
Overall, the value of asparagus exports increased by an average 20.5% for all exporting countries since 2015 when asparagus shipments were valued at $1.1 billion. From 2018 to 2019, the dollar value of globally exported asparagus expanded by 3.6%.
Propelled by Mexican exporters, North America exported the highest dollar worth of exported asparagus during 2019 at $632.9 million or 46.1% of the global total. In second place was Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean at 28.8% while 23.3% of international asparagus sales were sourced from Europe. Smaller percentages came from Oceania (1.4%) mostly Australia, Asia (0.5%) and Africa (0.04%).
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 070920 for fresh or chilled asparagus.
Asparagus Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of asparagus during 2019.
- Mexico: US$460.3 million (33.5% of total asparagus exports)
- Peru: $394 million (28.7%)
- United States: $163.5 million (11.9%)
- Netherlands: $95.4 million (7%)
- Spain: $80.3 million (5.9%)
- Italy: $32.1 million (2.3%)
- France: $25.8 million (1.9%)
- Germany: $24.5 million (1.8%)
- Belgium: $20 million (1.5%)
- Australia: $18.5 million (1.3%)
- Greece: $13.7 million (1%)
- Canada: $9 million (0.7%)
- Hungary: $7.8 million (0.6%)
- Thailand: $5.1 million (0.4%)
- Denmark: $3.9 million (0.3%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 98.6% of globally exported asparagus in 2019.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of asparagus since 2015 were: Denmark (up 1,237%), Canada (up 82.9%), Mexico (up 66.8%) and Belgium (up 60.1%).
Four top suppliers posted declines in their international sales of asparagus: Greece (down -27.6%), Peru (down -5.3%), Australia (down -3.8%) and Hungary (down -2.4%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for asparagus 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 asparagus and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Mexico: US$460.3 million (net export surplus up 68.1% since 2015)
- Peru: $394 million (down -5.3%)
- Spain: $22.2 million (down -26.4%)
- Netherlands: $15.1 million (down -29.6%)
- Greece: $12.2 million (down -28.4%)
- Italy: $11.5 million (up 297.1%)
- Hungary: $7.4 million (down -5.7%)
- Thailand: $4.9 million (down -0.2%)
- Australia: $968,000 (down -40.5%)
- Slovakia: $914,000 (down -55.2%)
- Ecuador: $569,000 (down -15.3%)
- Madagascar: $127,000 (no 2015 data)
- Kenya: $32,000 (reversing a -$10,000 deficit)
- Armenia: $23,000 (down -387.5%)
- North Macedonia: $11,000 (down -77.1%)
Overtaking Peru in 2017, Mexico earned the highest surplus in the international trade of asparagus for 2019. The product surplus confirms Mexico’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for asparagus 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 asparagus purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$597 million (net export deficit up 10.3% since 2015)
- Canada: -$74 million (up 0.9%)
- United Kingdom: -$70.6 million (down -5.1%)
- Germany: -$69.6 million (down -0.7%)
- Japan: -$60.8 million (up 7.7%)
- Switzerland: -$48.8 million (down -10%)
- France: -$30.2 million (up 18.6%)
- Sweden: -$15.7 million (up 2.5%)
- Austria: -$15.3 million (up 31.1%)
- Belgium: -$13.5 million (down -23.5%)
- Hong Kong: -$9.7 million (up 51%)
- Norway: -$9.6 million (down -20.6%)
- Singapore: -$9.3 million (up 31.4%)
- Taiwan: -$8.6 million (up 12.3%)
- Denmark: -$7.4 million (down -19.1%)
At well over half a billion dollars in red ink, the United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of asparagus. This negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for asparagus-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from US consumers.
Companies
Asparagus Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following companies are also examples of asparagus-trading companies. Their home-country locations are shown within parentheses.
- Alfafood GmbH (Germany)
- Beverages Development Kft (Hungary)
- Camill Alimentos (United States)
- El Corte Ingles SA (Spain)
- International Trading Company (Peru)
- Italy Food Service SRL (Italy)
- JDGC (France)
- Siam Pagoda Group Pty Ltd (Australia)
- Zima Thai Traders (Thailand)
See also Tomatoes Exports by Country, Potatoes Exports by Country, Corn Exports by Country, Top Cucumbers Exporting Countries, Top Lettuce Exports by Country and Top Fresh Spinach Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier information for asparagus. Accessed on June 5, 2020
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on June 5, 2020
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 5, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 5, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 5, 2020
Wikipedia, Asparagus. Accessed on June 5, 2020