Import/export HS code 48189010: Medical or surgical paper products

Paper items used in medical or surgical settings, not sold in retail packaging

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 £
China 5,568,245
Italy 3,117,412
Germany 1,512,085
Switzerland 720,577
Netherlands 559,178

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 £
China 3,208,600 2,359,645 -848,955
Italy 1,840,188 1,277,224 -562,964
Germany 804,107 707,978 -96,129
Switzerland 529,073 191,504 -337,569
Netherlands 394,983 164,195 -230,788
Ireland 238,066 230,425 -7,641
Malaysia 234,718 97,395 -137,323
Sweden 226,737 78,146 -148,591
Finland 134,387 166,666 +32,279
France 192,824 85,638 -107,186

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 £
China 5,827,078
Italy 3,217,360
Germany 1,786,728
Sweden 418,007
Finland 336,397

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 £
China 3,361,690 2,465,388 -896,302
Italy 1,898,388 1,318,972 -579,416
Germany 943,421 843,307 -100,114
Sweden 269,401 148,606 -120,795
Finland 152,344 184,053 +31,709
Netherlands 199,108 36,341 -162,767
Malaysia 219,301 0 -219,301
Poland 83,416 87,362 +3,946
Turkey 127,909 33,585 -94,324
Belgium 147,621 9,256 -138,365

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 9
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 6
Surrey, East and West Sussex 6
Inner London - West 5
Inner London - East 4

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
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 7 7 +0
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 5 5 +0
Surrey, East and West Sussex 5 3 -2
Inner London - West 3 4 +1
Inner London - East 3 2 -1
Kent 3 3 +0
Outer London - West and North West 0 4 +4
West Midlands 4 2 -2
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 2 3 +1
Greater Manchester 2 2 +0

Import volume by transport

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

Top 5 values

Transport £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 7,618,602
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 5,130,517
Other 494,013
Road transport 363,824
Air transport 315,436

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 £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 4,358,348 3,260,254 -1,098,094
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 3,136,314 1,994,203 -1,142,111
Other 281,638 212,375 -69,263
Road transport 344,078 19,746 -324,332
Air transport 252,566 62,870 -189,696

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Felixstowe 4,692,645
Dover 3,574,714
London Gateway Port 917,038
Immingham Docks 754,775
000 494,013

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 £
Felixstowe 3,129,040 1,563,605 -1,565,435
Dover 2,076,256 1,498,458 -577,798
London Gateway Port 96,687 820,351 +723,664
Immingham Docks 503,756 251,019 -252,737
000 281,638 212,375 -69,263
ZLC 422,785 61,832 -360,953
London 143,147 248,670 +105,523
Harwich 193,147 167,740 -25,407
Purfleet 253,324 106,737 -146,587
Southampton 221,561 97,224 -124,337

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 37
Other manufacturing 12
Manufacture of paper and paper products 11
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 9
Human health activities 8

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 18
2025-11 25
2025-10 21
2025-09 25
2025-08 24

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 42
54m+ 26
Other 15
15m-54m 10
0-1m 2

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 £
Canada 4,506,729
United States 4,465,045
Ireland 2,650,634
Australia 2,040,512
Kuwait 1,812,161

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 £
Canada 2,810,825 1,695,904 -1,114,921
United States 2,752,176 1,712,869 -1,039,307
Ireland 1,517,818 1,132,816 -385,002
Australia 1,216,059 824,453 -391,606
Kuwait 1,453,579 358,582 -1,094,997
Belgium 854,146 663,029 -191,117
Spain 605,661 372,509 -233,152
South Africa 298,596 417,656 +119,060
France 462,158 181,447 -280,711
Israel 320,291 248,300 -71,991

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 £
Ireland 109,358
Sweden 39,494
XI 18,129

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 £
Ireland 57,228 52,130 -5,098
Sweden 39,494 0 -39,494
XI 9,236 8,893 -343

Export volume by transport

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

Top 5 values

Transport £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 17,407,662
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 7,937,249
Air transport 296,573
Other 184,126

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 £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 11,026,423 6,381,239 -4,645,184
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 4,922,932 3,014,317 -1,908,615
Air transport 190,375 106,198 -84,177
Other 115,776 68,350 -47,426

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Liverpool Docks 9,153,339
London Gateway Port 5,248,815
Dover / Eurotunnel 3,709,707
Southampton 2,158,972
Felixstowe 1,876,337

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 £
Liverpool Docks 6,350,188 2,803,151 -3,547,037
London Gateway Port 3,266,038 1,982,777 -1,283,261
Dover / Eurotunnel 2,546,378 1,163,329 -1,383,049
Southampton 680,040 1,478,932 +798,892
Felixstowe 1,304,570 571,767 -732,803
Immingham Docks 689,131 625,188 -63,943
Holyhead 452,035 388,645 -63,390
Dover 333,582 134,100 -199,482
Heysham 214,054 180,890 -33,164
London Heathrow Airport 127,436 69,227 -58,209

Quick facts

HS code: 48189010

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

Description: Paper items used in medical or surgical settings, not sold in retail packaging