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 1,038,261,823
United States 808,995,102
France 455,859,078
China 390,769,148
Netherlands 292,234,713

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 525,266,891 512,994,932 -12,271,959
United States 427,658,337 381,336,765 -46,321,572
France 184,830,614 271,028,464 +86,197,850
China 216,475,325 174,293,823 -42,181,502
Netherlands 138,359,130 153,875,583 +15,516,453
Ireland 84,787,805 92,678,553 +7,890,748
Spain 87,809,076 73,503,610 -14,305,466
Czechia 86,153,918 66,895,437 -19,258,481
Italy 68,349,208 73,785,550 +5,436,342
Poland 58,821,306 68,504,242 +9,682,936

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 983,292,933
Germany 682,619,398
China 511,246,072
France 346,934,321
United Kingdom 334,393,735

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 520,902,935 462,389,998 -58,512,937
Germany 335,566,293 347,053,105 +11,486,812
China 274,334,790 236,911,282 -37,423,508
France 133,007,741 213,926,580 +80,918,839
United Kingdom 165,845,883 168,547,852 +2,701,969
Czechia 106,049,729 81,963,726 -24,086,003
Romania 77,013,752 69,830,938 -7,182,814
Japan 67,795,233 76,257,892 +8,462,659
Spain 75,648,366 64,772,309 -10,876,057
Poland 61,334,207 75,482,012 +14,147,805

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 645
Inner London - West 467
Surrey, East and West Sussex 453
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 364
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 364

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 460 506 +46
Inner London - West 325 307 -18
Surrey, East and West Sussex 338 304 -34
Hampshire and Isle of Wight 274 271 -3
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 257 267 +10
Greater Manchester 246 265 +19
West Midlands 253 245 -8
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 235 263 +28
Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire 232 242 +10
Shropshire and Staffordshire 201 216 +15

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 2,093,480,196
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,076,337,293
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 513,015,731
Other 218,627,145
Road transport 65,960,359

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 1,064,251,219 1,029,228,977 -35,022,242
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 988,600,730 1,087,736,563 +99,135,833
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 252,696,721 260,319,010 +7,622,289
Other 141,106,172 77,520,973 -63,585,199
Road transport 46,656,217 19,304,142 -27,352,075
Rail transport 12,247,237 16,825,283 +4,578,046

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 974,072,099
Dover 840,935,513
London Stansted Airport 390,559,355
East Midlands Airport 389,825,018
Eurotunnel 312,191,847

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 517,230,464 456,841,635 -60,388,829
Dover 382,699,771 458,235,742 +75,535,971
London Stansted Airport 197,891,505 192,667,850 -5,223,655
East Midlands Airport 199,485,254 190,339,764 -9,145,490
Eurotunnel 163,559,840 148,632,007 -14,927,833
000 141,106,172 77,520,973 -63,585,199
Dover / Eurotunnel 124,120,049 85,957,812 -38,162,237
Felixstowe 103,988,241 105,218,133 +1,229,892
Immingham Docks 69,409,707 99,694,715 +30,285,008
Birmingham Airport 50,579,795 61,400,746 +10,820,951

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 1618
Manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. 679
Repair and installation of machinery and equipment 523
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 474
Manufacture of electrical equipment 452

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 3447
54m+ 2487
0-1m 1090
15m-54m 859
Other 560

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 823,266,812
Germany 371,086,997
France 179,770,344
Netherlands 178,261,494
China 141,907,533

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 398,105,716 425,161,096 +27,055,380
Germany 194,767,080 176,319,917 -18,447,163
France 94,713,342 85,057,002 -9,656,340
Netherlands 89,393,226 88,868,268 -524,958
China 71,024,091 70,883,442 -140,649
United Arab Emirates 69,099,349 70,938,697 +1,839,348
Ireland 48,360,659 58,353,942 +9,993,283
India 53,727,207 43,733,493 -9,993,714
Spain 46,378,919 35,828,042 -10,550,877
Poland 26,503,150 49,773,992 +23,270,842

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 28,351,056
Ireland 1,980,218
Sweden 1,038,245
Italy 1,011,004
Germany 710,086

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 8,049,937 20,301,119 +12,251,182
Ireland 371,892 1,608,326 +1,236,434
Sweden 1,035,691 2,554 -1,033,137
Italy 656,701 354,303 -302,398
Germany 279,181 430,905 +151,724
Spain 402,823 1,691 -401,132
Nicaragua 144,758 133,270 -11,488
Lithuania 0 187,561 +187,561
United States 111,661 33,441 -78,220
China 36,454 34,686 -1,768

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 2,074,599,430
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 836,596,506
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 360,193,637
Other 34,654,224
Road transport 4,294,585

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 1,066,631,248 1,007,968,182 -58,663,066
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 386,058,166 450,538,340 +64,480,174
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 182,853,481 177,340,156 -5,513,325
Other 11,381,265 23,272,959 +11,891,694
Road transport 4,197,758 96,827 -4,100,931
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 1,087,335,332
Dover / Eurotunnel 570,826,302
East Midlands Airport 338,064,321
London Stansted Airport 318,550,283
ZLC 205,354,675

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 555,112,992 532,222,340 -22,890,652
Dover / Eurotunnel 265,546,413 305,279,889 +39,733,476
East Midlands Airport 177,140,459 160,923,862 -16,216,597
London Stansted Airport 142,211,140 176,339,143 +34,128,003
ZLC 126,161,226 79,193,449 -46,967,777
Immingham Docks 72,975,824 67,464,405 -5,511,419
Southampton 30,651,358 63,169,467 +32,518,109
London Gateway Port 48,661,346 37,181,327 -11,480,019
Manchester Airport 43,501,369 38,253,885 -5,247,484
Felixstowe 41,804,639 22,855,485 -18,949,154

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