An ever-expanding myriad of flavors are quenching the thirst of soft drink enthusiasts around the globe. Consumers continue to indulge in tastes ranging from bubble gum and plum to curry and teriyaki carbonated drinks.
Within the overall soft drinks’ category, global export revenues from carbonated soft drinks were worth $10.2 billion for 2019. That dollar amount represents a 30% increase since 2015 but a -0.6% drop from 2018 to 2019.
From a continental perspective, suppliers located in European countries generated the highest international sales for all types of soft drinks during 2019 with shipments valued at $14.9 billion or 67.4% of the worldwide total. In second place were exporters in Asia at 18.8% while 9.4% of globally exported soft drinks originated from North America. Smaller percentages came from Latin America (2.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (1.4%) and Oceania (0.7%) mainly New Zealand and Australia.
For research purposes, the four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 2202 for soft drinks.
Top Soft Drinks Exporters by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of soft drinks during 2019.
- Austria: US$3.3 billion (14.8% of exported soft drinks)
- Germany: $1.92 billion (8.7%)
- Netherlands: $1.9 billion (8.6%)
- Switzerland: $1.87 billion (8.5%)
- Thailand: $1.6 billion (7.2%)
- United States: $1.3 billion (5.8%)
- Belgium: $893 million (4%)
- France: $770.6 million (3.5%)
- Italy: $611.9 million (2.8%)
- United Kingdom: $590.2 million (2.7%)
- South Korea: $495.8 million (2.2%)
- Mexico: $495.3 million (2.2%)
- Denmark: $432.1 million (2%)
- Spain: $407.4 million (1.8%)
- Poland: $332.4 million (1.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 76.4% of global soft drinks exported in 2019.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing soft drinks exporters since 2015 were: Netherlands (up 72.2%), Mexico (up 70.6%), Thailand (up 61.6%) and Italy (up 44.7%).
Four countries posted declines in their sales of exported soft drinks: Poland (down -9.5%), United States (down -6%), Switzerland (down -1.2%) and France (down -1%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for soft drinks 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 exported soft drinks and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Austria: US$2.4 billion (net export surplus, up 45.6% since 2015)
- Switzerland: $1.6 billion (down -3.7%)
- Thailand: $1.6 billion (up 59.7%)
- Netherlands: $1.1 billion (up 95%)
- Germany: $593.7 million (down -6.3%)
- South Korea: $402.2 million (up 42.2%)
- Italy: $344 million (up 100%)
- Mexico: $338.5 million (up 289.7%)
- Denmark: $299.3 million (up 33.8%)
- Malaysia: $223.4 million (down -4%)
- Poland: $215.7 million (down -18.7%)
- Taiwan: $140.8 million (up 12.8%)
- Turkey: $92.5 million (up 24.3%)
- Serbia: $85.5 million (up 55.5%)
- El Salvador: $85.5 million (up 74.1%)
Austria generated the highest surplus in the international trade of soft drinks. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Austria’s competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for soft drinks 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 imported soft drinks purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: US-$2.2 billion (net export deficit up 46.6% since 2015)
- Cambodia: -$599.3 million (up 667.2%)
- United Kingdom: -$592.1 million (up 9.1%)
- Canada: -$546.9 million (down -27.5%)
- Vietnam: -$507.2 million (reversing a $14.5 million surplus)
- China: -$465 million (up 198.8%)
- Myanmar (Burma): -$241.9 million (up 472.5%)
- Australia: -$193.4 million (up 8%)
- Norway: -$191.7 million (up 41%)
- Singapore: -$188.3 million (up 95.1%)
- Ireland: -$172.9 million (up 35.1%)
- Slovakia: -$137.3 million (up 78.6%)
- Hong Kong: -$132 million (down -8.4%)
- Sweden: -$123.5 million (down -9.4%)
- Chile: -$112.3 million (up 113.2%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of soft drinks. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for soft drinks suppliers that help satisfy the powerful demand among Canadian consumers.
Companies
Soft Drinks Exporting Companies
Below are global producers that represent established players that dominate the international soft drinks trade. The country that is home to each conglomerate’s headquarters is shown within parenthesis.
- Asahi Soft Drinks (Japan)
- Britvic plc (United Kingdom)
- Cott (Canada)
- Dr Pepper Snapple Group (United States)
- Drinko (Lebanon)
- Faygo Beverages, Inc (United States)
- Fraser and Neave, Limited (Singapore)
- Hamoud Boualem (Algeria)
- Jones Soda (United States)
- PepsiCo Inc (United States)
- Perrier (France)
- Sumal + Compal SA (Portugal)
- The Coca-Cola Company (United States)
- Vitasoy (Hong Kong)
Searchable List of Soft Drinks Exporting Countries in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2018 data was unavailable.
| Rank | Exporter | Exported Soft Drinks (US$) | 2018-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Austria | $3,271,429,000 | +4.5% |
| 2. | Germany | $1,920,643,000 | -4.6% |
| 3. | Netherlands | $1,903,752,000 | -0.8% |
| 4. | Switzerland | $1,870,459,000 | +3% |
| 5. | Thailand | $1,587,247,000 | +9.5% |
| 6. | United States | $1,277,110,000 | +3.4% |
| 7. | Belgium | $892,996,000 | -2.9% |
| 8. | France | $770,617,000 | -8.1% |
| 9. | Italy | $611,919,000 | +6.7% |
| 10. | United Kingdom | $590,192,000 | -2.2% |
| 11. | South Korea | $495,764,000 | +5.6% |
| 12. | Mexico | $495,300,000 | +10.4% |
| 13. | Denmark | $432,077,000 | +0.1% |
| 14. | Spain | $407,418,000 | +10.3% |
| 15. | Poland | $332,436,000 | -37.7% |
| 16. | Malaysia | $305,602,000 | +3.4% |
| 17. | Canada | $295,440,000 | +21.7% |
| 18. | Japan | $278,864,000 | +9.3% |
| 19. | Czech Republic | $231,978,000 | +1.8% |
| 20. | China | $221,114,000 | +4.5% |
| 21. | Hungary | $216,463,000 | -5.4% |
| 22. | Taiwan | $190,375,000 | +2.4% |
| 23. | Russia | $189,276,000 | +26.2% |
| 24. | Sweden | $184,769,000 | +29.6% |
| 25. | Turkey | $183,959,000 | -4.4% |
| 26. | South Africa | $170,238,000 | +11.2% |
| 27. | Hong Kong | $164,616,000 | +3.1% |
| 28. | El Salvador | $150,358,000 | +11.4% |
| 29. | Saudi Arabia | $143,602,000 | +11.3% |
| 30. | Serbia | $133,019,000 | +13.7% |
| 31. | Guatemala | $129,528,000 | -0.4% |
| 32. | Ireland | $119,307,000 | +25.4% |
| 33. | Portugal | $118,576,000 | +15% |
| 34. | Romania | $101,656,000 | +13.3% |
| 35. | New Zealand | $98,022,000 | +23% |
| 36. | Vietnam | $95,621,000 | -35.9% |
| 37. | Bulgaria | $86,872,000 | +145.8% |
| 38. | Croatia | $67,276,000 | +8.2% |
| 39. | Slovenia | $66,481,000 | +27.7% |
| 40. | Philippines | $66,205,000 | -30.6% |
| 41. | Singapore | $64,037,000 | +8.6% |
| 42. | Zambia | $63,004,000 | -3.8% |
| 43. | Australia | $57,843,000 | +19.9% |
| 44. | Greece | $45,656,000 | +10.7% |
| 45. | Nepal | $41,571,000 | -4.8% |
| 46. | Kazakhstan | $41,450,000 | -1.3% |
| 47. | Slovakia | $40,783,000 | +21.4% |
| 48. | Costa Rica | $40,412,000 | -1.1% |
| 49. | Kuwait | $40,012,000 | +26.6% |
| 50. | United Arab Emirates | $38,880,000 | -80.8% |
| 51. | Luxembourg | $37,656,000 | +4.9% |
| 52. | Indonesia | $37,245,000 | -60.8% |
| 53. | Ukraine | $30,935,000 | -33.6% |
| 54. | Latvia | $29,133,000 | +13.3% |
| 55. | Lithuania | $28,275,000 | +3.2% |
| 56. | Bangladesh | $27,612,000 | +16.1% |
| 57. | Georgia | $27,484,000 | -1.5% |
| 58. | Nicaragua | $26,851,000 | +70.4% |
| 59. | North Macedonia | $26,644,000 | +137.8% |
| 60. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $26,300,000 | -13.3% |
| 61. | Argentina | $26,066,000 | -19.4% |
| 62. | India | $25,139,000 | +30.1% |
| 63. | Belarus | $24,383,000 | -45.3% |
| 64. | Peru | $21,901,000 | +22.4% |
| 65. | Colombia | $18,893,000 | +13.6% |
| 66. | Trinidad/Tobago | $17,992,000 | -62.1% |
| 67. | Finland | $17,917,000 | -1% |
| 68. | Norway | $17,671,000 | +17.9% |
| 69. | Brazil | $17,243,000 | +29.4% |
| 70. | Sri Lanka | $16,120,000 | -48% |
| 71. | Dominican Republic | $15,440,000 | -36.9% |
| 72. | Honduras | $14,367,000 | +38.9% |
| 73. | Morocco | $14,060,000 | +4.3% |
| 74. | Jamaica | $12,420,000 | -11.6% |
| 75. | Lebanon | $10,644,000 | -47.9% |
| 76. | Cyprus | $10,609,000 | +17.9% |
| 77. | Egypt | $10,248,000 | -54.1% |
| 78. | Estonia | $9,989,000 | +1.8% |
| 79. | Israel | $9,105,000 | +96.7% |
| 80. | Laos | $8,936,000 | -96.4% |
| 81. | Nigeria | $8,059,000 | -47.1% |
| 82. | Senegal | $6,499,000 | +80.1% |
| 83. | Pakistan | $6,266,000 | +129.3% |
| 84. | Tunisia | $5,877,000 | -6.9% |
| 85. | Namibia | $4,551,000 | +117.5% |
| 86. | Bahrain | $4,550,000 | -29.8% |
| 87. | Zimbabwe | $3,832,000 | +53.3% |
| 88. | Algeria | $3,422,000 | -54.1% |
| 89. | Bhutan | $3,353,000 | -10% |
| 90. | Armenia | $3,055,000 | +17% |
| 91. | Moldova | $3,005,000 | -26.9% |
| 92. | Eswatini | $2,846,000 | +123% |
| 93. | Kyrgyzstan | $2,714,000 | -5.3% |
| 94. | Togo | $2,435,000 | -41.1% |
| 95. | Uzbekistan | $2,417,000 | -16.5% |
| 96. | Malta | $2,350,000 | -54.1% |
| 97. | Chile | $2,160,000 | -41.5% |
| 98. | Ecuador | $2,013,000 | +8.4% |
| 99. | Albania | $1,894,000 | +238.8% |
| 100. | Mauritius | $1,735,000 | -19.5% |
| 101. | Macao | $1,651,000 | 0% |
| 102. | Tajikistan | $1,423,000 | +145.3% |
| 103. | St Vincent/Grenadines | $1,419,000 | -31.4% |
| 104. | Cameroon | $1,354,000 | -2.9% |
| 105. | Vanuatu | $1,296,000 | 0% |
| 106. | Mozambique | $1,198,000 | -55.4% |
| 107. | Ghana | $1,167,000 | -90.7% |
| 108. | Venezuela | $1,116,000 | +58.7% |
| 109. | Iran | $1,052,000 | -94.6% |
| 110. | Jordan | $1,020,000 | -90.5% |
| 111. | Saint Lucia | $997,000 | -4.2% |
| 112. | Uruguay | $980,000 | +14% |
| 113. | Aruba | $865,000 | +22.2% |
| 114. | Syria | $795,000 | +141.6% |
| 115. | Curaçao | $773,000 | +48.4% |
| 116. | Tanzania | $611,000 | -92.8% |
| 117. | Haiti | $610,000 | +47% |
| 118. | Guyana | $591,000 | -5% |
| 119. | Panama | $549,000 | -66% |
| 120. | Barbados | $529,000 | -50% |
| 121. | St Kitts/Nevis | $483,000 | -26.3% |
| 122. | Kenya | $428,000 | -94.4% |
| 123. | Azerbaijan | $399,000 | +47.2% |
| 124. | Burkina Faso | $313,000 | -65.7% |
| 125. | Fiji | $293,000 | -93.1% |
| 126. | Iraq | $283,000 | +229.1% |
| 127. | Myanmar (Burma) | $213,000 | -68.5% |
| 128. | Benin | $158,000 | +81.6% |
| 129. | Mali | $133,000 | +232.5% |
| 130. | Madagascar | $131,000 | +24.8% |
| 131. | Iceland | $114,000 | -75.7% |
| 132. | British Virgin Is | $114,000 | +5.6% |
| 133. | Qatar | $95,000 | -81.7% |
| 134. | Ivory Coast | $93,000 | -98.5% |
| 135. | Belize | $78,000 | 0% |
| 136. | Dominica | $73,000 | +10.6% |
| 137. | French S./Antarctic Terr | $62,000 | 0% |
| 138. | Oman | $59,000 | -99.1% |
| 139. | Montenegro | $58,000 | +544.4% |
| 140. | Botswana | $57,000 | -13.6% |
| 141. | Papua New Guinea | $53,000 | -96.1% |
| 142. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $52,000 | -52.7% |
| 143. | Saint Helena | $47,000 | 0% |
| 144. | Suriname | $45,000 | -75.3% |
| 145. | Angola | $37,000 | -99.7% |
| 146. | Yemen | $33,000 | -36.5% |
| 147. | Libya | $32,000 | +300% |
| 148. | Bolivia | $31,000 | 0% |
| 149. | Afghanistan | $27,000 | -87.3% |
| 150. | Niger | $24,000 | +9.1% |
| 151. | Mongolia | $21,000 | +50% |
| 152. | Cambodia | $19,000 | -86% |
| 153. | Paraguay | $15,000 | +50% |
| 154. | Andorra | $14,000 | +1,300% |
| 155. | Faroe Islands | $10,000 | +400% |
| 156. | Turkmenistan | $10,000 | -50% |
| 157. | Malawi | $9,000 | -40% |
| 158. | Guinea | $8,000 | -97% |
| 159. | Bermuda | $8,000 | -20% |
| 160. | US Minor Outlying Is | $8,000 | -89.6% |
| 161. | Lesotho | $7,000 | +40% |
| 162. | Rwanda | $5,000 | -99.9% |
| 163. | Bahamas | $4,000 | -99.3% |
| 164. | Congo | $4,000 | 0% |
| 165. | French Polynesia | $3,000 | -76.9% |
| 166. | North Korea | $3,000 | -98.4% |
| 167. | Samoa | $3,000 | -94.7% |
| 168. | Uganda | $2,000 | -100% |
| 169. | Sudan | $2,000 | -87.5% |
| 170. | New Caledonia | $2,000 | -50% |
| 171. | Gambia | $2,000 | +100.0% |
| 172. | Ethiopia | $2,000 | -95% |
| 173. | Palestine | $1,000 | -100% |
| 174. | Comoros | $1,000 | -83.3% |
| 175. | Antigua/Barbuda | $1,000 | -75% |
See also Coffee Exports by Country, Tea Imports by Country and Sugar Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 22, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 22, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 22, 2020
Wikipedia, List of soft drink producers. Accessed on May 22, 2020