UK import trade in goods by country of origin and country of dispatch, 2024
Published 21 May 2026
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Introduction
HMRC collects overseas trade in goods data on imports, which includes both country of origin and country of dispatch data.
Country of origin (CoO) refers to the country where the goods were produced or manufactured, or where the last substantial processing or transformation took place.
Country of dispatch (CoD) refers to the country where the last commercial transaction took place. This may not be the country where the goods were made or shipped from.
Historically, import data has been published in the UK using the CoD to maintain consistency and a single partner country basis across both EU and non-EU trade. This was because CoO data was not collected through the Intrastat survey. Since January 2022, the basis of GB-EU import trade data are now collected from customs declarations, which include CoO data. This release compares trade figures based on CoO versus CoD, broken down by partner country. This gives a further explanation of where goods have been produced, while the CoD may show an increased figure for large warehousing ports.
This release contains information on trade where both CoO and CoD are declared, therefore figures will not match those published in the UK overseas trade in goods statistics. CoO is not required on Intrastat declarations, so these are excluded from this report. This means imports from EU countries will not include trade declared under the Intrastat system by Northern Ireland based traders.
Top import partner country for 2024 by country of origin
Imports where China was country of origin were £77.6 billion but where China was country of dispatch were £62.0 billion
Top import partner country for 2024 by country of dispatch
Imports where Germany was country of dispatch were £73.9 billion but where Germany was country of origin were £59.0 billion
Top UK import partner countries for 2024 by country of origin and country of dispatch
The top 3 import partner countries by country of origin were China, the USA, and Germany. The top 3 by country of dispatch were Germany, the USA, and China.
Table 1: Top 15 UK import partner countries in 2024 by country of origin and by country of dispatch
| Partner country | Value where partner country was country of origin (£ billion) |
Value where partner country was country of dispatch (£ billion) |
|---|---|---|
| China (CN) | 77.6 | 62.0 |
| USA (US) | 74.6 | 62.6 |
| Germany (DE) | 59.0 | 73.9 |
| France (FR) | 30.3 | 34.8 |
| Italy (IT) | 24.6 | 22.6 |
| Norway (NO) | 23.0 | 23.5 |
| Spain (ES) | 20.8 | 20.3 |
| Netherlands (NL) | 19.7 | 46.5 |
| Canada (CA) | 19.5 | 18.1 |
| Poland (PL) | 15.4 | 13.2 |
| Switzerland (CH) | 15.1 | 17.0 |
| Turkey (TR) | 14.5 | 13.7 |
| Belgium (BE) | 13.7 | 30.1 |
| India (IN) | 12.0 | 10.2 |
| Ireland (IE) | 11.3 | 13.5 |
Source: UK overseas trade in goods statistics from HM Revenue & Customs
Figure 1: Top 15 UK import partner countries in 2024 by country of origin and by country of dispatch
Source: UK overseas trade in goods statistics from HM Revenue & Customs
China was ranked first by total value where it was country of origin (CoO) but third by total value where it was country of dispatch (CoD). The USA was ranked second as both CoO and CoD. Germany was ranked third as CoO but first as CoD. The Netherlands had the largest difference in value between CoO and CoD, and was ranked eighth as CoO, but fourth as CoD. Belgium was ranked thirteenth as CoO but sixth as CoD.
Case studies
China
When comparing imports by country of origin and country of dispatch, China had the largest positive value difference in 2024.
Table 2: UK imports from China by chapter where country of origin was greater than country of dispatch
| Chapter | Value where China was country of origin (£ billion) |
Value where China was country of dispatch (£ billion) |
Difference (£ billion) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic equipment | 19.7 | 14.4 | 5.3 |
| Mechanical appliances | 13.9 | 10.7 | 3.2 |
| Measuring devices & gauges | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| Toys, games and consoles | 3.6 | 3.0 | 0.7 |
| Clothes not knitted | 1.8 | 1.3 | 0.4 |
| All other chapters | 36.7 | 31.4 | 5.3 |
| Total | 77.6 | 62.0 | 15.6 |
Source: UK overseas trade in goods statistics from HM Revenue & Customs
Electronic equipment was the largest import chapter by value from China where China was country of origin (CoO), and also where China was country of dispatch (CoD). It also showed the largest value difference between where China was CoO and where China was CoD of £5.3 billion. Mechanical appliances were the second largest import chapter by value from China where China was CoO, and also where China was CoD. It also had the second largest difference between where China was CoO and where China was CoD of £3.2 billion. The chapter with the largest difference in rank was Animal or vegetable fats, oils and waxes. It ranked 42 as CoO, but ranked 72 as CoD.
Figure 2: UK imports from partner countries where China was country of origin
Source: UK overseas trade in goods statistics from HM Revenue & Customs
Of all imports which had China as country of origin (CoO), £58.8 billion, or 76% had China itself as country of dispatch (CoD). £5.3 billion, or 6.9% had the Netherlands as CoD, £2.9 billion, or 3.8% had Hong Kong as CoD, and £2.1 billion, or 2.7% had Germany as CoD. £1.1 billion, or 1.5% had France as CoD, and £1.1 billion, or 1.4% had the USA as CoD.
The Netherlands
When comparing imports by country of origin (CoO) and country of dispatch (CoD), the Netherlands had the largest negative value difference in 2024, this is where the value by CoD was greater than value by CoO.
Table 3: UK imports from the Netherlands where country of dispatch was greater than country of origin
| Chapter | Value where the Netherlands was country of origin (£ billion) |
Value where the Netherlands was country of dispatch (£ billion) |
Difference (£ billion) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic equipment | 0.4 | 6.0 | -5.5 |
| Mechanical appliances | 1.4 | 6.3 | -4.9 |
| Measuring devices & gauges | 0.3 | 3.3 | -3.0 |
| Pharmaceutical products | 0.4 | 2.5 | -2.1 |
| Mineral fuels | 4.1 | 5.7 | -1.7 |
| All others | 13.0 | 22.6 | -9.6 |
| Total | 19.7 | 46.5 | -26.8 |
Source: UK overseas trade in goods statistics from HM Revenue & Customs
Electronic equipment had the largest difference in value when comparing imports where the Netherlands was country of origin (CoO) with imports where the Netherlands was country of dispatch (CoD). It ranked twelfth as CoO but second as CoD.
Mechanical appliances had the second largest difference in value when comparing imports where the Netherlands was CoO with imports where the Netherlands was CoD. It ranked second as CoO but first as CoD.
Knitwear had the largest difference in ranking when comparing imports where the Netherlands was CoO and imports where the Netherlands was CoD. It ranked 75 as CoO but 26 as CoD.
Figure 3: UK imports from partner countries where the Netherlands was country of dispatch
Source: UK overseas trade in goods statistics from HM Revenue & Customs
Of all the imports which showed the Netherlands as country of dispatch (CoD), £17.3 billion, or 37.1%, had the Netherlands itself as country of origin (CoO). £5.3 billion, or 11.4% had China as CoO, £4.0 billion, or 8.6% had the USA as CoO, and £3.1 billion, or 6.7% had Germany as CoO. £1.1 billion, or 2.3% had Ireland as CoO, and £0.9 billion, or 2.0% had Vietnam as CoO.
Official statistics publication
Please note this publication has been produced on an ad hoc basis, with no plans for a subsequent release.
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).
OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.
This publication is based on the methodologies of the overseas trade in goods statistics (OTS), which were independently reviewed by the OSR in October 2010 with publication of the report in February 2011. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.
You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards by emailing uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk.
Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.