That dollar amount reflects a 78.8% gain from $48.9 million five years earlier during 2018.
Year over year, the value of globally exported live bees accelerated by 38.4% compared to $63.2 million for 2021.
The top 5 most lucrative exporters of live bees are Egypt, Slovakia, Canada, Belgium and the United States of America. Collectively, that quintet of leading international suppliers generated almost four-fifths (78.8%) of globally exported live bees.
From a continental perspective, suppliers in Europe sold the highest dollar worth of exported live bees during 2022 with shipments valued at $36.9 million or 42.2% of the worldwide total. In second place were exporters in North America at 28.3% while another 20.8% of shipments containing live bees originated from Africa.
Smaller percentages came from suppliers in Asia (4.3%), Oceania’s New Zealand and Australia (3.9%), then Chile in Latin America (0.5%).
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for live bees is 010641.
Top Live Bees Exporters by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of live bees during 2022.
- Egypt: US$18.2 million (20.8% of exported live bees)
- Slovakia: $14 million (16%)
- Canada: $13.4 million (15.4%)
- Belgium: $12.2 million (14%)
- United States: $11.4 million (13%)
- Netherlands: $6 million (6.8%)
- Italy: $2 million (2.2%)
- New Zealand: $1.7 million (2%)
- Australia: $1.7 million (2%)
- Türkiye: $1.61 million (1.8%)
- Spain: $1.55 million (1.8%)
- Uzbekistan: $930,000 (1.1%)
- Israel: $608,000 (0.7%)
- Chile: $424,000 (0.5%)
- Ukraine: $310,000 (0.4%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 98.3% of globally exported live bees in 2022.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of live bees since 2021 were: Australia (up 220.3%), Italy (up 62.4%), Canada (up 47.3%) and Chile (up 28.9%).
Those countries that posted declines in their international sales of live bees were led by: Ukraine (down -38.1% from 2021), Israel (down -31.6%), Spain (down -14%), Türkiye (down -11.5%) and Belgium (down -7.6%).
Countries Enjoying Best Trade Surpluses from Live Bees
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for live bees during 2022. 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 exported live bees and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Egypt: US$18.2 million (2021 data unavailable)
- Slovakia: $14 million (up 2% since 2021)
- Belgium: $11.8 million (down -8%)
- United States of America: $10.5 million (up 43.1%)
- Italy: $1.8 million (up 59.2%)
- New Zealand: $1.7 million (up 18%)
- Australia: $1.7 million (up 220.3%)
- Türkiye: $1.6 million (down -11.8%)
- Uzbekistan: $640,000 (up 9.6%)
- Netherlands: $586,000 (reversing a -$9.3 million deficit)
- Israel: $574,000 (down -32.8%)
- Malta: $245,000 (up 265.7%)
- Chile: $238,000 (up 981.8%)
- Ukraine: $136,000 (reversing a -$92,000 deficit)
- Pakistan: $103,000 (down -64.6%)
Egypt earned the highest surpluses in the international trade of live bees. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms the African country’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Experiencing Worst Trade Deficits from Live Bees
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for live bees during 2022. 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 imported live bees purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Saudi Arabia: -US$14.2 million (down -16.1% since 2021)
- Morocco: -$6.5 million (up 8.2%)
- Japan: -$4.6 million (down -13.1%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$3.3 million (down -50%)
- United Kingdom: -$2.8 million (up 23.3%)
- Canada: -$2.7 million (up 1.5%)
- France: -$2.6 million (down -9.4%)
- Russia: -$2 million (up 42%)
- Spain: -$1.9 million (down -36.6%)
- Kazakhstan: -$1.2 million (down -7.9%)
- Kuwait: -$1.1 million (down -61.5%)
- Portugal: -$633,000 (up 43.5%)
- Switzerland: -$570,000 (up 8.2%)
- Turkmenistan: -$452,000 (up 4.4%)
- Qatar: -$389,000 (down -42.8%)
Saudi Arabia incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of live bees. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Saudi Arabia’s competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for live bees-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Bee Hives Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following suppliers are examples of companies that export customized bee hives.
- Biosota Organics Pty Ltd (Australia)
- Epsilon Industries YYM LTD (Israel)
- Finex Trading Ltd (United Kingdom)
- Heze City Minghui Native Products (China)
- New Sunshine International (New Zealand)
- Salcan Mobilya (Turkey)
- South Florida Bee Supplies, LLC (United States)
- VITCO Beekeeping Supplies (India)
The home-country location for each business above appears within parentheses.
See also Natural Honey Exports by Country, Flower Bouquet Exports by Country and Top Water and Ice Exporters
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Suppliers for live bees. Accessed on October 9, 2023
Central Intelligence Agency, Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on October 9, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 9, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 9, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 9, 2023
Wikipedia, Beekeeping. Accessed on October 9, 2023