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 1,099,194,139
United States 867,569,311
France 563,042,018
China 413,558,889
Netherlands 318,058,278

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 529,756,790 569,437,349 +39,680,559
United States 438,306,645 429,262,666 -9,043,979
France 224,478,517 338,563,501 +114,084,984
China 214,533,216 199,025,673 -15,507,543
Netherlands 150,736,546 167,321,732 +16,585,186
Ireland 89,785,106 101,242,258 +11,457,152
Spain 87,663,735 80,116,987 -7,546,748
Czechia 87,708,216 68,455,835 -19,252,381
Italy 74,495,211 81,374,439 +6,879,228
Poland 69,575,250 61,869,217 -7,706,033

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 1,047,611,148
Germany 731,029,579
China 540,854,676
France 445,544,576
United Kingdom 364,977,158

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 535,553,142 512,058,006 -23,495,136
Germany 338,289,010 392,740,569 +54,451,559
China 277,387,017 263,467,659 -13,919,358
France 169,769,376 275,775,200 +106,005,824
United Kingdom 178,715,777 186,261,381 +7,545,604
Czechia 105,713,374 87,466,534 -18,246,840
Romania 80,958,774 77,395,446 -3,563,328
Spain 77,638,813 75,159,911 -2,478,902
Japan 57,233,701 93,499,732 +36,266,031
Italy 65,806,535 78,006,848 +12,200,313

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 660
Inner London - West 488
Surrey, East and West Sussex 448
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 389
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 373

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 479 503 +24
Inner London - West 321 342 +21
Surrey, East and West Sussex 334 320 -14
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 261 290 +29
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 275 292 +17
Greater Manchester 251 278 +27
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 256 260 +4
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 236 236 +0
West Midlands 237 243 +6
Shropshire and Staffordshire 208 216 +8

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) 2,292,574,935
Air transport 2,256,718,071
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 570,138,880
Other 192,463,519
Road transport 51,447,659

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) 1,079,847,004 1,212,727,931 +132,880,927
Air transport 1,097,252,153 1,159,465,918 +62,213,765
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 242,127,862 328,011,018 +85,883,156
Other 143,641,201 48,822,318 -94,818,883
Road transport 24,235,483 27,212,176 +2,976,693
Rail transport 16,059,981 18,839,625 +2,779,644

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 1,044,924,553
Dover 972,191,015
East Midlands Airport 419,575,501
London Stansted Airport 412,530,783
Eurotunnel 335,212,275

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 533,172,455 511,752,098 -21,420,357
Dover 437,501,504 534,689,511 +97,188,007
East Midlands Airport 204,985,445 214,590,056 +9,604,611
London Stansted Airport 207,466,323 205,064,460 -2,401,863
Eurotunnel 157,760,275 177,452,000 +19,691,725
Felixstowe 105,193,404 117,936,059 +12,742,655
Dover / Eurotunnel 115,557,141 94,695,104 -20,862,037
000 143,641,201 48,822,318 -94,818,883
Immingham Docks 74,926,421 115,884,768 +40,958,347
499 12,287,433 135,125,879 +122,838,446

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 1654
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. 695
Repair and installation of machinery and equipment 544
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 486
Manufacture of electrical equipment 470

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-04 1828
2026-03 1938
2026-02 1887
2026-01 1742
2025-12 1729

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 3560
54m+ 2496
0-1m 1141
15m-54m 896
Other 580

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 956,738,613
Germany 384,632,807
Netherlands 193,769,287
France 189,263,149
China 156,824,963

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 396,763,355 559,975,258 +163,211,903
Germany 190,818,884 193,813,923 +2,995,039
Netherlands 94,403,130 99,366,157 +4,963,027
France 95,160,472 94,102,677 -1,057,795
China 76,612,131 80,212,832 +3,600,701
United Arab Emirates 68,581,176 78,833,722 +10,252,546
Ireland 52,874,704 61,476,663 +8,601,959
India 51,508,699 51,595,245 +86,546
Spain 35,258,267 56,654,619 +21,396,352
Poland 32,350,957 55,430,330 +23,079,373

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 34,335,200
Ireland 2,072,807
Germany 1,279,103
Sweden 1,027,189
Italy 802,489

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 13,280,756 21,054,444 +7,773,688
Ireland 694,964 1,377,843 +682,879
Germany 317,827 961,276 +643,449
Sweden 1,019,777 7,412 -1,012,365
Italy 435,253 367,236 -68,017
Lithuania 0 758,865 +758,865
Spain 402,886 2,045 -400,841
Nicaragua 102,708 144,359 +41,651
United States 108,014 44,763 -63,251
China 35,717 43,142 +7,425

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 2,260,791,212
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 924,354,024
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 444,618,818
Other 41,661,947
Road transport 2,158,817

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 1,051,608,287 1,209,182,925 +157,574,638
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 413,803,937 510,550,087 +96,746,150
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 160,800,752 283,818,066 +123,017,314
Other 16,729,929 24,932,018 +8,202,089
Road transport 2,041,088 117,729 -1,923,359
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 1,218,599,741
Dover / Eurotunnel 616,279,588
London Stansted Airport 368,578,402
East Midlands Airport 352,825,758
ZLC 188,039,355

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 547,812,070 670,787,671 +122,975,601
Dover / Eurotunnel 279,695,628 336,583,960 +56,888,332
London Stansted Airport 149,095,415 219,482,987 +70,387,572
East Midlands Airport 167,101,800 185,723,958 +18,622,158
ZLC 118,912,336 69,127,019 -49,785,317
Immingham Docks 69,669,863 109,646,036 +39,976,173
Southampton 36,396,889 105,581,415 +69,184,526
London Gateway Port 49,569,007 52,169,010 +2,600,003
Manchester Airport 39,317,795 45,066,467 +5,748,672
Felixstowe 38,521,766 23,790,411 -14,731,355

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