Among continents, European countries exported the highest dollar worth of chocolate during 2019 with shipments amounting to $21.7 billion or roughly three-quarters (74.3%) of overall international chocolate sales. This compares with 13.4% from North America, 8.9% from Asia, 1.2% from Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, another 1.2% from chocolate exporters in Africa, and 0.9% from suppliers in Oceania led by Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 1806 for chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa.
Chocolate Exporters by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of chocolate during 2019.
- Germany: US$4.9 billion (16.9% of total chocolate exports)
- Belgium: $3.2 billion (10.9%)
- Italy: $2.1 billion (7.3%)
- Netherlands: $2 billion (7%)
- Poland: $1.8 billion (6.3%)
- United States: $1.7 billion (5.7%)
- Canada: $1.6 billion (5.5%)
- France: $1.2 billion (4.2%)
- United Kingdom: $961.7 million (3.3%)
- Switzerland: $835.8 million (2.9%)
- Russia: $715.3 million (2.5%)
- Mexico: $653.4 million (2.2%)
- Turkey: $550.3 million (1.9%)
- Spain: $529.5 million (1.8%)
- Singapore: $487.4 million (1.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 80% of global chocolate exported in 2019.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing chocolate exporters since 2015 were: Russia (up 67.9%), Italy (up 34.0%), Poland (up 25.5%) and Netherlands (up 19.6%).
The sole decliner among the top chocolate suppliers over the 5-year period was France, thanks to a -11.3% drop.
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for chocolate during 2019. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s chocolate exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Germany: US$2.5 billion (net export surplus up 18.6% since 2015)
- Belgium: $2.2 billion (up 12.2%)
- Italy: $1.5 billion (up 45.1%)
- Poland: $1 billion (up 21.3%)
- Netherlands: $682.3 million (down -2.8%)
- Switzerland: $578.7 million (up 0.7%)
- Canada: $578.5 million (up 48.6%)
- Turkey: $472.5 million (up 22.7%)
- Mexico: $397.2 million (up 40.7%)
- Singapore: $238.3 million (up 10.8%)
- Malaysia: $146.4 million (reversing a -$3.6 million deficit)
- Ivory Coast: $145.6 million (up 42.2%)
- Russia: $130.1 million (up 40.2%)
- India: $62.9 million (up 40.9%)
- Argentina: $49.5 million (down -41.5%)
Exporters in Germany and Belgium generated the highest surplus in the international trade of chocolate. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms both competitors’ strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for chocolate during 2019. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s chocolate import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: US-$1.3 billion (net export deficit up 56.7% since 2015)
- United Kingdom: -$1.1 billion (down -4.5%)
- France: -$942.6 million (up 50.4%)
- Japan: -$511.9 million (up 5.9%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$460.7 million (down -13%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$273.2 million (up 844.7%)
- South Korea: -$272.5 million (up 7.8%)
- Australia: -$250 million (down -21.3%)
- Romania: -$246.2 million (up 61.2%)
- Hong Kong: -$222.3 million (down -3.4%)
- Portugal: -$214.4 million (up 24.4%)
- Israel: -$155.6 million (up 39.1%)
- China: -$151.7 million (down -16.3%)
- Kazakhstan: -$151.6 million (up 3.9%)
- Denmark: -$148.1 million (up 14.7%)
International traders in the United States and United Kingdom and incurred the highest deficits for the international trade of chocolate. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights each’s strong competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for chocolate-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from American and UK consumers.
Companies
Chocolate Exporting Companies
Based on the Candy Industry’s 2015 Top 100 Confectionery Companies in the World, below are the world’s largest conglomerates that produce chocolate bars and other cocoa-containing food preparations. Show within parenthesis is the country where each colossus is headquartered.
- Mars Inc (United States)
- Mondelez International (United States)
- Ferrero Group (Italy)
- Nestle SA (Switzerland)
- Meiji Co Ltd (Japan)
- Hershey Foods Corp (United States)
- Chocoladenfabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG (Switzerland)
- Arcor (Argentina)
- Ezaki Glico Co Ltd (Japan)
- August Storck KG (Germany)
- United Confectionary Manufacturers (Russia)
- Orion Corp (South Korea)
- Yildiz Holding (Turkey)
- Lotte Confectionery Co. Ltd (South Korea)
- Crown Confectionery Co. Ltd (South Korea)
- Cemoi (France)
- Ferrara Candy Co (United States)
Searchable List of Chocolate Exporting Countries in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. The right-most column highlights the percentage change in exported chocolate from 2018 to 2019. An entry of 0% in that column means that no 2018 data was available.
| Rank | Exporter | Chocolate Exports (US$) | 2018-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $4,924,866,000 | -1.1% |
| 2. | Belgium | $3,191,737,000 | +3.2% |
| 3. | Italy | $2,135,722,000 | +2.8% |
| 4. | Netherlands | $2,041,753,000 | -0.3% |
| 5. | Poland | $1,834,831,000 | +5.7% |
| 6. | United States | $1,656,501,000 | -1% |
| 7. | Canada | $1,595,322,000 | +10.5% |
| 8. | France | $1,224,873,000 | -13.8% |
| 9. | United Kingdom | $961,685,000 | -0.5% |
| 10. | Switzerland | $835,815,000 | -3.2% |
| 11. | Russia | $715,273,000 | +13.2% |
| 12. | Mexico | $653,397,000 | +6.7% |
| 13. | Turkey | $550,286,000 | +9.1% |
| 14. | Spain | $529,507,000 | +4.1% |
| 15. | Singapore | $487,361,000 | +16.4% |
| 16. | Austria | $426,348,000 | +1.3% |
| 17. | Sweden | $380,199,000 | +3.6% |
| 18. | China | $331,113,000 | +1.8% |
| 19. | Ireland | $327,061,000 | -1.8% |
| 20. | Malaysia | $308,838,000 | +8.2% |
| 21. | Czech Republic | $298,197,000 | +2.9% |
| 22. | Slovakia | $243,181,000 | -3.7% |
| 23. | Australia | $224,271,000 | +12.3% |
| 24. | Hong Kong | $212,858,000 | +7.1% |
| 25. | Hungary | $201,029,000 | +9.4% |
| 26. | Croatia | $195,231,000 | +23.2% |
| 27. | Bulgaria | $190,792,000 | +16.9% |
| 28. | Denmark | $156,318,000 | -7.5% |
| 29. | Ivory Coast | $151,868,000 | +3.6% |
| 30. | Lithuania | $142,745,000 | +5.6% |
| 31. | India | $136,303,000 | -3% |
| 32. | Romania | $131,464,000 | +36.8% |
| 33. | Ukraine | $129,029,000 | -24.7% |
| 34. | United Arab Emirates | $110,375,000 | -74.5% |
| 35. | Brazil | $102,249,000 | -36.2% |
| 36. | Argentina | $92,780,000 | -18% |
| 37. | Egypt | $91,927,000 | -26.4% |
| 38. | Finland | $83,690,000 | +17.4% |
| 39. | Japan | $82,244,000 | -3.6% |
| 40. | Thailand | $70,509,000 | +38.1% |
| 41. | Serbia | $69,939,000 | +2.5% |
| 42. | South Africa | $69,480,000 | -4.1% |
| 43. | Belarus | $63,099,000 | -4.4% |
| 44. | Saudi Arabia | $55,696,000 | -8.9% |
| 45. | South Korea | $55,167,000 | -11.4% |
| 46. | Colombia | $49,893,000 | -18.4% |
| 47. | New Zealand | $48,328,000 | -11.8% |
| 48. | Norway | $44,281,000 | +0.7% |
| 49. | Greece | $43,123,000 | +8.2% |
| 50. | Indonesia | $41,940,000 | -5.8% |
| 51. | Latvia | $40,804,000 | -0.5% |
| 52. | Slovenia | $36,724,000 | +46.7% |
| 53. | Kazakhstan | $31,580,000 | -20.9% |
| 54. | Portugal | $31,324,000 | +12.7% |
| 55. | Lebanon | $27,131,000 | -24.9% |
| 56. | Peru | $25,892,000 | +14.6% |
| 57. | Israel | $22,650,000 | +18.7% |
| 58. | Chile | $19,095,000 | -10.3% |
| 59. | Ecuador | $18,785,000 | -36% |
| 60. | Armenia | $18,384,000 | +13.9% |
| 61. | Vietnam | $17,383,000 | +4.1% |
| 62. | Estonia | $17,133,000 | +10.7% |
| 63. | Taiwan | $15,378,000 | +22.7% |
| 64. | North Macedonia | $13,623,000 | +4.9% |
| 65. | Ghana | $13,217,000 | -70% |
| 66. | Guatemala | $11,344,000 | -3.7% |
| 67. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $10,899,000 | -16% |
| 68. | Jordan | $9,114,000 | +35.6% |
| 69. | Costa Rica | $9,077,000 | -6.6% |
| 70. | Luxembourg | $7,656,000 | -21.2% |
| 71. | Senegal | $7,395,000 | -9.4% |
| 72. | El Salvador | $6,009,000 | +10.3% |
| 73. | Azerbaijan | $5,390,000 | +42.4% |
| 74. | Moldova | $5,321,000 | -40.8% |
| 75. | Uzbekistan | $4,550,000 | -26.4% |
| 76. | Philippines | $4,278,000 | +13.2% |
| 77. | Morocco | $3,863,000 | +72.5% |
| 78. | Eswatini | $3,626,000 | -47% |
| 79. | Trinidad/Tobago | $3,557,000 | -61.1% |
| 80. | Dominican Republic | $3,494,000 | -42.9% |
| 81. | Bangladesh | $3,004,000 | -1.9% |
| 82. | Zambia | $2,248,000 | +23.4% |
| 83. | Iceland | $2,114,000 | -13.9% |
| 84. | Iran | $1,852,000 | -97.9% |
| 85. | Georgia | $1,824,000 | +1.4% |
| 86. | Tunisia | $1,733,000 | -35.6% |
| 87. | Madagascar | $1,651,000 | +111.1% |
| 88. | Uruguay | $1,614,000 | +2.3% |
| 89. | Malta | $1,581,000 | +62.2% |
| 90. | Montenegro | $1,470,000 | -34.1% |
| 91. | Sri Lanka | $1,186,000 | -71.3% |
| 92. | Venezuela | $1,049,000 | +1.5% |
| 93. | Nigeria | $1,024,000 | -28.7% |
| 94. | Panama | $1,001,000 | +11.5% |
| 95. | Oman | $915,000 | -96.1% |
| 96. | Cyprus | $779,000 | -13.6% |
| 97. | Bolivia | $641,000 | +1.3% |
| 98. | Kyrgyzstan | $641,000 | +7.9% |
| 99. | Syria | $565,000 | -68.3% |
| 100. | Algeria | $543,000 | -58.3% |
| 101. | Kuwait | $515,000 | -84% |
| 102. | Albania | $511,000 | +1,662% |
| 103. | Sao Tome/Principe | $459,000 | +7.5% |
| 104. | Namibia | $434,000 | +4.6% |
| 105. | Pakistan | $364,000 | -49.4% |
| 106. | Barbados | $341,000 | -75.6% |
| 107. | Bahrain | $334,000 | -81.3% |
| 108. | Cameroon | $270,000 | -77.4% |
| 109. | Jamaica | $245,000 | -54.8% |
| 110. | Togo | $215,000 | +8.6% |
| 111. | Honduras | $203,000 | -21.9% |
| 112. | Iraq | $180,000 | +1,700% |
| 113. | Tanzania | $155,000 | +1,309% |
| 114. | Mongolia | $149,000 | -53.7% |
| 115. | Turkmenistan | $136,000 | -74.1% |
| 116. | Curaçao | $123,000 | -18% |
| 117. | Tajikistan | $95,000 | +9.2% |
| 118. | Mauritius | $83,000 | +176.7% |
| 119. | Zimbabwe | $52,000 | -64.6% |
| 120. | Cuba | $49,000 | +36.1% |
| 121. | US Minor Outlying Is | $43,000 | -65.6% |
| 122. | Nicaragua | $38,000 | +11.8% |
| 123. | Djibouti | $31,000 | 0% |
| 124. | New Caledonia | $27,000 | -89.5% |
| 125. | Pitcairn | $24,000 | 0% |
| 126. | Palestine | $23,000 | -99.7% |
| 127. | Antigua/Barbuda | $22,000 | -60.7% |
| 128. | Qatar | $20,000 | -71.4% |
| 129. | Lesotho | $17,000 | +750% |
| 130. | Kenya | $17,000 | -99.3% |
| 131. | Paraguay | $15,000 | -21.1% |
| 132. | Fiji | $15,000 | -77.6% |
| 133. | Dominica | $15,000 | -42.3% |
| 134. | Macao | $14,000 | 0% |
| 135. | Brunei Darussalam | $13,000 | -68.3% |
| 136. | Burkina Faso | $11,000 | +1,000% |
| 137. | Mozambique | $10,000 | -44.4% |
| 138. | Libya | $9,000 | 0% |
| 139. | Vanuatu | $8,000 | -82.2% |
| 140. | Benin | $7,000 | -77.4% |
| 141. | Grenada | $4,000 | -96.4% |
| 142. | Haiti | $4,000 | +33.3% |
| 143. | Guinea | $3,000 | -99.3% |
| 144. | Democratic Rep. Congo | $3,000 | 0% |
| 145. | Angola | $3,000 | -94.3% |
| 146. | Tokelau | $3,000 | -93.5% |
| 147. | Uganda | $2,000 | -99.5% |
| 148. | Samoa | $2,000 | -93.9% |
| 149. | Niger | $2,000 | -97.7% |
| 150. | Papua New Guinea | $2,000 | +100% |
| 151. | Mali | $1,000 | -94.7% |
| 152. | Botswana | $1,000 | -90% |
| 153. | Belize | $1,000 | 0% |
| 154. | Congo | $1,000 | 0% |
See also Chocolate Imports by Country, Hot Chocolate Exports by Country and Germany’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Candy Industry, 2015 Top 100 Confectionery Companies in the World. Accessed on May 6, 2020
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 6, 2020
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 6, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 6, 2020
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on May 6, 2020
Wikipedia, Chocolate. Accessed on May 6, 2020