848,591,668
Belgium 743,314,292

Country of origin rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Origin countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month import value, right side by second 12-month import value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Origin First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Germany 681,311,939 780,869,028 +99,557,089
Netherlands 647,792,451 678,922,136 +31,129,685
Ivory Coast 502,379,305 479,725,562 -22,653,743
Poland 406,069,661 442,522,007 +36,452,346
Belgium 392,213,768 351,100,524 -41,113,244
France 282,468,352 333,175,593 +50,707,241
Italy 223,532,112 259,977,858 +36,445,746
Ireland 221,102,856 247,003,501 +25,900,645
Switzerland 104,283,006 116,499,311 +12,216,305
Ghana 44,306,960 120,509,100 +76,202,140

Importers across UK regions

What this shows: Number of importing companies by UK ITL2 region.

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 137
Outer London - West and North West 133
Inner London - East 122
Greater Manchester 107
Outer London - East and North East 95

UK regions rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: UK regions are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month importer count, right side by second 12-month importer count, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

UK region First 12m Second 12m Delta
Inner London - West 99 108 +9
Outer London - West and North West 104 102 -2
Inner London - East 92 101 +9
Greater Manchester 90 56 -34
Outer London - East and North East 76 74 -2
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 56 58 +2
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 49 50 +1
Surrey, East and West Sussex 38 43 +5
Essex 34 38 +4
West Yorkshire 38 36 -2

Import volume by transport

What this shows: Import value by transport mode used to bring goods into the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 6,203,667,391
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,989,686,530
Other 537,640,177
Road transport 81,670,054
Air transport 38,769,304

Transport rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Transport modes are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month import value, right side by second 12-month import value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Transport First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 3,027,144,559 3,176,522,832 +149,378,273
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 884,255,341 1,105,431,189 +221,175,848
Other 241,235,995 296,404,182 +55,168,187
Road transport 26,924,501 54,745,553 +27,821,052
Air transport 19,629,007 19,140,297 -488,710
Rail transport 1,150,348 2,591,613 +1,441,265
Own propulsion (e.g. imported vehicle driven across land boundary) 0 8,366 +8,366

Import volume by port

What this shows: Import value handled by each UK port.

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover 2,429,766,362
Liverpool Docks 1,022,581,577
Eurotunnel 1,020,501,564
Immingham Docks 970,590,324
London 790,746,393

Port rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Ports are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month import value, right side by second 12-month import value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Port First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Dover 1,182,719,263 1,247,047,099 +64,327,836
Liverpool Docks 519,299,844 503,281,733 -16,018,111
Eurotunnel 499,404,847 521,096,717 +21,691,870
Immingham Docks 414,266,469 556,323,855 +142,057,386
London 368,750,797 421,995,596 +53,244,799
000 241,193,516 295,791,225 +54,597,709
Dover / Eurotunnel 241,721,773 248,595,627 +6,873,854
London Gateway Port 106,819,370 172,668,835 +65,849,465
Middlesbrough 115,203,384 156,410,142 +41,206,758
Felixstowe 83,979,661 125,728,084 +41,748,423

Importer companies by SIC division

What this shows: Industry breakdown (SIC divisions) of importing companies.

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 686
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 426
Manufacture of food products 263
Food and beverage service activities 144
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 72

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-04 426
2026-03 492
2026-02 458
2026-01 426
2025-12 495

Top importers

What this shows: Companies with the highest number of months traded for this HS code.

Importer company size by revenue band

What this shows: Distribution of importers across company revenue bands.

Top 5 values

Revenue Companies
1m-15m 616
0-1m 411
54m+ 239
15m-54m 125
Other 111

Import seasonality

What this shows: Average monthly import pattern from historical data.

Exports by country

What this shows: Export market volume by destination country from the UK.

Top 5 values

Country £
Ireland 769,974,408
Netherlands 307,269,852
Poland 214,500,827
Belgium 182,740,409
Germany 139,016,511

Export countries rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Destination countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export volume, right side by second 12-month export volume, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Country First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Ireland 368,386,806 401,587,602 +33,200,796
Netherlands 164,562,344 142,707,508 -21,854,836
Poland 106,763,796 107,737,031 +973,235
Belgium 68,055,725 114,684,684 +46,628,959
Germany 50,906,769 88,109,742 +37,202,973
United States 45,750,887 48,114,456 +2,363,569
France 39,113,264 48,951,559 +9,838,295
Saudi Arabia 31,573,287 23,394,725 -8,178,562
Canada 25,479,550 27,352,933 +1,873,383
United Arab Emirates 27,552,212 23,961,935 -3,590,277

Exports by country of origin

What this shows: Export volume by production origin country. For re-exports, indicates where goods originated before UK export.

Top 5 values

Origin £
XI 19,615,753
Ireland 8,587,600
France 4,156,883
Poland 3,263,600
Belgium 1,945,820

Export origin countries rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Origin countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export value, right side by second 12-month export value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Origin First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
XI 7,875,255 11,740,498 +3,865,243
Ireland 4,685,526 3,902,074 -783,452
France 600,598 3,556,285 +2,955,687
Poland 2,133,837 1,129,763 -1,004,074
Belgium 882,745 1,063,075 +180,330
Italy 841,510 1,014,679 +173,169
Netherlands 738,168 856,091 +117,923
Germany 745,537 793,946 +48,409
Luxembourg 398,102 756,993 +358,891
Switzerland 368,375 591,079 +222,704

Export volume by transport

What this shows: Export value by transport mode used to ship goods from the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,812,183,939
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 542,938,099
Other 76,033,382
Air transport 34,808,722
Rail transport 224,039

Export transport rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Transport modes are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export value, right side by second 12-month export value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Transport First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 849,104,976 963,078,963 +113,973,987
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 280,425,518 262,512,581 -17,912,937
Other 35,932,320 40,101,062 +4,168,742
Air transport 17,230,618 17,578,104 +347,486
Rail transport 220,279 3,760 -216,519
Road transport 27,614 0 -27,614

Export volume by port

What this shows: Export value handled by each UK port.

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 803,818,374
Liverpool Docks 512,759,109
London Gateway Port 260,226,017
Holyhead 242,491,259
Immingham Docks 142,410,198

Export port rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Ports are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export value, right side by second 12-month export value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Port First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Dover / Eurotunnel 368,101,437 435,716,937 +67,615,500
Liverpool Docks 260,327,967 252,431,142 -7,896,825
London Gateway Port 141,744,942 118,481,075 -23,263,867
Holyhead 105,386,082 137,105,177 +31,719,095
Immingham Docks 78,427,896 63,982,302 -14,445,594
Southampton 45,094,376 49,537,206 +4,442,830
Felixstowe 43,217,627 46,841,260 +3,623,633
000 35,908,194 40,059,726 +4,151,532
Middlesbrough 18,474,129 30,554,416 +12,080,287
Dover 22,576,230 25,458,829 +2,882,599

Related HS codes

What this shows: Sibling or child HS codes in the same classification branch.

Quick facts

HS code: 18

Coverage: United Kingdom, most metrics for the last 24 months

Description: All types of cocoa items, including cocoa beans, cocoa powder, and chocolate preparations