Demand sweetens for chocolate
Among continents, European countries exported the highest dollar worth of chocolate during 2018 with shipments amounting to $21.4 billion or three-quarters (73.5%) of overall international chocolate sales. This compares with 12.8% from North America, 9.9% from Asia, 1.5% from Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, 1.4% 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 2018.
- Germany: US$5 billion (17% of total chocolate exports)
- Belgium: $3.1 billion (10.5%)
- Italy: $2.1 billion (7.1%)
- Netherlands: $2 billion (6.9%)
- Poland: $1.7 billion (6%)
- United States: $1.7 billion (5.7%)
- Canada: $1.4 billion (4.9%)
- France: $1.4 billion (4.9%)
- United Kingdom: $963.7 million (3.3%)
- Switzerland: $863.6 million (3%)
- Russia: $632 million (2.2%)
- Mexico: $612.2 million (2.1%)
- Spain: $509.6 million (1.7%)
- Turkey: $504.4 million (1.7%)
- United Arab Emirates: $433.3 million (1.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped almost four-fifths (78.6%) of all chocolate exports in 2018.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing chocolate exporters since 2014 were: Poland (up 23.5%), Italy (up 20.7%), Canada (up 20.2%) and Mexico (up 8.3%).
Five countries posted declines in their exported chocolate sales namely: Turkey (down -12.5%), France (down -12.1%), Russia (down -2.9%), Switzerland (down -0.7%) and Germany (down -0.3%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for chocolate during 2018. 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 7.8% since 2014)
- Belgium: $2.2 billion (up 1.5%)
- Italy: $1.5 billion (up 35.6%)
- Poland: $892.9 million (up 9.5%)
- Netherlands: $684 million (down -9.1%)
- Switzerland: $605.2 million (up 0.6%)
- Canada: $421.3 million (up 61.5%)
- Turkey: $413.9 million (down -13.5%)
- Mexico: $323.4 million (up 161.9%)
- Singapore: $166.5 million (down -22.4%)
- Ivory Coast: $140.9 million (up 124.1%)
- Malaysia: $131.7 million (reversing a -$6.1 million deficit)
- Russia: $91.6 million (up 363.4%)
- Iran: $84.7 million (up 115.9%)
- Egypt: $70.1 million (down -17.4%)
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 2018. 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 Kingdom: -US$1.2 billion (net export deficit down -8.8% since 2014)
- United States: -$1.1 billion (up 59.6%)
- France: -$806 million (up 79.8%)
- Japan: -$522.9 million (down -10.4%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$451.7 million (down -13.3%)
- Australia: -$275.7 million (down -4.7%)
- South Korea: -$267 million (down -0.4%)
- Romania: -$229.3 million (up 42.8%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$205 million (up 1,410%)
- Portugal: -$204.4 million (up 5.2%)
- Hong Kong: -$197 million (down -20.2%)
- Kuwait: -$187.6 million (up 22.5%)
- Iraq: -$170 million (up 45,716%)
- Spain: -$153.8 million (down -14%)
- Israel: -$146.4 million (up 29.6%)
International traders in the United Kingdom and United States and incurred the highest deficits for the international trade of chocolate. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights each’s strong competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for chocolate-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from UK and American consumers.
Companies
Chocolate Exporting Companies
Based on the Candy Industry’s 2015 Top 100 Confectionery Companies in the World, below are the world’s largest conglomerates that produce chocolate bars and other cocoa-containing food preparations. Show within parenthesis is the country where each colossus is headquartered.
- Mars Inc (United States)
- Mondelez International (United States)
- Ferrero Group (Italy)
- Nestle SA (Switzerland)
- Meiji Co Ltd (Japan)
- Hershey Foods Corp (United States)
- Chocoladenfabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG (Switzerland)
- Arcor (Argentina)
- Ezaki Glico Co Ltd (Japan)
- August Storck KG (Germany)
- United Confectionary Manufacturers (Russia)
- Orion Corp (South Korea)
- Yildiz Holding (Turkey)
- Lotte Confectionery Co. Ltd (South Korea)
- Crown Confectionery Co. Ltd (South Korea)
- Cemoi (France)
- Ferrara Candy Co (United States)
Searchable List of Chocolate Exporting Countries in 2018
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below.
| Rank | Exporter | Chocolate Exports (US$) | %World Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $4,950,073,000 | 17% |
| 2. | Belgium | $3,074,506,000 | 10.5% |
| 3. | Italy | $2,068,011,000 | 7.1% |
| 4. | Netherlands | $2,016,455,000 | 6.9% |
| 5. | Poland | $1,736,028,000 | 6% |
| 6. | United States | $1,673,969,000 | 5.7% |
| 7. | Canada | $1,442,106,000 | 4.9% |
| 8. | France | $1,422,405,000 | 4.9% |
| 9. | United Kingdom | $963,656,000 | 3.3% |
| 10. | Switzerland | $863,629,000 | 3% |
| 11. | Russia | $631,962,000 | 2.2% |
| 12. | Mexico | $612,196,000 | 2.1% |
| 13. | Spain | $509,582,000 | 1.7% |
| 14. | Turkey | $504,426,000 | 1.7% |
| 15. | United Arab Emirates | $433,314,000 | 1.5% |
| 16. | Austria | $421,080,000 | 1.4% |
| 17. | Singapore | $418,132,000 | 1.4% |
| 18. | Sweden | $366,682,000 | 1.3% |
| 19. | Ireland | $331,884,000 | 1.1% |
| 20. | China | $325,179,000 | 1.1% |
| 21. | Czech Republic | $290,651,000 | 1% |
| 22. | Malaysia | $283,952,000 | 0.01 |
| 23. | Slovakia | $246,728,000 | 0.8% |
| 24. | Hong Kong | $198,824,000 | 0.7% |
| 25. | Australia | $197,886,000 | 0.7% |
| 26. | Hungary | $191,645,000 | 0.7% |
| 27. | Ukraine | $171,361,000 | 0.6% |
| 28. | Denmark | $169,679,000 | 0.6% |
| 29. | Bulgaria | $160,847,000 | 0.6% |
| 30. | Brazil | $160,241,000 | 0.5% |
| 31. | Croatia | $157,817,000 | 0.5% |
| 32. | Ivory Coast | $146,005,000 | 0.5% |
| 33. | India | $140,208,000 | 0.5% |
| 34. | Lithuania | $134,684,000 | 0.5% |
| 35. | Egypt | $124,892,000 | 0.4% |
| 36. | Romania | $96,297,000 | 0.3% |
| 37. | Argentina | $90,360,000 | 0.3% |
| 38. | Iran | $88,613,000 | 0.3% |
| 39. | Japan | $84,892,000 | 0.3% |
| 40. | South Africa | $71,617,000 | 0.2% |
| 41. | Finland | $71,069,000 | 0.2% |
| 42. | Serbia | $68,132,000 | 0.2% |
| 43. | Belarus | $65,805,000 | 0.2% |
| 44. | South Korea | $62,248,000 | 0.2% |
| 45. | Colombia | $61,176,000 | 0.2% |
| 46. | Saudi Arabia | $61,150,000 | 0.2% |
| 47. | New Zealand | $56,071,000 | 0.2% |
| 48. | Thailand | $50,699,000 | 0.2% |
| 49. | Lebanon | $46,523,000 | 0.2% |
| 50. | Indonesia | $44,512,000 | 0.2% |
| 51. | Ghana | $44,091,000 | 0.2% |
| 52. | Norway | $43,943,000 | 0.2% |
| 53. | Kazakhstan | $39,921,000 | 0.1% |
| 54. | Greece | $39,872,000 | 0.1% |
| 55. | Latvia | $38,403,000 | 0.1% |
| 56. | Ecuador | $29,341,000 | 0.1% |
| 57. | Portugal | $26,595,000 | 0.1% |
| 58. | Slovenia | $24,828,000 | 0.1% |
| 59. | Chile | $22,773,000 | 0.1% |
| 60. | Peru | $22,586,000 | 0.1% |
| 61. | Israel | $19,006,000 | 0.1% |
| 62. | Vietnam | $18,900,000 | 0.1% |
| 63. | Armenia | $16,144,000 | 0.1% |
| 64. | Estonia | $15,470,000 | 0.1% |
| 65. | North Macedonia | $12,992,000 | 0.04% |
| 66. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $12,978,000 | 0.04% |
| 67. | Taiwan | $12,486,000 | 0.04% |
| 68. | Luxembourg | $9,721,000 | 0.03% |
| 69. | Costa Rica | $9,719,000 | 0.03% |
| 70. | Afghanistan | $9,463,000 | 0.03% |
| 71. | Guatemala | $9,291,000 | 0.03% |
| 72. | Moldova | $8,990,000 | 0.03% |
| 73. | Senegal | $8,166,000 | 0.03% |
| 74. | Jordan | $6,729,000 | 0.02% |
| 75. | Uzbekistan | $6,592,000 | 0.02% |
| 76. | El Salvador | $5,447,000 | 0.02% |
| 77. | Dominican Republic | $4,394,000 | 0.02% |
| 78. | Sri Lanka | $4,141,000 | 0.01% |
| 79. | Trinidad/Tobago | $3,822,000 | 0.01% |
| 80. | Eswatini | $3,805,000 | 0.01% |
| 81. | Azerbaijan | $3,784,000 | 0.01% |
| 82. | Philippines | $3,780,000 | 0.01% |
| 83. | Kuwait | $3,217,000 | 0.01% |
| 84. | Bangladesh | $2,779,000 | 0.01% |
| 85. | Tunisia | $2,508,000 | 0.01% |
| 86. | Iceland | $2,441,000 | 0.01% |
| 87. | Kenya | $2,349,000 | 0.01% |
| 88. | Morocco | $2,238,000 | 0.01% |
| 89. | Montenegro | $2,232,000 | 0.01% |
| 90. | Georgia | $2,180,000 | 0.01% |
| 91. | Bahrain | $1,786,000 | 0.01% |
| 92. | Zambia | $1,780,000 | 0.01% |
| 93. | Syria | $1,767,000 | 0.01% |
| 94. | Uruguay | $1,578,000 | 0.01% |
| 95. | Nigeria | $1,436,000 | 0.005% |
| 96. | Barbados | $1,397,000 | 0.005% |
| 97. | Algeria | $1,298,000 | 0.004% |
| 98. | Oman | $1,089,000 | 0.004% |
| 99. | Venezuela | $1,030,000 | 0.004% |
| 100. | Malta | $974,000 | 0.003% |
| 101. | Cyprus | $902,000 | 0.003% |
| 102. | Madagascar | $782,000 | 0.003% |
| 103. | Turkmenistan | $757,000 | 0.003% |
| 104. | Panama | $729,000 | 0.003% |
| 105. | Pakistan | $716,000 | 0.002% |
| 106. | Bolivia | $633,000 | 0.002% |
| 107. | Kyrgyzstan | $584,000 | 0.002% |
| 108. | Uganda | $433,000 | 0.001% |
| 109. | Sao Tome/Principe | $427,000 | 0.001% |
| 110. | Gambia | $417,000 | 0.001% |
| 111. | Namibia | $415,000 | 0.001% |
| 112. | Guinea | $404,000 | 0.001% |
| 113. | Niger | $324,000 | 0.001% |
| 114. | Mongolia | $322,000 | 0.001% |
| 115. | Cameroon | $305,000 | 0.001% |
| 116. | Benin | $286,000 | 0.001% |
| 117. | Honduras | $260,000 | 0.001% |
| 118. | Macao | $256,000 | 0.001% |
| 119. | New Caledonia | $256,000 | 0.001% |
| 120. | Jamaica | $200,000 | 0.001% |
| 121. | Gabon | $149,000 | 0.001% |
| 122. | Zimbabwe | $147,000 | 0.001% |
| 123. | Curaçao | $145,000 | 0.0005% |
| 124. | US Minor Outlying Is. | $126,000 | 0.0004% |
| 125. | Grenada | $122,000 | 0.0004% |
| 126. | Myanmar (Burma) | $98,000 | 0.0003% |
| 127. | Sudan | $88,000 | 0.0003% |
| 128. | Tajikistan | $87,000 | 0.0003% |
| 129. | Liberia | $75,000 | 0.0003% |
| 130. | Fiji | $67,000 | 0.0002% |
| 131. | Cook Islands | $66,000 | 0.0002% |
| 132. | Gibraltar | $60,000 | 0.0002% |
| 133. | Palestine | $58,000 | 0.0002% |
| 134. | Antigua/Barbuda | $56,000 | 0.0002% |
| 135. | Angola | $53,000 | 0.0002% |
| 136. | Vanuatu | $45,000 | 0.0002% |
| 137. | Tokelau | $44,000 | 0.0002% |
| 138. | St Vincent/Grenadines | $44,000 | 0.0002% |
| 139. | Brunei Darussalam | $42,000 | 0.0001% |
| 140. | Qatar | $38,000 | 0.0001% |
| 141. | Cuba | $36,000 | 0.0001% |
| 142. | Nicaragua | $34,000 | 0.0001% |
| 143. | Guyana | $33,000 | 0.0001% |
| 144. | Samoa | $33,000 | 0.0001% |
| 145. | Mauritius | $30,000 | 0.0001% |
| 146. | British Virgin Islands | $29,000 | 0.0001% |
| 147. | Albania | $29,000 | 0.0001% |
| 148. | Togo | $27,000 | 0.0001% |
| 149. | Dominica | $26,000 | 0.0001% |
| 150. | Turks/Caicos Islands | $22,000 | 0.0001% |
| 151. | Paraguay | $19,000 | 0.0001% |
| 152. | Mali | $19,000 | 0.0001% |
| 153. | Mozambique | $18,000 | 0.0001% |
| 154. | Nauru | $18,000 | 0.0001% |
| 155. | Eritrea | $18,000 | 0.0001% |
| 156. | Bahamas | $16,000 | 0.0001% |
| 157. | Botswana | $10,000 | 0.00003% |
| 158. | Iraq | $10,000 | 0.00003% |
| 159. | Tanzania | $10,000 | 0.00003% |
| 160. | Suriname | $8,000 | 0.00003% |
| 161. | Faroe Islands | $7,000 | 0.00002% |
| 162. | Marshall Islands | $6,000 | 0.00002% |
| 163. | French Polynesia | $5,000 | 0.00002% |
| 164. | North Korea | $4,000 | 0.00001% |
| 165. | Haiti | $3,000 | 0.00001% |
| 166. | Democra. Rep. Congo | $3,000 | 0.00001% |
| 167. | Andorra | $3,000 | 0.00001% |
| 168. | Bermuda | $2,000 | 0.00001% |
| 169. | Lesotho | $2,000 | 0.00001% |
| 170. | Papua New Guinea | $1,000 | 0.000003% |
| 171. | St Maarten (Dutch) | $1,000 | 0.000003% |
| 172. | Saint Lucia | $1,000 | 0.000003% |
| 173. | Sierra Leone | $1,000 | 0.000003% |
| 174. | Burkina Faso | $1,000 | 0.000003% |
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 9, 2019
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 9, 2019
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 9, 2019
The World Factbook, Field Listing: Exports – Commodities, Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on May 9, 2019
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on August 9, 2019
Wikipedia, Chocolate. Accessed on May 9, 2019
EXPORTS SMARTS QUIZ: