Official Statistics

Customs declarants and declaration volumes for international trade in 2025: Methodology notes

Published 14 May 2026

Key data notes and understanding

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

Data for customs declarations cleared in 2025 have been sourced from the Customs Declaration System (CDS) customs system as of March 2026. For customs declaration data between 2021 and 2024, customs declarations from the legacy Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) system are also included.

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 latest status.

The date of a given customs declaration is based on its date of clearance. Any customs declarations submitted but not successfully cleared, such as those either rejected or invalidated, are excluded from this report.

Data excludes uncleared 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 goods movements that are eligible to be declared by conduct or as an oral declaration.

Declaration volumes are rounded to the nearest thousand throughout, and declarant counts are rounded to the nearest ten. Therefore, sum of breakdowns may not sum to totals given. Any declaration volumes less than 1,000 and declarant counts 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 several types of representation and multiple locations of entry or exit.

Data notes on defining EU and non-EU trade

Any customs declarations cleared for internal trade movements have been excluded, such as declarations between Northern Ireland (NI) and Great Britain (GB), as well as internal trade movements within the United Kingdom (UK) Crown Dependencies (Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey) or the UK continental shelf.

The partner country has been based on the country of dispatch for imports and the country of destination for exports. EU trade has been identified using country codes that include EU member states, EU special territories, EU continental shelf trade, and non-standard EU country codes.

Trade flows for customs declarations are categorised as GB trade with the EU, UK trade with non-EU countries, or ‘Other’. The ‘Other’ category includes the following cases:

1. where the declaration does not include any partner country information, which can occur where it is not mandatory to provide this information (such as where certain customs procedures or facilitations are used)

2. where the declaration has a declared partner country where it is unknown whether it is in the EU or not

3. where the declaration is for trade between NI and the EU where customs declarations for this flow are not mandated

4. where different items on a single declaration have different partner countries relating to multiple partner regions

Data notes on specific data tables

Customs declarations where port of entry or exit was not provided have been categorised as ‘Unknown’ in Tables 4a to 4d. This is most common in declarations for goods exiting a customs warehouse.

In Tables 4a to 4d, 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 5a and 5b, 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, such as Bulk Import Reduced Data Set (BIRDS) declarations for UK imports (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 submitted in CHIEF have been excluded from previous figures. Entry Summary Declarations are also excluded as they are not submitted to either CDS or CHIEF.

In Tables 6a and 6b for mode of transport, declarations with the mode of transport ‘Postal consignments’ should only be declared for goods handled by the authorised postal operator which is governed by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) such as the Royal Mail Group, where the ‘actual’ mode of transport should be used for all other non-UPU consignments. Declarations using the Channel Tunnel terminal (Eurotunnel) should be declared as using the mode of transport ‘Roll-on-roll-off (RoRo) movements’.

Key data caveats and limitations

Figures are provisional and may be subject to change

Data from 2021 to 2024 in this release have been produced using the 2025 methodology to ensure consistency across years. As the methodology has seen minor differences from previous publications, the figures presented here between 2021 and 2024 data may not match those previously published.

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 monthly 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 number of customs declarations will fluctuate due to changing declaring behaviour of declarants and declaration policy changes between years. Therefore, caution must be taken when comparing declaration volumes and declarant counts 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 facilitations for low value trade

The Bulk Import Reduced Data Set (BIRDS) facilitation allows authorised declarants include bulk multiple low‑value imports (up to £135) for different traders in one declaration, reducing the number of import declarations submitted to HMRC.

The Export Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) facilitation allows authorised declarants include bulk multiple low‑value export consignments (up to £900) on behalf of multiple individual traders using a single declaration, reducing the number of export declarations submitted to HMRC.

The Royal Mail Group can clear postal imports under £900, or where a relief applies, without submitting a full declaration, reducing the number of import declarations submitted to HMRC.

The Royal Mail Group and Extra Territorial Offices of Exchange can export postal consignments up to £1,000 without a full declaration, reducing the number of export declarations submitted to HMRC.

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 over time 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.

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.

Export Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

The Export MoU facilitation allows approved declarants to bulk declare multiple low value export consignments up to the value of £900 on behalf of multiple individual traders using a single declaration.

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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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

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Additional information

General CDS information

CDS import and export tariffs

Declaration category data elements for customs declarations

Simplified Customs Declaration Process (SCDP)

Bulk Import Reduced Data Set (BIRDS)

Customs warehousing

Entry and exit location codes

Mode of transport