Import/export HS code 9013: Lasers and optical devices

Lasers (except laser diodes) and other optical tools not listed elsewhere

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 £
United States 153,177,886
Germany 148,746,311
France 44,494,979
China 35,619,206
Sri Lanka 28,707,269

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 £
United States 78,926,643 74,251,243 -4,675,400
Germany 84,359,600 64,386,711 -19,972,889
France 32,756,630 11,738,349 -21,018,281
China 17,910,290 17,708,916 -201,374
Sri Lanka 15,445,401 13,261,868 -2,183,533
Israel 18,490,948 8,478,133 -10,012,815
Malaysia 12,038,153 13,065,578 +1,027,425
Netherlands 10,630,289 10,668,749 +38,460
Thailand 8,921,677 7,896,919 -1,024,758
Canada 7,788,295 6,701,065 -1,087,230

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 Kingdom 124,894,572
United States 104,092,094
Germany 100,090,653
China 44,930,428
France 37,486,080

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 Kingdom 71,335,594 53,558,978 -17,776,616
United States 56,906,490 47,185,604 -9,720,886
Germany 56,121,474 43,969,179 -12,152,295
China 23,565,788 21,364,640 -2,201,148
France 28,186,892 9,299,188 -18,887,704
Canada 10,653,437 22,202,402 +11,548,965
Sri Lanka 15,571,273 14,666,917 -904,356
Israel 18,390,582 8,125,503 -10,265,079
Malaysia 11,641,229 12,745,072 +1,103,843
Thailand 11,927,998 12,320,990 +392,992

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 172
Inner London - West 117
Surrey, East and West Sussex 95
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 76
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 65

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 124 119 -5
Inner London - West 83 68 -15
Surrey, East and West Sussex 69 62 -7
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 62 45 -17
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 53 40 -13
Greater Manchester 51 35 -16
Outer London - West and North West 42 39 -3
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 47 43 -4
West Midlands 43 40 -3
Essex 33 32 -1

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 475,518,245
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 109,450,798
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 55,908,679
Road transport 1,593,563
Other 1,494,067

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 250,539,710 224,978,535 -25,561,175
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 71,058,902 38,391,896 -32,667,006
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 31,936,859 23,971,820 -7,965,039
Road transport 947,190 646,373 -300,817
Other 791,341 702,726 -88,615

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 169,820,107
East Midlands Airport 102,104,117
London Stansted Airport 78,594,744
Dover 49,654,474
Glasgow Airport 47,481,108

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 91,120,969 78,699,138 -12,421,831
East Midlands Airport 51,579,653 50,524,464 -1,055,189
London Stansted Airport 43,775,528 34,819,216 -8,956,312
Dover 30,476,317 19,178,157 -11,298,160
Glasgow Airport 29,746,832 17,734,276 -12,012,556
Eurotunnel 29,878,656 13,279,404 -16,599,252
Birmingham Airport 19,800,876 21,339,293 +1,538,417
Thamesport 15,668,231 10,386,904 -5,281,327
Edinburgh Airport 7,728,698 6,610,529 -1,118,169
London Gateway Port 6,938,447 5,631,447 -1,307,000

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 339
Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products 203
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 170
Other manufacturing 119
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. 108

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 263
2025-11 286
2025-10 311
2025-09 292
2025-08 311

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 625
54m+ 562
0-1m 205
15m-54m 174
Other 107

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 272,463,694
Germany 151,223,893
China 84,971,419
France 57,422,849
South Korea 56,815,962

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 150,927,150 121,536,544 -29,390,606
Germany 82,594,937 68,628,956 -13,965,981
China 41,214,869 43,756,550 +2,541,681
France 27,242,830 30,180,019 +2,937,189
South Korea 28,074,410 28,741,552 +667,142
Japan 20,125,199 16,431,917 -3,693,282
Netherlands 13,126,514 9,790,952 -3,335,562
Italy 11,535,639 9,978,371 -1,557,268
Canada 9,068,132 8,530,299 -537,833
Spain 6,230,999 7,265,255 +1,034,256

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 £
Nicaragua 300,211
China 7,843
Ireland 475
Germany 256
Spain 88

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 £
Nicaragua 294,942 5,269 -289,673
China 6,731 1,112 -5,619
Ireland 198 277 +79
Germany 256 0 -256
Spain 28 60 +32
Czechia 0 47 +47
Belgium 0 32 +32

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 715,806,227
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 166,323,434
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 5,056,490
Road transport 423,011
Other 309,690

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 394,326,235 321,479,992 -72,846,243
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 80,847,758 85,475,676 +4,627,918
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 3,238,078 1,818,412 -1,419,666
Road transport 303,828 119,183 -184,645
Other 302,155 7,535 -294,620

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 259,169,641
Glasgow Airport 184,509,952
Dover / Eurotunnel 151,233,854
East Midlands Airport 88,356,913
ZLC 77,333,131

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 115,027,950 144,141,691 +29,113,741
Glasgow Airport 105,955,097 78,554,855 -27,400,242
Dover / Eurotunnel 74,434,611 76,799,243 +2,364,632
East Midlands Airport 54,902,073 33,454,840 -21,447,233
ZLC 52,375,684 24,957,447 -27,418,237
London Stansted Airport 26,693,398 28,122,034 +1,428,636
Manchester Airport 32,773,615 5,256,814 -27,516,801
Dover 2,175,372 4,567,468 +2,392,096
Hull 2,891,053 2,719,913 -171,140
Edinburgh Airport 1,915,182 3,290,823 +1,375,641

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 9013

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

Description: Lasers (except laser diodes) and other optical tools not listed elsewhere