Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of asparagus during 2020.

1. Peru: US$377.1 million (30.2% of total asparagus exports)
2. Mexico: $372.7 million (29.8%)
3. United States: $144.4 million (11.6%)
4. Spain: $88.5 million (7.1%)
5. Netherlands: $82.7 million (6.6%)
6. Italy: $40.8 million (3.3%)
7. France: $25.8 million (2.1%)
8. Germany: $22.2 million (1.8%)
9. Belgium: $20.2 million (1.6%)
10. Greece: $20.1 million (1.6%)
11. Australia: $14.3 million (1.1%)
12. Hungary: $7.2 million (0.6%)
13. Canada: $5.7 million (0.5%)
14. Denmark: $5.5 million (0.4%)
15. United Kingdom: $4.2 million (0.3%)

The listed 15 countries shipped 98.6% of globally exported asparagus. All told, 69 countries supplied asparagus to the international marketplace in 2020.

Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of asparagus since 2019 were: Greece (up 46.8%), Denmark (up 40%), Italy (up 30.9%) and Spain (up 12.3%).

Those countries that posted declines in their international sales of asparagus were led by: Canada (down -36.4%), Australia (down -22.9%), Mexico (down -17%), United States (down -11.7%) and Germany (down -9.3%).

The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for asparagus during 2020. 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.

1. Peru: US$377.1 million (net export surplus down -4.3% since 2019)
2. Mexico: $372.7 million (down -16.6%)
3. Spain: $33.3 million (up 53.6%)
4. Italy: $25.1 million (up 110.4%)
5. Netherlands: $18.8 million (up 4.9%)
6. Greece: $18.8 million (up 53.1%)
7. Hungary: $7 million (down -4.9%)
8. Thailand: $4.1 million (down -17.7%)
9. Ecuador: $1 million (up 81.7%)
10. Australia: $627,000 (down -35.2%)
11. China: $527,000 (reversing a -$42,000 deficit)
12. Guatemala: $114,000 (reversing a -$37,000 deficit)
13. Slovakia: $75,000 (down -91.7%)
14. Honduras: $61,000 (reversing a -$2,000 deficit)
15. Madagascar: $42,000 (down -66.9%)

Overtaking Mexico in 2020, Peru earned the highest surplus in the international trade of asparagus. The product surplus confirms Peru’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.

The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for asparagus during 2020. 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.

1. United States: -US$575.4 million (net export deficit down -3.6% since 2019)
2. Canada: -$81 million (up 9.5%)
3. United Kingdom: -$69.9 million (down -0.8%)
4. Germany: -$68.4 million (down -3.1%)
5. Japan: -$57.3 million (down -5.7%)
6. Switzerland: -$53.6 million (up 9.9%)
7. France: -$31.9 million (up 5.4%)
8. Belgium: -$17.2 million (up 26.8%)
9. Sweden: -$15 million (down -4.7%)
10. Austria: -$13.8 million (down -9%)
11. Norway: -$9.9 million (up 3.4%)
12. Denmark: -$9.4 million (up 25.2%)
13. Hong Kong: -$9 million (down -7.3%)
14. Finland: -$8.6 million (up 26.1%)
15. Singapore: -$7.8 million (down -15.9%)

Incurring over half a billion dollars in red ink, the United States of America posted 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.

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)