The overall cost of imported wheat for all buying countries fell by an average -7.1% since 2015 when wheat purchases equaled $42.4 billion. Year over year, the global bill for imported wheat decreased by -9.5% from 2018 to 2019.
Among continents, Asian countries accounted for the highest dollar worth of overall wheat imports during 2019 with purchases valued at $16 billion or 40.6% of the global total. In second place were African importers at 22.2% while 20.9% of worldwide wheat imports was delivered to Europe. Smaller percentages arrived in Latin America (10.4%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, and North America (3.6%). Another 2.4% of global wheat imports was bought by clients in Oceania led by New Zealand and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 1001 for wheat and meslin.
Wheat Imports by Country
Top 15
Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of wheat during 2019.
- Turkey: US$2.3 billion (5.8% of total imported wheat)
- Egypt: $2 billion (5.1%)
- Italy: $1.9 billion (4.8%)
- Philippines: $1.7 billion (4.4%)
- Indonesia: $1.6 billion (4.2%)
- Brazil: $1.49 billion (3.8%)
- Japan: $1.47 billion (3.7%)
- Algeria: $1.46 billion (3.7%)
- Nigeria: $1.3 billion (3.2%)
- Netherlands: $1.2 billion (3%)
- Spain: $1.1 billion (2.8%)
- South Korea: $989.8 million (2.5%)
- Bangladesh: $979.9 million (2.5%)
- Morocco: $960.4 million (2.4%)
- Mexico: $929.8 million (2.4%)
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for wheat since 2015 were: Turkey (up 105.4%), Philippines (up 74.7%), Brazil (up 22.6%) and Morocco (up 9.5%).
Those countries that posted declines in their imported wheat purchases were led by: Algeria (down -39.3%), Indonesia (down -21.1%), Egypt (down -20.7%) and Japan (down -10.8%).
The listed 15 countries purchased 54.1% of all wheat imported in 2019.
Turkey
Wheat Imports into Turkey
Below are the 15 suppliers from which Turkey imported the highest dollar value worth of wheat during 2019. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country since 2015.
- Russia: US$1.5 billion (up 115.8% from 2015)
- Ukraine: $224.3 million (up 309.7%)
- Canada: $198 million (up 314.5%)
- Mexico: $106 million (up 90.1%)
- Lithuania: $66.4 million (up 7.2%)
- Kazakhstan: $48.7 million (up 445.9%)
- Latvia: $45.9 million (up 599.9%)
- Bulgaria: $20.3 million (down -28%)
- Greece: $14.5 million (up 632.2%)
- Estonia: $14.3 million (no 2015 data)
- Moldova: $6.2 million (down -21.8%)
- France: $6.2 million (down -72.8%)
- Poland: $5.8 million (no 2015 data)
- Spain: $5.5 million (down -55.1%)
- Hungary: $4.3 million (down -9.7%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 99.8% of wheat imported by Turkey in 2019.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of wheat to Turkey since 2015 were: Greece (up 632.2%), Latvia (up 599.9%), Kazakhstan (up 445.9%) and Canada (up 314.5%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their wheat supplied to Turkish importers included: France (down -72.8%), Spain (down -55.1%), Bulgaria (down -28.0%) and Moldova (down -21.8%).
Overall, the value of Turkey’s imported wheat rose by an average 105.4% from all supplying countries since 2015 when wheat purchased cost $1.1 billion.
Egypt
Wheat Imports into Egypt
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Egypt imported the highest dollar value worth of wheat during 2018. (Only estimates were available on article publication date.) Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country since 2015.
- Russia: US$1.9 billion (up 70% from 2014)
- Ukraine: $337.4 million (down -53.7%)
- Romania: $232.9 million (down -54.6%)
- Australia: $55.7 million (up 4.4%)
- Poland: $29.2 million (up 14.1%)
- Belarus: $14.3 million (down -6.1%)
- Bulgaria: $12.2 million (down -48.8%)
- Lithuania: $8 million (down -86.6%)
- Canada: $7.4 million (down -34%)
- France: $14,000 (down -100%)
- Nigeria: $1.4 billion (down -95.8%)
- Chad: $1.3 billion (down -58.6%)
- Indonesia: $799.3 million (up 7.2%)
- Russia: $785.7 million (down -91.1%)
- Argentina: $460.1 million (down -58.8%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 100% of all Egyptian wheat imports in 2018.
Overall, the value of Egyptian wheat imports decreased by an average -14% from all supplying countries since 2014 when wheat purchases were valued at $3.1 billion.
Italy
Wheat Imports into Italy
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Italy imported the highest dollar value worth of wheat during 2019. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country since 2015.
- France: US$350.8 million (up 39.5% from 2015)
- Canada: $275.1 million (down -43.1%)
- Hungary: $256.8 million (up 79.5%)
- United States: $216.7 million (down -23.9%)
- Austria: $143 million (down -13.4%)
- Germany: $95.6 million (down -3.9%)
- Romania: $72.2 million (up 68%)
- Ukraine: $50 million (down -59.6%)
- Spain: $48.2 million (up 233.2%)
- Moldova: $47 million (up 258.6%)
- Greece: $46.8 million (down -12.6%)
- Bulgaria: $45.3 million (down -45.3%)
- Kazakhstan: $41.2 million (up 65%)
- Croatia: $30.6 million (up 82.2%)
- Slovakia: $24.5 million (down -29.5%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 92.4% of all Italian wheat imports in 2019.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of wheat to Italy since 2015 were: Kazakhstan (up 5,031%), Moldova (up 559.1%), Croatia (up 405.6%) and Slovenia (up 238.8%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their wheat supplied to Italian importers included: Canada (down -81.1%), Greece (down -59.5%), Germany (down -55.1%) and Austria (down -39.7%).
Overall, the value of Italian wheat imports retreated by an average -23.7% from all supplying countries since 2015 when wheat purchases were valued at $2.4 billion.
Philippines
Wheat Imports into the Philippines
Below are the top 11 suppliers from which the Philippines imported the highest dollar value worth of wheat during 2019. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country since 2015.
- United States: US$744.5 million (up 38.8% from 2015)
- Australia: $453.1 million (up 237.2%)
- Ukraine: $268.8 million (up 104%)
- Bulgaria: $69.2 million (no 2015 data)
- Russia: $65.3 million (no 2015 data)
- Brazil: $57.9 million (down -3%)
- Romania: $41.1 million (up 10633.4%)
- Argentina: $13.8 million (no 2015 data)
- Canada: $2.2 million (down -97.5%)
- Moldova: $122,000 (down -81.9%)
- Malaysia: $105,000 (no 2015 data)
The listed 15 countries shipped 100% of wheat imported by the Philippines in 2019.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of wheat to Philippines since 2015 were: Romania (up 10,633%), Australia (up 237.2%), Ukraine (up 104%) and United States (up 38.8%).
Overall, the value of Philippines’s imported wheat accelerated by an average 74.7% from all supplying countries since 2015 when wheat purchased cost $982.1 million.
Searchable List of Wheat Importing Countries in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means no 2018 data is available.
| Rank | Importer | Wheat Imports (US$) | 2018-19 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Turkey | $2,266,301,000 | +75.8% |
| 2. | Egypt | $2,010,190,000 | -23.8% |
| 3. | Italy | $1,878,188,000 | +3% |
| 4. | Philippines | $1,716,189,000 | +2% |
| 5. | Indonesia | $1,643,051,000 | -36.1% |
| 6. | Brazil | $1,491,082,000 | -0.8% |
| 7. | Japan | $1,473,495,000 | -10.2% |
| 8. | Algeria | $1,456,340,000 | -21.9% |
| 9. | Nigeria | $1,266,832,000 | +9.9% |
| 10. | Netherlands | $1,168,642,000 | -1.7% |
| 11. | Spain | $1,108,931,000 | -17.3% |
| 12. | South Korea | $989,818,000 | -1.2% |
| 13. | Bangladesh | $979,863,000 | -1.7% |
| 14. | Morocco | $960,377,000 | -1.2% |
| 15. | Mexico | $929,814,000 | -20.5% |
| 16. | China | $901,034,000 | +15.4% |
| 17. | Belgium | $869,551,000 | -4.9% |
| 18. | Thailand | $797,325,000 | +12.1% |
| 19. | Germany | $723,535,000 | -15.6% |
| 20. | Vietnam | $613,227,000 | -47.9% |
| 21. | Yemen | $566,474,000 | -10.8% |
| 22. | Peru | $512,570,000 | -4.7% |
| 23. | Sudan | $459,932,000 | -7% |
| 24. | United States | $432,372,000 | -45.9% |
| 25. | Colombia | $429,456,000 | -0.5% |
| 26. | South Africa | $394,593,000 | -2.9% |
| 27. | Malaysia | $383,868,000 | -3.2% |
| 28. | Kenya | $376,377,000 | -11.1% |
| 29. | Uzbekistan | $374,495,000 | +36.2% |
| 30. | Taiwan | $367,108,000 | +1.9% |
| 31. | Israel | $364,477,000 | -9% |
| 32. | Azerbaijan | $340,533,000 | +65.3% |
| 33. | United Kingdom | $319,069,000 | -47.4% |
| 34. | Ecuador | $315,481,000 | +5.1% |
| 35. | Portugal | $298,949,000 | -1.3% |
| 36. | United Arab Emirates | $292,671,000 | -14.4% |
| 37. | Chile | $288,581,000 | -4.1% |
| 38. | Greece | $237,894,000 | -5.2% |
| 39. | Tajikistan | $222,775,000 | +29% |
| 40. | Tunisia | $206,941,000 | -46.6% |
| 41. | Mozambique | $198,379,000 | +2% |
| 42. | Austria | $195,554,000 | +1.7% |
| 43. | Sri Lanka | $190,178,000 | -30.1% |
| 44. | Senegal | $184,639,000 | +16.8% |
| 45. | Cuba | $181,060,000 | +12.7% |
| 46. | Romania | $180,417,000 | +27.2% |
| 47. | Tanzania | $174,541,000 | +1,802% |
| 48. | Ghana | $170,319,000 | -4.7% |
| 49. | Cameroon | $166,621,000 | +10.2% |
| 50. | Guatemala | $164,625,000 | +12.9% |
| 51. | Lebanon | $159,932,000 | +22.4% |
| 52. | Ivory Coast | $151,470,000 | -14.8% |
| 53. | Ethiopia | $150,728,000 | -9.1% |
| 54. | Kuwait | $146,321,000 | +30.6% |
| 55. | Oman | $139,702,000 | -11.1% |
| 56. | Iraq | $137,497,000 | -71.5% |
| 57. | Libya | $134,675,000 | -54.5% |
| 58. | Dominican Republic | $134,455,000 | +0.5% |
| 59. | Jordan | $132,076,000 | -49.7% |
| 60. | New Zealand | $123,962,000 | -22.1% |
| 61. | Saudi Arabia | $123,464,000 | -44.6% |
| 62. | Australia | $117,150,000 | +14,014% |
| 63. | Switzerland | $116,358,000 | -14% |
| 64. | Poland | $115,455,000 | -12.3% |
| 65. | Georgia | $105,087,000 | -29.9% |
| 66. | Norway | $102,833,000 | -8.6% |
| 67. | Angola | $98,399,000 | +3.2% |
| 68. | Latvia | $94,355,000 | -35.4% |
| 69. | Myanmar (Burma) | $93,359,000 | -10.7% |
| 70. | France | $90,783,000 | -15.5% |
| 71. | Uganda | $88,068,000 | -42.8% |
| 72. | Venezuela | $86,509,000 | -69% |
| 73. | El Salvador | $85,237,000 | +3.5% |
| 74. | Guinea | $82,262,000 | +0.4% |
| 75. | Mauritania | $76,505,000 | -54.4% |
| 76. | Costa Rica | $70,542,000 | +2.5% |
| 77. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $69,292,000 | -0.5% |
| 78. | Sweden | $69,046,000 | +2.4% |
| 79. | Honduras | $68,658,000 | -14.7% |
| 80. | Mali | $65,100,000 | +22.2% |
| 81. | Ireland | $62,821,000 | -38.3% |
| 82. | Papua New Guinea | $62,255,000 | +14.3% |
| 83. | Denmark | $59,233,000 | -34.3% |
| 84. | Singapore | $57,057,000 | -5.7% |
| 85. | Afghanistan | $56,971,000 | -59.7% |
| 86. | Belarus | $55,351,000 | +7.1% |
| 87. | Kazakhstan | $52,047,000 | +449.4% |
| 88. | Zimbabwe | $51,617,000 | -52.2% |
| 89. | Jamaica | $50,446,000 | +19.4% |
| 90. | Armenia | $50,039,000 | -20.4% |
| 91. | Haiti | $50,035,000 | +1% |
| 92. | Democratic Rep. Congo | $48,553,000 | +21.7% |
| 93. | Turkmenistan | $48,090,000 | +9.8% |
| 94. | Slovenia | $47,263,000 | -37.2% |
| 95. | Russia | $46,768,000 | -22.7% |
| 96. | Syria | $45,483,000 | +431.5% |
| 97. | Albania | $45,272,000 | -4.2% |
| 98. | Mauritius | $45,069,000 | +39.3% |
| 99. | Nepal | $43,111,000 | +58.6% |
| 100. | Canada | $42,399,000 | +50.8% |
| 101 | Fiji | $42,188,000 | -7.1% |
| 102 | Congo | $42,115,000 | +9.4% |
| 103 | Burkina Faso | $39,831,000 | -10.6% |
| 104 | Panama | $38,168,000 | +4.5% |
| 105 | Namibia | $35,465,000 | +8.6% |
| 106 | Luxembourg | $35,093,000 | -1.7% |
| 107 | Bahrain | $34,330,000 | -9.5% |
| 108 | Lithuania | $33,507,000 | +94.4% |
| 109 | Malawi | $32,441,000 | -37.4% |
| 110 | Qatar | $28,855,000 | -56.1% |
| 111 | Croatia | $28,414,000 | -15.6% |
| 112 | Iran | $27,963,000 | +10,953% |
| 113 | Djibouti | $27,599,000 | -33% |
| 114 | Trinidad/Tobago | $27,317,000 | -20% |
| 115 | Kyrgyzstan | $26,787,000 | +30.6% |
| 116 | Nicaragua | $26,570,000 | -27% |
| 117 | Rwanda | $25,344,000 | -59.3% |
| 118 | North Macedonia | $23,448,000 | +22.5% |
| 119 | Hungary | $23,252,000 | -27.9% |
| 120 | Gabon | $21,850,000 | -10.1% |
| 121 | Togo | $19,565,000 | +8.7% |
| 122 | Gambia | $16,848,000 | +197.3% |
| 123 | Cyprus | $15,966,000 | -39.8% |
| 124 | Madagascar | $15,131,000 | +68,677% |
| 125 | Bulgaria | $14,711,000 | +0.9% |
| 126 | Eswatini | $14,405,000 | -0.1% |
| 127 | Burundi | $13,422,000 | -34.6% |
| 128 | Bolivia | $11,322,000 | -23% |
| 129 | Czech Republic | $11,262,000 | -2.7% |
| 130 | Zambia | $10,538,000 | +3.5% |
| 131 | Ukraine | $9,495,000 | +238.4% |
| 132 | Iceland | $9,469,000 | -14% |
| 133 | Botswana | $8,874,000 | -69.2% |
| 134 | Benin | $8,162,000 | +132.7% |
| 135 | Liberia | $7,887,000 | -15.1% |
| 136 | Guyana | $7,787,000 | -47.4% |
| 137 | Slovakia | $6,719,000 | +4% |
| 138 | St Vincent/Grenadines | $6,515,000 | -15.9% |
| 139 | Marshall Islands | $6,407,000 | 0% |
| 140 | Lesotho | $5,956,000 | +75.7% |
| 141 | Belize | $5,794,000 | -6.7% |
| 142 | Barbados | $5,771,000 | +21.5% |
| 143 | Solomon Islands | $5,710,000 | -3.6% |
| 144 | New Caledonia | $5,387,000 | -28.7% |
| 145 | Malta | $5,162,000 | -19.9% |
| 146 | Finland | $4,383,000 | -68.3% |
| 147 | North Korea | $4,352,000 | +289.6% |
| 148 | Suriname | $3,773,000 | 0% |
| 149 | Niger | $3,508,000 | +15,152% |
| 150 | Estonia | $3,363,000 | -30.8% |
| 151 | Cabo Verde | $3,123,000 | -18.6% |
| 152 | Mongolia | $2,901,000 | -93.5% |
| 153 | Grenada | $2,769,000 | -25% |
| 154 | Faroe Islands | $2,482,000 | -11.8% |
| 155 | Hong Kong | $2,004,000 | +5.9% |
| 156 | Montenegro | $1,972,000 | -42.6% |
| 157 | Somalia | $1,972,000 | -80.1% |
| 158 | Saint Lucia | $1,899,000 | +45.5% |
| 159 | Laos | $1,423,000 | +2,487% |
| 160 | Comoros | $1,179,000 | 0% |
| 161 | Serbia | $659,000 | -23.5% |
| 162 | India | $586,000 | -96.8% |
| 163 | Uruguay | $419,000 | +40.1% |
| 164 | Cambodia | $387,000 | -95.9% |
| 165 | Moldova | $352,000 | -60.4% |
| 166 | Paraguay | $176,000 | +83.3% |
| 167 | French Polynesia | $167,000 | +65.3% |
| 168 | Aruba | $151,000 | -39.8% |
| 169 | Seychelles | $92,000 | -60.5% |
| 170 | Argentina | $56,000 | +14.3% |
| 171 | British Virgin Islands | $35,000 | +1,067% |
| 172 | Andorra | $15,000 | -11.8% |
| 173 | Curaçao | $12,000 | +50% |
| 174 | Brunei Darussalam | $11,000 | -45% |
| 175 | Bermuda | $8,000 | +14.3% |
| 176 | Sierra Leone | $8,000 | -33.3% |
| 177 | Macao | $6,000 | 0% |
| 178 | Maldives | $1,000 | -96.4% |
| 179 | Antigua/Barbuda | $1,000 | 0% |
| 180 | Gibraltar | $1,000 | 0% |
| 181 | Greenland | $1,000 | 0% |
| 182 | Equatorial Guinea | $1,000 | -75% |
| 183 | Samoa | $1,000 | 0% |
See also Wheat Exports by Country and Italy’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Imports – Commodities. Accessed on May 2, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 2, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 2, 2020