Import/export HS code 48201010: Business record books

Includes registers, account books, order books, and receipt books for keeping track of business transactions

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 £
Malaysia 4,479,150
Japan 3,040,836
China 1,371,595
India 574,521
Germany 423,683

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 £
Malaysia 2,539,384 1,939,766 -599,618
Japan 2,972,560 68,276 -2,904,284
China 777,758 593,837 -183,921
India 348,078 226,443 -121,635
Germany 252,272 171,411 -80,861
Netherlands 107,741 119,615 +11,874
United States 108,662 48,525 -60,137
Turkey 107,115 3,399 -103,716
Ireland 37,158 33,561 -3,597
France 31,288 10,703 -20,585

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 £
Malaysia 3,748,555
China 2,202,493
Thailand 1,544,190
Japan 1,451,695
India 601,445

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 £
Malaysia 1,784,334 1,964,221 +179,887
China 1,615,548 586,945 -1,028,603
Thailand 1,544,190 0 -1,544,190
Japan 1,385,418 66,277 -1,319,141
India 348,078 253,367 -94,711
Germany 273,428 173,112 -100,316
Netherlands 78,640 114,262 +35,622
United States 87,576 31,856 -55,720
Turkey 107,115 3,399 -103,716
Italy 22,382 7,796 -14,586

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 21
Inner London - East 9
Greater Manchester 8
West Yorkshire 6
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 5

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 16 9 -7
Inner London - East 7 4 -3
Greater Manchester 5 3 -2
West Yorkshire 3 5 +2
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 2 4 +2
Outer London - West and North West 5 0 -5
Surrey, East and West Sussex 3 3 +0
Gloucestershire and Wiltshire 2 2 +0
Kent 2 2 +0
Outer London - South 0 3 +3

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) 6,490,139
Air transport 3,520,651
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 530,679
Other 51,632
Road transport 5,475

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) 3,706,410 2,783,729 -922,681
Air transport 3,233,073 287,578 -2,945,495
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 367,342 163,337 -204,005
Other 31,774 19,858 -11,916
Road transport 0 5,475 +5,475

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Southampton 5,339,827
Leeds Bradford Airport 2,857,164
Felixstowe 1,117,285
London Heathrow Airport 301,741
Thamesport 174,422

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 £
Southampton 3,153,539 2,186,288 -967,251
Leeds Bradford Airport 2,855,760 1,404 -2,854,356
Felixstowe 637,743 479,542 -158,201
London Heathrow Airport 182,562 119,179 -63,383
Thamesport 65,900 108,522 +42,622
London Stansted Airport 80,179 89,606 +9,427
London Gateway Port 47,186 58,278 +11,092
Harwich 41,493 53,011 +11,518
London 25,340 42,184 +16,844
Birmingham Airport 38,984 26,038 -12,946

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
39
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
36
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities
5
Manufacture of paper and paper products
4
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c.
3

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-05 7
2026-04 13
2026-03 9
2026-02 12
2026-01 9

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 34
54m+ 34
0-1m 18
Other 11
15m-54m 7

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 £
South Africa 408,390
United States 265,235
Canada 172,048
Ireland 170,707
Malaysia 158,639

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 £
South Africa 14,200 394,190 +379,990
United States 211,751 53,484 -158,267
Canada 25,500 146,548 +121,048
Ireland 97,764 72,943 -24,821
Malaysia 158,639 0 -158,639
Italy 47,170 83,859 +36,689
Netherlands 27,012 69,977 +42,965
France 79,826 10,680 -69,146
Germany 77,906 8,263 -69,643
Qatar 72,652 0 -72,652

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 9,485
India 5,486
China 3,348
XI 2,192
Malaysia 560

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 7,100 2,385 -4,715
India 0 5,486 +5,486
China 1,456 1,892 +436
XI 1,165 1,027 -138
Malaysia 342 218 -124

Export volume by transport

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

Top 5 values

Transport £
Air transport 1,639,800
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 321,149
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 262,094
Other 43,575

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 £
Air transport 741,030 898,770 +157,740
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 311,407 9,742 -301,665
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 149,755 112,339 -37,416
Other 21,988 21,587 -401

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
East Midlands Airport 992,359
London Heathrow Airport 477,961
Southampton 219,927
Dover / Eurotunnel 173,425
ZLC 77,478

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 £
East Midlands Airport 453,277 539,082 +85,805
London Heathrow Airport 209,093 268,868 +59,775
Southampton 215,464 4,463 -211,001
Dover / Eurotunnel 111,854 61,571 -50,283
ZLC 39,186 38,292 -894
London Gateway Port 62,529 3,407 -59,122
London Stansted Airport 16,904 27,490 +10,586
000 21,988 21,587 -401
Holyhead 11,095 30,627 +19,532
Liverpool Docks 24,179 1,872 -22,307

Quick facts

HS code: 48201010

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

Description: Includes registers, account books, order books, and receipt books for keeping track of business transactions