Import/export HS code 4817: Envelopes and paper stationery

Includes envelopes, letter cards, plain postcards, and correspondence cards made of paper or paperboard. Also includes boxes, pouches, wallets, and writing compendiums containing assorted paper stationery

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 26,696,836
Poland 16,021,196
France 10,535,532
Netherlands 4,864,132
Germany 4,146,681

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 14,896,281 11,800,555 -3,095,726
Poland 9,675,912 6,345,284 -3,330,628
France 4,910,554 5,624,978 +714,424
Netherlands 1,102,454 3,761,678 +2,659,224
Germany 1,779,660 2,367,021 +587,361
Italy 1,736,766 1,306,505 -430,261
Turkey 1,431,707 1,499,819 +68,112
United States 662,374 2,107,169 +1,444,795
Spain 1,232,031 1,439,543 +207,512
Slovakia 1,583,808 877,772 -706,036

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 29,977,728
Poland 20,604,667
Germany 5,573,044
France 3,857,242
Slovakia 3,435,201

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 16,699,960 13,277,768 -3,422,192
Poland 11,006,921 9,597,746 -1,409,175
Germany 1,936,802 3,636,242 +1,699,440
France 2,250,920 1,606,322 -644,598
Slovakia 2,046,585 1,388,616 -657,969
Italy 1,800,511 1,349,362 -451,149
United States 900,318 2,169,967 +1,269,649
Turkey 1,476,948 1,520,400 +43,452
Spain 987,334 1,320,549 +333,215
India 981,257 992,120 +10,863

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 138
Greater Manchester 46
Inner London - East 44
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 37
Outer London - West and North West 36

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 104 93 -11
Greater Manchester 29 29 +0
Inner London - East 24 28 +4
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 25 24 -1
Outer London - West and North West 23 26 +3
Surrey, East and West Sussex 22 24 +2
West Midlands 18 25 +7
West Yorkshire 18 16 -2
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 17 14 -3
Kent 11 14 +3

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) 44,679,009
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 33,352,762
Air transport 7,534,819
Other 995,606
Road transport 96,426

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) 23,931,217 20,747,792 -3,183,425
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 16,255,376 17,097,386 +842,010
Air transport 3,646,866 3,887,953 +241,087
Other 746,592 249,014 -497,578
Road transport 51,702 44,724 -6,978

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover 27,396,097
Felixstowe 16,288,740
Southampton 8,269,623
Eurotunnel 5,252,386
London Gateway Port 4,682,886

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 15,387,676 12,008,421 -3,379,255
Felixstowe 9,774,680 6,514,060 -3,260,620
Southampton 5,121,581 3,148,042 -1,973,539
Eurotunnel 2,863,305 2,389,081 -474,224
London Gateway Port 655,240 4,027,646 +3,372,406
Harwich 1,606,365 2,636,526 +1,030,161
London 1,113,843 2,018,118 +904,275
London Heathrow Airport 1,662,814 1,134,910 -527,904
Thamesport 222,809 1,785,981 +1,563,172
East Midlands Airport 660,542 1,131,833 +471,291

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 283
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 217
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 45
Other manufacturing 29
Manufacture of paper and paper products 23

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 90
2025-11 113
2025-10 120
2025-09 105
2025-08 101

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 281
54m+ 186
0-1m 122
15m-54m 73
Other 63

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 6,349,841
France 6,329,892
United States 2,694,165
Germany 2,491,814
Sweden 2,205,114

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 3,632,654 2,717,187 -915,467
France 3,256,476 3,073,416 -183,060
United States 996,447 1,697,718 +701,271
Germany 1,630,189 861,625 -768,564
Sweden 1,432,782 772,332 -660,450
Netherlands 1,195,558 536,371 -659,187
Czechia 564,333 846,975 +282,642
Spain 300,908 620,409 +319,501
Italy 311,952 601,234 +289,282
United Arab Emirates 417,552 132,481 -285,071

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 £
Netherlands 14,856
XI 12,823
Poland 9,752
France 2,762
China 1,814

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 £
Netherlands 6,611 8,245 +1,634
XI 3,851 8,972 +5,121
Poland 7,365 2,387 -4,978
France 2,762 0 -2,762
China 267 1,547 +1,280
Finland 830 0 -830
Ireland 337 280 -57
Viet Nam 3 0 -3

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) 21,438,209
Air transport 5,604,491
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 2,771,583
Other 178,172

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) 11,269,524 10,168,685 -1,100,839
Air transport 3,004,625 2,599,866 -404,759
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 1,446,733 1,324,850 -121,883
Other 74,678 103,494 +28,816

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover / Eurotunnel 10,928,770
Holyhead 3,211,577
Liverpool Docks 2,346,251
London Heathrow Airport 2,343,373
Dover 2,050,228

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 5,121,929 5,806,841 +684,912
Holyhead 1,900,152 1,311,425 -588,727
Liverpool Docks 1,293,526 1,052,725 -240,801
London Heathrow Airport 1,056,229 1,287,144 +230,915
Dover 1,423,143 627,085 -796,058
East Midlands Airport 1,291,398 742,808 -548,590
Immingham Docks 943,525 481,820 -461,705
London 777,094 471,639 -305,455
Heysham 340,724 488,828 +148,104
London Stansted Airport 405,927 280,583 -125,344

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 4817

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

Description: Includes envelopes, letter cards, plain postcards, and correspondence cards made of paper or paperboard. Also includes boxes, pouches, wallets, and writing compendiums containing assorted paper stationery