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 £
Germany 1,307,211,133
Netherlands 1,290,716,682
Belgium 1,018,821,021
Ivory Coast 929,628,822
Poland 777,199,470

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 £
Germany 680,549,773 626,661,360 -53,888,413
Netherlands 680,245,773 610,470,909 -69,774,864
Belgium 555,376,451 463,444,570 -91,931,881
Ivory Coast 524,384,851 405,243,971 -119,140,880
Poland 419,608,565 357,590,905 -62,017,660
France 425,131,428 345,318,860 -79,812,568
Ireland 307,312,748 253,975,301 -53,337,447
Italy 257,751,640 258,709,479 +957,839
Switzerland 104,609,860 52,416,618 -52,193,242
Spain 76,071,921 59,487,593 -16,584,328

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 1,372,032,587
Netherlands 1,225,758,389
Ivory Coast 953,268,415
Poland 793,349,876
Belgium 696,663,012

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 727,481,016 644,551,571 -82,929,445
Netherlands 672,944,237 552,814,152 -120,130,085
Ivory Coast 508,681,774 444,586,641 -64,095,133
Poland 434,203,982 359,145,894 -75,058,088
Belgium 390,343,263 306,319,749 -84,023,514
France 305,092,939 275,182,957 -29,909,982
Italy 232,865,362 224,003,198 -8,862,164
Ireland 250,072,314 196,813,859 -53,258,455
Switzerland 111,308,107 97,190,257 -14,117,850
Ghana 69,346,815 88,541,910 +19,195,095

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 132
Outer London - West and North West 130
Inner London - East 117
Greater Manchester 100
Outer London - East and North East 92

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 100 101 +1
Outer London - West and North West 112 87 -25
Inner London - East 92 93 +1
Greater Manchester 85 53 -32
Outer London - East and North East 76 71 -5
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 60 60 +0
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 46 50 +4
Surrey, East and West Sussex 43 38 -5
Outer London - South 37 35 -2
West Yorkshire 37 34 -3

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) 5,775,341,335
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,933,461,124
Other 514,985,021
Road transport 81,674,062
Air transport 37,712,450

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) 3,164,461,155 2,610,880,180 -553,580,975
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 977,248,852 956,212,272 -21,036,580
Other 248,931,486 266,053,535 +17,122,049
Road transport 37,983,249 43,690,813 +5,707,564
Air transport 20,971,218 16,741,232 -4,229,986
Rail transport 2,125,832 1,647,581 -478,251
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 2,255,405,477
Liverpool Docks 966,245,605
Eurotunnel 962,324,854
Immingham Docks 897,913,565
London 755,645,693

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 1,235,755,605 1,019,649,872 -216,105,733
Liverpool Docks 538,248,482 427,997,123 -110,251,359
Eurotunnel 527,488,238 434,836,616 -92,651,622
Immingham Docks 422,938,874 474,974,691 +52,035,817
London 391,304,377 364,341,316 -26,963,061
000 248,874,937 265,748,909 +16,873,972
Dover / Eurotunnel 248,814,736 208,543,032 -40,271,704
London Gateway Port 143,862,166 149,666,467 +5,804,301
Middlesbrough 145,020,740 115,439,545 -29,581,195
Felixstowe 97,469,223 103,214,849 +5,745,626

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
672
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
411
Manufacture of food products
261
Food and beverage service activities
140
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities
68

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-05 431
2026-04 427
2026-03 493
2026-02 458
2026-01 426

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 601
0-1m 390
54m+ 236
15m-54m 128
Other 108

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 724,526,446
Netherlands 280,353,027
Poland 200,494,850
Belgium 179,672,855
Germany 135,766,353

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 397,769,590 326,756,856 -71,012,734
Netherlands 173,226,269 107,126,758 -66,099,511
Poland 117,307,210 83,187,640 -34,119,570
Belgium 87,234,763 92,438,092 +5,203,329
Germany 62,243,880 73,522,473 +11,278,593
United States 47,158,624 41,917,206 -5,241,418
France 48,990,660 35,714,062 -13,276,598
Saudi Arabia 29,546,342 21,929,942 -7,616,400
United Arab Emirates 27,501,897 19,950,486 -7,551,411
Canada 25,471,582 18,712,549 -6,759,033

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 18,976,190
Ireland 7,824,168
France 4,148,565
Poland 2,806,258
Belgium 1,856,561

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 8,173,936 10,802,254 +2,628,318
Ireland 4,641,911 3,182,257 -1,459,654
France 1,057,457 3,091,108 +2,033,651
Poland 1,907,288 898,970 -1,008,318
Belgium 955,018 901,543 -53,475
Italy 989,861 793,360 -196,501
Netherlands 698,680 753,686 +55,006
Germany 779,437 652,104 -127,333
Luxembourg 651,334 506,560 -144,774
Switzerland 425,826 506,417 +80,591

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) 1,714,834,179
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 495,691,388
Other 70,937,924
Air transport 32,811,949
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) 951,525,965 763,308,214 -188,217,751
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 276,542,499 219,148,889 -57,393,610
Other 36,540,389 34,397,535 -2,142,854
Air transport 18,387,409 14,424,540 -3,962,869
Rail transport 220,279 3,760 -216,519
Road transport 8,880 0 -8,880

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 764,959,213
Liverpool Docks 464,840,918
London Gateway Port 241,208,898
Holyhead 240,658,445
Immingham Docks 133,961,722

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 424,984,192 339,975,021 -85,009,171
Liverpool Docks 255,745,472 209,095,446 -46,650,026
London Gateway Port 139,203,371 102,005,527 -37,197,844
Holyhead 137,566,490 103,091,955 -34,474,535
Immingham Docks 83,237,517 50,724,205 -32,513,312
Southampton 46,543,591 39,600,154 -6,943,437
Felixstowe 43,498,314 40,356,623 -3,141,691
000 36,516,265 34,224,878 -2,291,387
Middlesbrough 21,791,226 24,684,268 +2,893,042
Dover 23,038,600 21,563,048 -1,475,552

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