Import/export HS code 6213: Handkerchiefs

Small fabric squares used for personal hygiene, like wiping hands or faces

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 3,383,420
France 711,195
Italy 651,281
India 252,984
Germany 145,845

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 1,710,677 1,672,743 -37,934
France 366,029 345,166 -20,863
Italy 346,409 304,872 -41,537
India 131,622 121,362 -10,260
Germany 97,426 48,419 -49,007
Switzerland 114,650 30,929 -83,721
Japan 65,083 60,894 -4,189
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 17,916 67,564 +49,648
Netherlands 49,856 27,647 -22,209
Thailand 56,236 17,304 -38,932

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 3,674,890
Italy 859,973
France 593,429
India 266,711
Japan 112,596

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 1,862,318 1,812,572 -49,746
Italy 489,036 370,937 -118,099
France 297,888 295,541 -2,347
India 139,998 126,713 -13,285
Japan 52,790 59,806 +7,016
Thailand 56,236 17,304 -38,932
Turkey 53,366 13,059 -40,307
Malaysia 35,612 22,313 -13,299
Poland 48,633 0 -48,633
Switzerland 36,620 10,987 -25,633

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 70
Outer London - West and North West 12
Inner London - East 9
Greater Manchester 8
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 7

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 53 43 -10
Outer London - West and North West 7 7 +0
Inner London - East 7 5 -2
Greater Manchester 5 6 +1
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 7 1 -6
Surrey, East and West Sussex 3 7 +4
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire 4 4 +0
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 3 4 +1
Northern Ireland 3 3 +0
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 3 3 +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) 2,553,713
Air transport 1,902,666
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 790,685
Other 639,233
Road transport 160,374

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) 1,240,432 1,313,281 +72,849
Air transport 1,083,526 819,140 -264,386
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 442,395 348,290 -94,105
Other 307,650 331,583 +23,933
Road transport 126,271 34,103 -92,168

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 1,188,103
Felixstowe 1,078,325
000 639,233
Southampton 416,393
499 415,275

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 £
London Heathrow Airport 740,400 447,703 -292,697
Felixstowe 625,497 452,828 -172,669
000 307,650 331,583 +23,933
Southampton 222,907 193,486 -29,421
499 15,334 399,941 +384,607
Belfast Port 214,767 193,258 -21,509
East Midlands Airport 166,178 181,405 +15,227
Dover 171,644 106,108 -65,536
London Gateway Port 70,902 133,051 +62,149
Eurotunnel 95,950 75,774 -20,176

Importer companies by SIC division

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

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 118
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 45
Manufacture of wearing apparel 14
Manufacture of textiles 9
Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities 7

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 30
2025-11 31
2025-10 26
2025-09 33
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 83
54m+ 57
0-1m 23
15m-54m 16
Other 13

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 £
United States 379,361
Italy 362,371
Ireland 184,309
France 158,365
Netherlands 64,931

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 £
United States 257,604 121,757 -135,847
Italy 84,745 277,626 +192,881
Ireland 114,510 69,799 -44,711
France 80,194 78,171 -2,023
Netherlands 51,136 13,795 -37,341
Sierra Leone 53,251 0 -53,251
Germany 15,358 18,157 +2,799
Japan 11,626 13,121 +1,495
Czechia 17,573 3,249 -14,324
Switzerland 11,512 6,335 -5,177

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 £
China 137,232
XI 16,938
India 6,596
Italy 2,928
Turkey 101

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 £
China 77,820 59,412 -18,408
XI 14,520 2,418 -12,102
India 5,026 1,570 -3,456
Italy 1,729 1,199 -530
Turkey 100 1 -99
Viet Nam 0 20 +20
Bangladesh 13 0 -13
Germany 10 0 -10

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 966,227
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 334,911
Other 165,069
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 17,763

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 556,634 409,593 -147,041
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 150,099 184,812 +34,713
Other 100,111 64,958 -35,153
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 8,262 9,501 +1,239

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
East Midlands Airport 714,342
000 165,069
Dover / Eurotunnel 161,558
London Heathrow Airport 129,447
Eurotunnel 116,957

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 385,505 328,837 -56,668
000 100,111 64,958 -35,153
Dover / Eurotunnel 64,528 97,030 +32,502
London Heathrow Airport 87,571 41,876 -45,695
Eurotunnel 47,999 68,958 +20,959
ZLC 61,694 17,805 -43,889
London Stansted Airport 20,814 19,575 -1,239
Dover 13,092 9,385 -3,707
Immingham Docks 12,013 4,349 -7,664
Holyhead 11,631 3,585 -8,046

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 6213

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

Description: Small fabric squares used for personal hygiene, like wiping hands or faces