Official Statistics

Customs declarants and declaration volumes for international trade in 2024: methodology notes

Updated 8 May 2025

Key data notes and understanding

The following details how the underlying data has been processed to produce the figures provided in this release:

Data has been sourced from the Customs Declaration System (CDS) and the legacy Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system as of March 2025.

Data includes all successfully cleared declarations for international trade submitted to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). The latest generation for each customs declaration has been used to reflect its most recent status.

Data does not include CDS declarations for which departure details were not received at the point the goods were exported. Departure details can only be provided retrospectively in limited circumstances.

Data does not include declarations by conduct or oral declarations that were subsequently submitted to CDS or CHIEF.

Declaration volumes have been rounded to the nearest thousand throughout. Declarant counts have been rounded to the nearest ten. Therefore, sum of breakdowns may not sum to totals given. Any declaration figure less than 1,000 and declarant figure less than 10 have been labelled as such.

Declarant counts are often not mutually exclusive. This is due to many businesses making across both import and export declarations with both the European Union (EU) and non-EU countries. Declarants may also use various types of representation, and multiple locations of entry or exit.

The date of a given customs declaration is based on its date of clearance.
The partner country on a customs declaration is based on the country of dispatch for imports and the country of destination for exports.

Customs declarations for internal trade movements have been excluded. This includes declarations between Northern Ireland (NI) and Great Britain, as well as trade movements with the Isle of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, and the United Kingdom (UK) continental shelf.

Customs declarations for trade between NI and the EU are not mandated. A small number of declarations are submitted which have been categorised under ‘Other’.

Customs declarations where different partner countries are declared for different items are possible. Where those partner countries span both EU and non-EU countries, the declaration is listed under Other.

Customs declarations where partner country was not provided have been categorised under ‘Other’. This can occur where it is not mandatory to provide this information, or due to use of certain customs procedures or facilitations.
Customs declarations where port of entry or exit was not provided have been categorised as ‘Unknown’. This is most common in declarations for goods exiting a customs warehouse.

In Tables 3a to 3d, the port code ‘DEU’ is used in pre-lodged declarations where the location entry or exit (either Dover or the Eurotunnel) was not determined at time of submission.

In Tables 4a and 4b, declaration types have been grouped into the following categories:

• Standard customs declarations, declarations which requires the full details of the goods being traded to be declared (declaration type CDS code ‘A’)

• Simplified frontier declarations (SFD), declarations which are submitted to release goods which have arrived at the frontier (declaration type CDS codes ‘B’ and ‘C’)

• Customs clearance requests (C21s), a clearance form which requests the release of goods at a location with an inventory linked system (declaration type CDS codes ‘C’ and ‘J’)

• Supplementary declarations, declarations which requires the full details of goods being traded having used the simplified declaration facilitation (declaration type CDS codes ‘Y’, ‘Z’, and ‘Q’)

Exit Summary Declarations have been excluded in the 2024 figures. This is due to this extra Safety and Security information not being required by CDS in the future.

Key data caveats and limitations

Figures are provisional and may be subject to change

Figures will remain static if the underlying administrative data at the given date of extraction does not change.

Limitations of declaration volumes and declarant counts as a measure of trade in goods

Declaration volumes are a useful metric for measuring the approximate number of unique consignments traded. They are not reliable measures of overall trade volume. Data on trade value and net mass are better indicators of UK trade performance. These are published on a monthly basis in the UK overseas trade in goods statistics (OTS).

Declarant counts represent the number of businesses declaring to CDS and CHIEF. This business population consists of self-declaring traders and businesses acting as third-party declarants. The population of self-declaring traders makes up a small proportion of the total trading population. This is published separately within HMRC’s Customs importer and export population publication.

Change in declaring behaviour over time

The declaring behaviour of declarants may not remain consistent over time.

Declarants may change the number of customs declarations they submit for equivalent volumes of goods. Declarant behaviour may also change due to the use of certain customs facilitations.

Impact of the Bulk Import Reduced Data Set (BIRDS) facilitation

The introduction of the BIRDS facilitation has allowed authorised declarants to group multiple low value consignments into a single customs declaration.

This will have had a reduction on the number of submitted customs import declarations.

Impact of customs warehousing on customs declaration volumes

Data includes declarations for goods both entering and exiting a customs warehouse. There is likely to be more than one customs declaration for a single consignment of goods using customs warehousing.

Many customs import declarations for goods exiting a customs warehouse do not contain data for the original port of entry.

Impact of unarrived customs declarations

When goods are traded within the UK, HMRC needs to be notified that the goods have physically arrived at UK border locations.

HMRC is aware of cases where this has not occurred, meaning HMRC is unable to clear these goods.

Therefore, declarations for goods that were not cleared by customs will not be included in this release.

Other data caveats

Declarant counts are based on the number of unique declarants submitting customs declarations. Unique declarants are determined by their declared Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number. A small number of entries do not conform to a valid EORI format. A single business may also declare using more than a single EORI. Due to these errors in the underlying data, declarant counts presented may differ slightly from the true number.

Data have been compiled from both CDS and CHIEF customs systems which have different data requirements.

The declarant representation status of declarations has been sourced from data element 3/ 21 for CDS data. In some instances, this provides a different status to that when comparing the trader EORI to the declarant EORI.

Entry and exit location codes used may not have equivalent trade data available in other trade in goods publications.

Entry summary declarations (ENS) do not feature as they are not submitted to CDS or CHIEF.

Terms and definitions

Customs declaration

A submission which provides legally required information about the goods being traded.

Consignment

A shipment of goods sent by a single exporter which is destined for a single importer. A customs declaration has the potential to be made up of multiple consignments.

Consignor

The business responsible for sending a consignment of goods (exporter).

Consignee

The business responsible for receiving a consignment of goods (importer).

Declarant

The business submitting a customs declaration.

Self-declaring or self-representation

Where the trader is also the declarant in the submission of a customs declaration. This means there is no use of a third-party declarant.

Direct representation

Where a third-party declarant business is acting in the name of and on behalf of the trader in the submission of a customs declaration. The third party must hold written authority of their power to act as the direct representative.

Indirect representation

Where a third-party declarant business is acting in their own name but on behalf of the trader in the submission of a customs declaration. Both parties accept joint liability for all information provided.

Customs Declaration Service (CDS)

CDS is the main current customs system which records the information in a customs declaration.

Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF)

CHIEF is the legacy customs system for before CDS. CHIEF was formally decommissioned in the second half of 2024.

Clearance date

The date when the customs authority releases the goods having carried out any checks deemed necessary.

Simplified Customs Declaration Procedure (SCDP)

A customs facilitation that allows authorised businesses to submit a declaration in two parts. The first part is an initial simplified declaration or making an entry in their records. This allows goods to move across the border quickly. A subsequent full declaration is then required by the 10th calendar day of the following month.

Bulk Import Reduced Data Set (BIRDS)

The BIRDS facilitation allows authorised declarants to group multiple low value consignments into a single customs declaration. The advantage of this facilitation is only a reduced set of information is required on the customs declarations.

Customs warehousing

A customs facilitation that allows businesses to store goods with duty or import VAT payments suspended. The duty is suspended until goods are either released into free circulation, re-exported, or moved to another customs procedure.

Official statistics publication

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• a complete time series is available as an additional data table.

Quality

• administrative data taken from customs declarations is used to create this publication, which is the most appropriate source and provides the best coverage.
• data sources, exclusions, methods, limitations, and definitions are provided in this methodology document.
• standardised definitions are used throughout this publication and are available in this methodology document.

Value

• detailed data tables and summary statistics are equally available to all via the gov.uk website.
• suitable commentary are included to aid appropriate understanding and interpretation of the statistics.
• by engaging with new technology, we work to improve the accuracy of these statistics each year including significant re-coding for the 2024 update.
• other related statistics and data sources are signposted with explanations of their consistency and comparability.
• advice about the appropriate use of these statistics is provided in the publication and in this methodology document.

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Additional information

General CDS information

CDS import and export tariffs

Simplified Customs Declaration Process (SCDP)

Bulk Import Reduced Data Set (BIRDS)

Customs warehousing

Entry and exit location codes