Import/export HS code 9012: Non-optical microscopes and diffraction devices

Microscopes that don’t use light, such as electron microscopes, and tools for studying light diffraction

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 46,194,296
Netherlands 25,185,268
Czechia 22,156,776
United States 18,079,446
Japan 11,039,734

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 24,533,878 21,660,418 -2,873,460
Netherlands 7,151,486 18,033,782 +10,882,296
Czechia 14,215,623 7,941,153 -6,274,470
United States 9,618,099 8,461,347 -1,156,752
Japan 7,264,757 3,774,977 -3,489,780
Switzerland 1,708,384 1,912,859 +204,475
Austria 2,224,402 1,297,760 -926,642
Canada 1,700,897 1,651,448 -49,449
China 1,093,294 797,130 -296,164
India 993,145 686,649 -306,496

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 £
Germany 42,095,810
Netherlands 19,709,724
Czechia 19,566,015
United States 17,540,991
Japan 12,363,156

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 £
Germany 23,085,177 19,010,633 -4,074,544
Netherlands 4,689,267 15,020,457 +10,331,190
Czechia 13,320,413 6,245,602 -7,074,811
United States 8,666,048 8,874,943 +208,895
Japan 7,702,151 4,661,005 -3,041,146
United Kingdom 2,614,900 2,862,051 +247,151
Austria 2,651,953 1,479,058 -1,172,895
Switzerland 1,961,378 2,090,214 +128,836
Canada 1,701,823 1,386,932 -314,891
China 1,031,111 946,141 -84,970

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 46
Surrey, East and West Sussex 28
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 27
Inner London - West 20
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 15

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 32 30 -2
Surrey, East and West Sussex 17 16 -1
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 18 19 +1
Inner London - West 15 9 -6
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 10 9 -1
Inner London - East 13 8 -5
West Midlands 10 6 -4
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 10 8 -2
Kent 10 7 -3
Outer London - West and North West 9 6 -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) 68,581,727
Air transport 60,330,408
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 9,499,735
Other 6,395,488
Road transport 120,377

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 £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 32,651,944 35,929,783 +3,277,839
Air transport 32,628,040 27,702,368 -4,925,672
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 5,982,905 3,516,830 -2,466,075
Other 3,048,718 3,346,770 +298,052
Road transport 106,468 13,909 -92,559

Import volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover 31,563,546
East Midlands Airport 24,622,857
London Stansted Airport 15,856,876
London Heathrow Airport 14,752,196
Harwich 13,962,789

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 17,681,345 13,882,201 -3,799,144
East Midlands Airport 13,510,282 11,112,575 -2,397,707
London Stansted Airport 9,456,614 6,400,262 -3,056,352
London Heathrow Airport 7,154,086 7,598,110 +444,024
Harwich 5,013,432 8,949,357 +3,935,925
Eurotunnel 5,331,592 3,682,216 -1,649,376
Southampton 4,507,116 2,164,792 -2,342,324
Felixstowe 829,824 5,635,059 +4,805,235
000 3,048,718 3,346,770 +298,052
Dover / Eurotunnel 2,456,756 2,354,680 -102,076

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 86
Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products 48
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 34
Other professional, scientific and technical activities 33
Scientific research and development 25

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 39
2025-11 49
2025-10 45
2025-09 52
2025-08 49

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+ 130
1m-15m 120
0-1m 44
Other 30
15m-54m 22

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 £
China 142,355,466
Germany 58,920,713
United States 26,221,166
Netherlands 15,722,843
South Korea 10,481,727

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 £
China 80,647,358 61,708,108 -18,939,250
Germany 34,776,416 24,144,297 -10,632,119
United States 15,287,277 10,933,889 -4,353,388
Netherlands 3,949,650 11,773,193 +7,823,543
South Korea 5,383,818 5,097,909 -285,909
India 3,575,881 4,890,701 +1,314,820
France 4,426,737 3,090,291 -1,336,446
Italy 3,768,598 2,918,865 -849,733
Japan 2,769,136 3,335,518 +566,382
Taiwan 3,474,717 2,366,302 -1,108,415

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 1,115,948
Ireland 809,048
XI 167,933
United States 72,097
Italy 53,975

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 542,610 573,338 +30,728
Ireland 133,726 675,322 +541,596
XI 163,525 4,408 -159,117
United States 72,097 0 -72,097
Italy 53,975 0 -53,975
France 1,349 0 -1,349

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 237,567,900
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 86,735,838
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 8,079,303
Other 2,395,653
Road transport 57,366

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 132,436,547 105,131,353 -27,305,194
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 43,994,415 42,741,423 -1,252,992
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 5,360,435 2,718,868 -2,641,567
Other 1,047,433 1,348,220 +300,787
Road transport 37,305 20,061 -17,244

Export volume by port

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

Top 5 values

Port £
London Heathrow Airport 188,182,086
Dover / Eurotunnel 72,254,185
ZLC 16,428,103
East Midlands Airport 15,660,998
London Stansted Airport 11,742,708

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 103,330,363 84,851,723 -18,478,640
Dover / Eurotunnel 42,161,578 30,092,607 -12,068,971
ZLC 8,424,113 8,003,990 -420,123
East Midlands Airport 8,469,055 7,191,943 -1,277,112
London Stansted Airport 7,673,198 4,069,510 -3,603,688
Harwich 283,504 9,583,463 +9,299,959
London Gateway Port 2,381,768 1,647,694 -734,074
Belfast Airport 3,425,631 63,430 -3,362,201
Felixstowe 2,163,966 1,283,065 -880,901
000 1,047,433 1,348,220 +300,787

Related HS codes

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

Quick facts

HS code: 9012

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

Description: Microscopes that don’t use light, such as electron microscopes, and tools for studying light diffraction