Import/export HS code 8537: Electric control panels and distribution boards

Electric control panels and distribution boards with two or more devices for controlling or distributing electricity. These may include instruments or devices from Chapter 90 and numerical control systems, but not switching devices from heading 8517

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 994,069,468
United States 773,295,133
France 442,147,902
China 374,764,339
Netherlands 282,869,615

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 523,782,105 470,287,363 -53,494,742
United States 430,256,213 343,038,920 -87,217,293
France 189,539,684 252,608,218 +63,068,534
China 215,461,456 159,302,883 -56,158,573
Netherlands 142,510,704 140,358,911 -2,151,793
Ireland 85,062,897 83,523,702 -1,539,195
Spain 86,162,227 65,971,958 -20,190,269
Czechia 86,635,494 59,404,359 -27,231,135
Italy 69,284,552 68,204,798 -1,079,754
Poland 60,559,321 62,371,883 +1,812,562

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 £
United States 942,824,622
Germany 652,375,669
China 491,146,275
France 338,439,478
United Kingdom 321,409,549

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 £
United States 525,334,960 417,489,662 -107,845,298
Germany 335,673,462 316,702,207 -18,971,255
China 273,189,766 217,956,509 -55,233,257
France 137,552,853 200,886,625 +63,333,772
United Kingdom 166,744,573 154,664,976 -12,079,597
Czechia 105,560,302 74,105,553 -31,454,749
Romania 78,581,733 61,788,737 -16,792,996
Japan 62,869,442 72,126,367 +9,256,925
Spain 76,496,199 57,473,062 -19,023,137
Poland 62,850,192 68,920,673 +6,070,481

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 629
Inner London - West 461
Surrey, East and West Sussex 443
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 361
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 356

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
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 458 481 +23
Inner London - West 334 295 -39
Surrey, East and West Sussex 340 290 -50
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 255 260 +5
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 277 257 -20
Greater Manchester 244 260 +16
West Midlands 252 236 -16
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 241 253 +12
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 232 231 -1
Shropshire and Staffordshire 195 209 +14

Import volume by transport

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

Top 5 values

Transport £
Air transport 2,007,338,984
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,996,623,654
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 485,671,010
Other 208,794,589
Road transport 55,981,167

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 £
Air transport 1,069,970,933 937,368,051 -132,602,882
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 1,003,792,709 992,830,945 -10,961,764
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 245,179,987 240,491,023 -4,688,964
Other 142,400,881 66,393,708 -76,007,173
Road transport 37,528,297 18,452,870 -19,075,427
Rail transport 14,533,536 13,715,644 -817,892

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 937,359,959
Dover 816,233,988
East Midlands Airport 374,537,834
London Stansted Airport 373,730,606
Eurotunnel 297,411,648

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 523,978,806 413,381,153 -110,597,653
Dover 396,330,685 419,903,303 +23,572,618
East Midlands Airport 201,302,341 173,235,493 -28,066,848
London Stansted Airport 198,413,811 175,316,795 -23,097,016
Eurotunnel 161,648,130 135,763,518 -25,884,612
000 142,400,881 66,393,708 -76,007,173
Felixstowe 102,628,615 96,874,329 -5,754,286
Dover / Eurotunnel 116,629,094 78,166,599 -38,462,495
Immingham Docks 68,915,530 94,032,892 +25,117,362
Birmingham Airport 50,345,552 56,692,926 +6,347,374

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 1583
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. 668
Repair and installation of machinery and equipment 511
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 458
Manufacture of electrical equipment 447

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 1741
2025-11 1813
2025-10 1951
2025-09 1850
2025-08 1790

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 3385
54m+ 2424
0-1m 1057
15m-54m 850
Other 550

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 787,125,038
Germany 354,452,437
Netherlands 172,722,660
France 170,230,699
United Arab Emirates 135,717,314

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 392,059,199 395,065,839 +3,006,640
Germany 190,796,433 163,656,004 -27,140,429
Netherlands 92,326,385 80,396,275 -11,930,110
France 92,279,524 77,951,175 -14,328,349
United Arab Emirates 69,715,848 66,001,466 -3,714,382
China 72,673,026 61,971,835 -10,701,191
Ireland 49,561,722 54,005,384 +4,443,662
India 54,973,303 39,893,729 -15,079,574
Spain 45,209,755 33,309,223 -11,900,532
Poland 27,287,037 46,799,276 +19,512,239

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 27,884,490
Ireland 1,979,464
Sweden 1,037,688
Italy 952,083
Germany 701,473

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 8,375,631 19,508,859 +11,133,228
Ireland 444,331 1,535,133 +1,090,802
Sweden 1,035,892 1,796 -1,034,096
Italy 617,730 334,353 -283,377
Germany 306,365 395,108 +88,743
Spain 402,823 1,691 -401,132
Nicaragua 145,756 131,685 -14,071
Lithuania 0 187,561 +187,561
United States 105,514 33,441 -72,073
China 34,458 32,785 -1,673

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 1,986,085,310
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 808,381,006
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 344,897,156
Other 34,100,869
Road transport 2,900,531

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 1,056,831,854 929,253,456 -127,578,398
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 392,894,417 415,486,589 +22,592,172
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 181,620,689 163,276,467 -18,344,222
Other 11,768,935 22,331,934 +10,562,999
Road transport 2,803,704 96,827 -2,706,877
Rail transport 0 973 +973

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 1,044,405,527
Dover / Eurotunnel 547,295,128
East Midlands Airport 320,121,776
London Stansted Airport 305,804,600
ZLC 194,532,875

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 £
London Heathrow Airport 551,377,984 493,027,543 -58,350,441
Dover / Eurotunnel 264,373,124 282,922,004 +18,548,880
East Midlands Airport 171,767,917 148,353,859 -23,414,058
London Stansted Airport 141,672,485 164,132,115 +22,459,630
ZLC 126,148,206 68,384,669 -57,763,537
Immingham Docks 78,770,264 59,395,307 -19,374,957
Southampton 33,917,333 58,302,617 +24,385,284
London Gateway Port 49,795,712 33,608,897 -16,186,815
Manchester Airport 42,555,442 35,863,351 -6,692,091
Felixstowe 42,064,006 20,740,532 -21,323,474

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 8537

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

Description: Electric control panels and distribution boards with two or more devices for controlling or distributing electricity. These may include instruments or devices from Chapter 90 and numerical control systems, but not switching devices from heading 8517