Import/export HS code 4821: Paper or cardboard labels

Labels of all types, whether printed or blank, made from paper or cardboard

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 52,531,049
Germany 50,325,859
Italy 30,728,407
Ireland 28,105,520
Netherlands 24,038,325

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 26,933,509 25,597,540 -1,335,969
Germany 24,588,682 25,737,177 +1,148,495
Italy 16,105,897 14,622,510 -1,483,387
Ireland 13,751,922 14,353,598 +601,676
Netherlands 12,045,172 11,993,153 -52,019
France 9,440,660 7,572,924 -1,867,736
United States 8,828,063 6,383,179 -2,444,884
Poland 5,659,260 7,724,611 +2,065,351
Belgium 5,539,231 3,078,811 -2,460,420
Spain 3,578,210 3,602,942 +24,732

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 56,878,680
Germany 44,939,981
Italy 27,522,955
United States 17,650,588
Poland 14,653,529

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 29,013,072 27,865,608 -1,147,464
Germany 22,762,190 22,177,791 -584,399
Italy 14,641,314 12,881,641 -1,759,673
United States 9,882,412 7,768,176 -2,114,236
Poland 6,269,590 8,383,939 +2,114,349
France 6,790,681 6,766,623 -24,058
Ireland 6,425,260 6,933,623 +508,363
Netherlands 6,200,206 5,947,669 -252,537
Spain 3,831,428 3,798,829 -32,599
Belgium 3,002,443 2,619,142 -383,301

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 291
Greater Manchester 174
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 158
Outer London - West and North West 115
Inner London - East 111

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 200 187 -13
Greater Manchester 104 130 +26
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 114 112 -2
Outer London - West and North West 77 71 -6
Inner London - East 60 74 +14
Surrey, East and West Sussex 78 74 -4
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 72 78 +6
West Midlands 73 57 -16
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 61 65 +4
West Yorkshire 51 68 +17

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) 98,683,073
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 78,023,996
Air transport 62,550,417
Other 36,662,064
Road transport 538,814

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) 47,648,192 51,034,881 +3,386,689
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 40,379,992 37,644,004 -2,735,988
Air transport 34,034,094 28,516,323 -5,517,771
Other 18,736,768 17,925,296 -811,472
Road transport 255,798 283,016 +27,218
Rail transport 2,510 0 -2,510

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover 43,913,223
Felixstowe 38,011,374
000 36,662,064
Eurotunnel 20,311,510
East Midlands Airport 16,838,078

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 20,723,686 23,189,537 +2,465,851
Felixstowe 19,473,338 18,538,036 -935,302
000 18,736,768 17,925,296 -811,472
Eurotunnel 9,867,666 10,443,844 +576,178
East Midlands Airport 8,205,471 8,632,607 +427,136
London Heathrow Airport 8,729,591 7,132,619 -1,596,972
Southampton 7,881,433 7,428,319 -453,114
Immingham Docks 6,613,581 6,477,104 -136,477
Birmingham Airport 7,300,846 5,712,287 -1,588,559
London Gateway Port 3,046,421 5,566,268 +2,519,847

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
728
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
535
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities
148
Other manufacturing
147
Manufacture of food products
89

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-05 354
2026-04 387
2026-03 379
2026-02 383
2026-01 369

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
54m+ 875
1m-15m 850
15m-54m 321
0-1m 292
Other 215

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 45,702,693
Belgium 24,859,041
France 20,171,157
Netherlands 16,279,169
Italy 13,631,903

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 20,750,067 24,952,626 +4,202,559
Belgium 13,736,008 11,123,033 -2,612,975
France 7,555,966 12,615,191 +5,059,225
Netherlands 8,764,051 7,515,118 -1,248,933
Italy 3,127,713 10,504,190 +7,376,477
Pakistan 6,629,087 6,445,369 -183,718
Germany 6,343,003 5,836,636 -506,367
United States 3,462,972 5,445,582 +1,982,610
Spain 4,025,174 4,448,266 +423,092
Poland 3,093,001 2,301,000 -792,001

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 7,795,511
XI 4,192,384
Hungary 303,732
Lithuania 71,215
France 66,750

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 3,786,061 4,009,450 +223,389
XI 1,977,639 2,214,745 +237,106
Hungary 150,358 153,374 +3,016
Lithuania 0 71,215 +71,215
France 13,112 53,638 +40,526
Austria 35,952 23,011 -12,941
Nicaragua 0 35,198 +35,198
Germany 4,124 14,001 +9,877
China 10,175 6,956 -3,219
Italy 4,932 6,407 +1,475

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) 123,420,595
Air transport 47,942,142
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 39,244,048
Other 15,327,270
Road transport 14,436

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) 58,113,374 65,307,221 +7,193,847
Air transport 20,830,829 27,111,313 +6,280,484
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 19,501,594 19,742,454 +240,860
Other 7,307,231 8,020,039 +712,808
Road transport 12,386 2,050 -10,336
Rail transport 1,888 1,067 -821

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 73,724,253
East Midlands Airport 23,055,557
London Gateway Port 20,773,046
000 15,327,270
Holyhead 14,832,760

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 35,141,980 38,582,273 +3,440,293
East Midlands Airport 9,806,677 13,248,880 +3,442,203
London Gateway Port 11,058,040 9,715,006 -1,343,034
000 7,307,231 8,020,039 +712,808
Holyhead 5,934,607 8,898,153 +2,963,546
London Heathrow Airport 4,943,691 8,225,857 +3,282,166
Immingham Docks 6,328,378 6,025,385 -302,993
Liverpool Docks 4,963,357 4,954,706 -8,651
Portsmouth 4,703,400 5,148,343 +444,943
ZLC 3,648,521 2,903,544 -744,977

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 4821

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

Description: Labels of all types, whether printed or blank, made from paper or cardboard