Import/export HS code 48201010: Business record books

Includes registers, account books, order books, and receipt books for keeping track of business transactions

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 £
Malaysia 3,273,821
Japan 2,999,996
China 1,216,446
Germany 603,237
India 542,585

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 £
Malaysia 1,106,351 2,167,470 +1,061,119
Japan 11,109 2,988,887 +2,977,778
China 424,455 791,991 +367,536
Germany 359,989 243,248 -116,741
India 135,033 407,552 +272,519
Netherlands 81,758 128,637 +46,879
United States 122,999 53,838 -69,161
Turkey 103,521 13,205 -90,316
Ireland 61,108 28,083 -33,025
France 49,139 8,782 -40,357

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 £
Malaysia 2,544,241
China 2,097,408
Thailand 1,544,190
Japan 1,412,854
Germany 625,912

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 £
Malaysia 358,083 2,186,158 +1,828,075
China 1,256,355 841,053 -415,302
Thailand 2,990 1,541,200 +1,538,210
Japan 20,367 1,392,487 +1,372,120
Germany 367,978 257,934 -110,044
India 132,002 434,476 +302,474
Netherlands 66,539 109,180 +42,641
United States 108,577 32,938 -75,639
Turkey 103,521 13,205 -90,316
Italy 5,861 18,376 +12,515

Importers across UK regions

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

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Inner London - West 24
Outer London - West and North West 9
Greater Manchester 8
Surrey, East and West Sussex 7
Inner London - East 6

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 16 11 -5
Outer London - West and North West 7 3 -4
Greater Manchester 5 3 -2
Surrey, East and West Sussex 4 3 -1
Inner London - East 3 5 +2
West Midlands 3 3 +0
West Yorkshire 2 6 +4
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 3 2 -1
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 3 0 -3
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 3 2 -1

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) 5,136,263
Air transport 3,435,226
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 758,335
Other 77,168
Road transport 11,377

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) 1,742,308 3,393,955 +1,651,647
Air transport 249,282 3,185,944 +2,936,662
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 470,350 287,985 -182,365
Other 59,026 18,142 -40,884
Road transport 11,377 0 -11,377

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Southampton 4,206,629
Leeds Bradford Airport 2,855,760
Felixstowe 1,055,628
London Heathrow Airport 238,933
Thamesport 154,852

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 £
Southampton 1,341,049 2,865,580 +1,524,531
Leeds Bradford Airport 0 2,855,760 +2,855,760
Felixstowe 506,444 549,184 +42,740
London Heathrow Airport 73,239 165,694 +92,455
Thamesport 63,861 90,991 +27,130
London Stansted Airport 61,366 82,019 +20,653
Harwich 87,871 54,349 -33,522
London Gateway Port 21,781 55,847 +34,066
000 59,026 18,142 -40,884
Dover / Eurotunnel 62,531 6,994 -55,537

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 41
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 40
Manufacture of paper and paper products 4
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 4
Warehousing and support activities for transportation 4

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 9
2025-11 8
2025-10 13
2025-09 11
2025-08 10

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
54m+ 36
1m-15m 33
0-1m 21
Other 14
15m-54m 7

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 £
South Africa 400,275
United States 374,299
Ireland 225,987
France 171,228
Malaysia 158,639

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 £
South Africa 7,020 393,255 +386,235
United States 276,042 98,257 -177,785
Ireland 141,036 84,951 -56,085
France 119,524 51,704 -67,820
Malaysia 158,639 0 -158,639
Italy 68,490 82,140 +13,650
Germany 49,064 55,109 +6,045
Canada 34,356 54,450 +20,094
Switzerland 40,114 44,886 +4,772
Qatar 62,548 14,421 -48,127

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 £
Ireland 14,794
China 2,435
India 2,385
XI 2,016
Malaysia 560

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 £
Ireland 10,014 4,780 -5,234
China 968 1,467 +499
India 0 2,385 +2,385
XI 898 1,118 +220
Malaysia 342 218 -124

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 1,704,981
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 450,664
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 349,499
Other 47,755
Road transport 1,109

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 785,064 919,917 +134,853
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 340,525 110,139 -230,386
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 239,835 109,664 -130,171
Other 26,267 21,488 -4,779
Road transport 1,109 0 -1,109

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
East Midlands Airport 1,105,304
London Heathrow Airport 425,030
Southampton 244,523
Dover / Eurotunnel 227,117
London Gateway Port 107,546

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 497,551 607,753 +110,202
London Heathrow Airport 180,444 244,586 +64,142
Southampton 186,081 58,442 -127,639
Dover / Eurotunnel 160,569 66,548 -94,021
London Gateway Port 71,176 36,370 -34,806
ZLC 51,012 48,803 -2,209
Liverpool Docks 73,761 5,070 -68,691
London Stansted Airport 34,596 17,823 -16,773
Holyhead 28,484 20,450 -8,034
000 26,267 21,488 -4,779

Quick facts

HS code: 48201010

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

Description: Includes registers, account books, order books, and receipt books for keeping track of business transactions