The overall value of aerospace exports declined by an average -32.1% since 2017 when aerospace shipments were valued at $330.1 billion.
Year over year, the value of aerospace exports flatlined via a 2.8% upturn from $218.2 billion during 2020.
The 5 biggest exporters of aerospace products are the United States of America, France, Germany, United Kingdom and Canada. Collectively, that powerful cohort generated over three-quarters (76.8%) of globally exported aerospace goods in 2021. Such a high percentages suggests a relatively concentrated set of international aerospace suppliers.
From a continental perspective, exporters in North America sold the highest dollar value worth of aerospace products on international markets generating 44.7% of the worldwide total. Close behind at 43.4% are suppliers in Europe while another 8.9% worth originated from Asia.
Tinier percentages were sourced from Latin America (1.4%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (1.1%), then Oceania (0.5%) led by Australia.
For research purposes, the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 88 for aircraft and spacecraft, satellites and related goods.
Aerospace Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of aerospace products during 2021.
- United States: US$89.1 billion (39.8% of exported aerospace products)
- France: $31 billion (13.8%)
- Germany: $27.6 billion (12.3%)
- United Kingdom: $13.8 billion (6.2%)
- Canada: $10.5 billion (4.7%)
- Italy: $5.2 billion (2.3%)
- Spain: $4.7 billion (2.1%)
- Singapore: $4.2 billion (1.9%)
- Ireland: $3.4 billion (1.5%)
- China: $2.7 billion (1.2%)
- Brazil: $2.6 billion (1.2%)
- Israel: $2.43 billion (1.1%)
- Netherlands: $2.36 billion (1.1%)
- Switzerland: $1.9 billion (0.8%)
- Japan: $1.6 billion (0.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 90.6% of global aerospace products exported in 2021.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing aerospace products exporters since 2020 were: Netherlands (up 39.3%), Italy (up 26.2%), Switzerland (up 16.9%) and the United States of America (up 9.6%).
Those countries that posted declines in sales of their exported aerospace products were led by: Japan (down -45.8%), Singapore (down -23.7%), Ireland (down -15.3%), Spain (down -7.2%) and Germany (down -4.3%).
Countries Generating Largest Surpluses from Aerospace Trade
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for aircraft and spacecraft during 2021. 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 aircraft exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- United States: US$63.3 billion (net export surplus up 19.7% since 2020)
- France: $19.6 billion (up 22.4%)
- Germany: $15.3 billion (up 4.5%)
- United Kingdom: $7.6 billion (up 51.8%)
- Canada: $4 billion (up 16.1%)
- Italy: $2.4 billion (up 77.4%)
- Israel: $2.2 billion (up 38.6%)
- Spain: $2 billion (down -6.7%)
- Brazil: $518.5 million (up 20.3%)
- Mexico: $426.4 million (up 3.6%)
- Austria: $399.2 million (up 208.6%)
- Finland: $332.4 million (reversing a -$218.3 million deficit in 2020)
- India: $270 million (reversing a -$257.4 million deficit)
- Namibia: $250.4 million (reversing a -$2.4 million deficit)
- Czech Republic: $239 million (down -8.8%)
The United States of America generated the highest surplus in the international trade of aerospace goods. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms the strong U.S. competitive advantage for this technology-based product category.
Countries Causing Worst Deficits from Aerospace Trade
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for aircraft during 2021. 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 aerospace import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Ireland: -US$13.5 billion (net export deficit up 16.5% since 2020)
- China: -$8.8 billion (up 25%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$5 billion (up 325.2%)
- Japan: -$4.1 billion (up 246.2%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$3.2 billion (up 42.9%)
- Taiwan: -$1.43 billion (up 15.2%)
- Turkey: -$1.42 billion (down -50.3%)
- Qatar: -$1.32 billion (up 108.2%)
- Colombia: -$1.31 billion (up 108.1%)
- Hungary: -$1.2 billion (up 36.2%)
- Panama: -$1.18 billion (up 13149.8%)
- Belgium: -$1.16 billion (up 84.1%)
- Netherlands: -$1.13 billion (up 143.7%)
- Norway: -$1.09 billion (up 37.1%)
- South Korea: -$1.08 billion (up 72.4%)
Ireland incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of aircraft and spacecraft in 2021. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Ireland’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for aeropace-supplier countries that help satisfy the powerful Irish demand.
Aircraft Exporting Companies
Below are global aerospace conglomerates that represent the largest players in the worldwide aerospace market trade. Shown within parenthesis is the country where the company is headquartered.
- Airbus (France)
- Boeing (United States)
- Finmeccanica (Italy)
- General Electric (United States)
- Lockheed Martin (United States)
- Northrop Grumman (United States)
- Raytheon (United States)
- Rolls Royce (United Kingdom)
- Safran (France)
- United Technologies (United States)
Searchable List of Aerospace Exporting Countries in 2021
The 100 key exporters in the following automated database sold 99.97% of globally aerospace products during 2021.
| Rank | Exporter | Aerospace Exports (US$) | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | United States | $89,136,499,000 | +9.6% |
| 2. | France | $30,993,417,000 | +6.7% |
| 3. | Germany | $27,637,704,000 | -4.3% |
| 4. | United Kingdom | $13,825,031,000 | +6.1% |
| 5. | Canada | $10,511,425,000 | +8.9% |
| 6. | Italy | $5,225,666,000 | +26.2% |
| 7. | Spain | $4,706,810,000 | -7.2% |
| 8. | Singapore | $4,200,850,000 | -23.7% |
| 9. | Ireland | $3,402,048,000 | -15.3% |
| 10. | China | $2,686,201,000 | +9.3% |
| 11. | Brazil | $2,609,281,000 | +8.8% |
| 12. | Israel | $2,431,910,000 | +9.5% |
| 13. | Netherlands | $2,358,873,000 | +39.3% |
| 14. | Switzerland | $1,881,755,000 | +16.9% |
| 15. | Japan | $1,636,721,000 | -45.8% |
| 16. | Turkey | $1,407,656,000 | +56.3% |
| 17. | Malaysia | $1,398,789,000 | -37.1% |
| 18. | Thailand | $1,273,247,000 | -51.1% |
| 19. | Poland | $1,226,718,000 | +36.3% |
| 20. | Australia | $1,170,156,000 | -14% |
| 21. | India | $1,135,573,000 | -6.9% |
| 22. | Austria | $1,122,442,000 | +10.3% |
| 23. | Morocco | $1,119,412,000 | +17.8% |
| 24. | South Korea | $1,077,489,000 | -31.6% |
| 25. | Belgium | $902,764,000 | +20.6% |
| 26. | Hong Kong | $735,887,000 | +0.4% |
| 27. | Finland | $577,199,000 | +61.1% |
| 28. | Mexico | $569,657,000 | -0.3% |
| 29. | Czech Republic | $524,470,000 | -0.4% |
| 30. | Sweden | $496,039,000 | +16.7% |
| 31. | Taiwan | $365,188,000 | -6.2% |
| 32. | United Arab Emirates | $361,896,000 | -81.7% |
| 33. | Denmark | $360,968,000 | +31.6% |
| 34. | Norway | $355,448,000 | +3.3% |
| 35. | Philippines | $349,063,000 | -14.3% |
| 36. | Romania | $343,540,000 | +11.4% |
| 37. | South Africa | $322,921,000 | +19.3% |
| 38. | Tunisia | $305,189,000 | -3.5% |
| 39. | Portugal | $297,717,000 | -35.8% |
| 40. | Namibia | $263,993,000 | +3316% |
| 41. | Cayman Islands | $248,427,000 | +3317% |
| 42. | Luxembourg | $209,236,000 | +99.3% |
| 43. | Hungary | $169,204,000 | +118.7% |
| 44. | Vietnam | $162,932,000 | -63.8% |
| 45. | Oman | $150,766,000 | +458.8% |
| 46. | Nigeria | $143,683,000 | -13.2% |
| 47. | Slovenia | $136,100,000 | +38.8% |
| 48. | Bangladesh | $124,590,000 | +412.6% |
| 49. | Malta | $123,435,000 | -21.2% |
| 50. | Egypt | $110,091,000 | +677.6% |
| 51. | British Virgin Islands | $99,264,000 | +93.1% |
| 52. | Bulgaria | $96,377,000 | +86% |
| 53. | Indonesia | $90,331,000 | +94.1% |
| 54. | Greece | $88,282,000 | +108.2% |
| 55. | Argentina | $70,336,000 | +33.7% |
| 56. | Ukraine | $66,749,000 | -18.5% |
| 57. | Colombia | $64,560,000 | +136% |
| 58. | Kuwait | $55,875,000 | +2793650% |
| 59. | Lithuania | $55,748,000 | +38.1% |
| 60. | Pakistan | $52,907,000 | +241% |
| 61. | Brunei Darussalam | $48,826,000 | +520.2% |
| 62. | Iceland | $39,624,000 | +326.8% |
| 63. | Sri Lanka | $29,423,000 | -62.1% |
| 64. | Slovakia | $26,927,000 | -17.4% |
| 65. | Croatia | $25,997,000 | +8.2% |
| 66. | Ecuador | $25,302,000 | +36.4% |
| 67. | Cyprus | $25,267,000 | -0.8% |
| 68. | Congo | $20,499,000 | -17.5% |
| 69. | Fiji | $20,224,000 | -28.6% |
| 70. | Latvia | $18,385,000 | -74% |
| 71. | Bhutan | $17,208,000 | +4324% |
| 72. | New Zealand | $17,112,000 | -36.3% |
| 73. | Peru | $16,730,000 | +349% |
| 74. | Cabo Verde | $15,997,000 | 0% |
| 75. | Uzbekistan | $15,787,000 | +145.6% |
| 76. | Estonia | $14,566,000 | +134.5% |
| 77. | Antigua/Barbuda | $14,323,000 | +7171% |
| 78. | Mauritius | $12,655,000 | +133.4% |
| 79. | Bahrain | $12,381,000 | -87.7% |
| 80. | Papua New Guinea | $10,245,000 | +3.9% |
| 81. | Qatar | $9,647,000 | -96.9% |
| 82. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $9,206,000 | +161.5% |
| 83. | Kenya | $7,992,000 | +265.9% |
| 84. | Serbia | $7,881,000 | -29% |
| 85. | Chile | $7,726,000 | +42.2% |
| 86. | Togo | $7,625,000 | +32.5% |
| 87. | Jordan | $7,058,000 | -89.9% |
| 88. | Bolivia | $7,044,000 | -73.8% |
| 89. | Dominican Republic | $7,009,000 | +256.9% |
| 90. | Panama | $6,561,000 | +138.5% |
| 91. | French Polynesia | $6,494,000 | -18.3% |
| 92. | Mali | $5,229,000 | +1509% |
| 93. | Cameroon | $5,130,000 | -56.8% |
| 94. | Sudan | $4,630,000 | +185.8% |
| 95. | Kazakhstan | $4,503,000 | -98.8% |
| 96. | Algeria | $4,419,000 | +52.7% |
| 97. | Paraguay | $3,802,000 | +155% |
| 98. | Libya | $3,750,000 | +3161% |
| 99. | Angola | $3,726,000 | -63.5% |
| 100. | Macao | $3,527,000 | +43988% |
The greatest percentage increases from 2020 to 2021 belong to Kuwait (up 2,793,650%), Macao (up 43,988%), Antigua and Barbuda (7,171%), Bhutan (up 4,324%), Cayman Islands (up 3,317%), Namibia (up 3,316%), Libya (up 3,161%) and Mali (up 1,509%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns above. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that no 2020 data was available.
See also United States Top 10 Exports, America’s Top Trading Partners, Top Airplanes Exports by Country and Aircraft Parts Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 4, 2022
Fire Support Aerospace and Defense Marketing, Top 100 Aerospace Companies — 2017. Accessed on July 4, 2022
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on July 4, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 4, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 4, 2022
