The world’s top 6 exporters of rice by total weight are India, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, United States of America, and mainland China. Combined, those leading suppliers by volume sold 44.8 million tons of rice during 2022 or about four-fifths (80.3%) of global shipments by weight.
One of the issues that this analysis focuses on is whether higher volumes of rice exports correspond with lower average unit prices due to economies of scale.
Top Rice Export Countries by Shipment Weight
The top 50 exporters of rice as measured by tonnage are listed below. Based on that weight metric, these key suppliers of rice on international markets accounted for 99.8% of the world’s rice exports in 2022.
Rice Exporter | Tons | 2021-2 | 2018-22 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | India | 22,236,585 | +4.5% | +90.6% |
2 | Thailand | 7,695,325 | +26.7% | -30.5% |
3 | Sri Lanka | 5,554,156 | +80559% | 0% |
4 | Pakistan | 4,603,982 | +15.5% | +17.1% |
5 | United States | 2,480,836 | -26.6% | -22.2% |
6 | China | 2,214,594 | -9.5% | +6% |
7 | Myanmar | 2,155,815 | +27.9% | +23.8% |
8 | Brazil | 1,743,892 | +104.1% | +19.4% |
9 | Uruguay | 1,103,001 | +44.9% | +29.7% |
10 | Paraguay | 824,177 | +163427% | +16.6% |
11 | Italy | 730,387 | +1.9% | +1.4% |
12 | Cambodia | 641,735 | +0.9% | +12% |
13 | Belgium | 636,763 | +42.5% | +102% |
14 | Guyana | 377,241 | -16.2% | +194.6% |
15 | Argentina | 315,986 | -19.3% | -10.5% |
16 | Spain | 269,167 | -7.4% | -4.9% |
17 | Türkiye | 226,685 | -6.1% | +431.2% |
18 | Australia | 214,525 | +151.1% | -19.7% |
19 | South Africa | 146,819 | +20.3% | +28.4% |
20 | Bulgaria | 144,091 | +66.6% | +123% |
21 | Taiwan | 140,592 | -27.3% | +145% |
22 | Greece | 121,483 | -12.8% | -0.5% |
23 | Malaysia | 114,021 | +17.9% | +479.7% |
24 | Kazakhstan | 108,492 | -12% | +13.7% |
25 | Portugal | 106,272 | +9.9% | +15.9% |
26 | Senegal | 92,028 | -4.5% | -18.8% |
27 | France | 55,030 | +18% | +3.7% |
28 | South Korea | 54,492 | +3.9% | -15.1% |
29 | Poland | 53,080 | +38.1% | +58.3% |
30 | Laos | 51,639 | -41.1% | +12.6% |
31 | Ecuador | 45,718 | +109.3% | +44.9% |
32 | Russia | 45,015 | -65.9% | -70% |
33 | Germany | 44,240 | -12.2% | -62.5% |
34 | Suriname | 42,854 | -36.6% | +69.8% |
35 | Romania | 37,681 | +80.5% | +98.6% |
36 | United Kingdom | 33,130 | +21.4% | -37% |
37 | Ivory Coast | 31,334 | +13.4% | +175.6% |
38 | Japan | 30,588 | -29.1% | -32.9% |
39 | Czech Republic | 25,878 | +12% | -1.8% |
40 | Lebanon | 22,123 | -31.5% | +426.5% |
41 | Costa Rica | 21,159 | +8.4% | +159.7% |
42 | Canada | 20,903 | +18.9% | +54% |
43 | Peru | 19,967 | +2002% | +4643% |
44 | North Macedonia | 13,067 | +66.2% | +114.3% |
45 | Lithuania | 11,892 | +42.9% | +123.7% |
46 | Egypt | 10,016 | +650.3% | 0% |
47 | Hong Kong | 9,648 | -11.3% | -43.1% |
48 | Pitcairn | 8,564 | +2981% | 0% |
49 | Equatorial Guinea | 8,169 | +1577% | 0% |
50 | El Salvador | 7,730 | +99% | +302.8% |
By shipment weight, the fastest-growing exporters of rice from 2021 to 2022 are Paraguay (up 163,427%), Sri Lanka (up 80,559%), Pitcairn (up 2,981%), Peru (up 2,002%), Equatorial Guinea (up 1,577%) and Egypt (up 650.3%).
Posting the severest declines in tons of exported rice from year to year were Russia (down -65.9% from 2021), Laos (down -41.1%), Suriname (down -36.6%), Lebanon (down -31.5%) and Japan (down -29.1%).
Searchable List of Average Unit Prices for Exported Rice
Overall, the world’s average unit price per ton of exported rice was US$740 for 2022.
The automated table below enables you to compare the average unit prices for exported rice for 50 of the world’s biggest exporters of rice by weight. Amounts shown are in US dollars.
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns in the data table. The right-most columns highlight the change in unit price for each supplier’s globally exported rice in 2022 compared to 2021 or 5 years earlier in 2018. (A value of 0% in those column means data for that year was unavailable.)
Rice Exporter | Avg Price | 2021-2 | 2018-22 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | India | $484 | +7.1% | -23.3% |
2 | Thailand | $515 | -6.7% | +2.4% |
3 | Vietnam | $496 | 0% | -45.3% |
4 | Pakistan | $511 | -5.7% | -0.2% |
5 | United States | $687 | +20.3% | +29.6% |
6 | China | $467 | +10.4% | +9.9% |
7 | Italy | $1,102 | +8.6% | +27.5% |
8 | Myanmar | $365 | -8.3% | -30.6% |
9 | Brazil | $377 | -10.2% | +17.8% |
10 | Belgium | $810 | -10.8% | -13% |
11 | Uruguay | $452 | -10.1% | -4% |
12 | Cambodia | $648 | -2.6% | -11.5% |
13 | Netherlands | $1,339 | 0% | +7.5% |
14 | Paraguay | $356 | -44.3% | +14.8% |
15 | Spain | $884 | 0% | +27% |
16 | Australia | $1,020 | -6.9% | +15.1% |
17 | Guyana | $549 | +18.8% | -52.1% |
18 | Tanzania | $485 | 0% | +34.7% |
19 | Türkiye | $680 | +26.9% | -8.2% |
20 | Argentina | $463 | -6.8% | +9.5% |
21 | Bulgaria | $661 | +23.8% | +49.9% |
22 | South Africa | $647 | -4% | +1.4% |
23 | Portugal | $881 | +16.5% | +33.7% |
24 | Greece | $678 | +26.3% | +30.9% |
25 | Taiwan | $573 | +6.9% | +1.1% |
26 | Germany | $1,557 | +5.8% | +91.5% |
27 | Poland | $1,104 | -7% | +2.3% |
28 | France | $1,050 | +1.5% | +11.6% |
29 | Japan | $1,872 | +27.3% | +82.6% |
30 | United Kingdom | $1,713 | +6.1% | +27.7% |
31 | Singapore | $436 | 0% | -26.2% |
32 | United Arab Emirates | $924 | 0% | -16.2% |
33 | Kazakhstan | $488 | +55.4% | +79.4% |
34 | Malaysia | $394 | -2.5% | -9.8% |
35 | Senegal | $425 | -4.3% | +7.3% |
36 | Laos | $652 | +62.6% | -4.7% |
37 | Romania | $843 | +2.1% | +4.9% |
38 | Russia | $669 | +23.7% | +46.4% |
39 | Czech Republic | $1,148 | +0.6% | +34.1% |
40 | Canada | $1,383 | +6.6% | +18.4% |
41 | Ecuador | $615 | +20.1% | +4.9% |
42 | Suriname | $584 | +21.7% | +49.7% |
43 | South Korea | $345 | -19.8% | -49.5% |
44 | Lebanon | $736 | +46.9% | +0.7% |
45 | Ivory Coast | $513 | +1.2% | +13.2% |
46 | Peru | $672 | -9.1% | -29.6% |
47 | Bangladesh | $1,384 | 0% | +18.1% |
48 | Denmark | $2,023 | +50.5% | +25.3% |
49 | Lithuania | $951 | +2.4% | +12.1% |
50 | Hong Kong | $1,133 | +3% | +7.5% |
The lowest average unit prices for exported rice per ton belong to sellers in South Korea, Paraguay, Myanmar also called Burma, Brazil, Malaysia and Senegal. Other low-cost rice suppliers to global markets include Singapore, Uruguay, Argentina and mainland China.
The fastest growers in average unit prices from 2021 to 2022 are Laos (up 62.6%), Kazakhstan (up 55.4%), Denmark (up 50.5%) and Japan (up 27.3%).
Year over year, the greatest reductions in average unit prices collected for exported rice by ton were posted by international suppliers in Paraguay (down -44.3% from 2021), South Korea (down -19.8%), Belgium (down -10.8%), Brazil (down -10.2%) then Uruguay (down -10.1%).
Average Unit Prices for Top 10 Rice Exporters
Below are the 10 major exporters of rice by weight, showcasing each country’s corresponding average unit price per ton of globally exported rice in US dollars. These key suppliers sold 89.2% of overall rice exports by weight in 2022 and are listed in descending rank starting with the biggest rice exporters.
- India: US$484 in 2022 (up 7.1% from 2021)
- Thailand: $515 (down -6.7%)
- Pakistan: $511 (down -5.7%)
- United States: $687 (up 20.3%)
- China: $467 (up 10.4%)
- Myanmar: $365 (down -8.3%)
- Brazil: $377 (down -10.2%)
- Uruguay: $452 (down -10.1%)
- Paraguay: $356 (down -44.3%)
- Italy: $1,102 (up 8.6%)
Only Italy among the top 10 rice suppliers by weight charged a comparatively higher average unit price exceeding the global average of $740 per ton for all rice exporters.
That data suggests that economies of scale for the world’s 10 biggest exporters of rice may lead to the lowest average unit prices specific to rice exporting countries, but not necessarily.
Major Rice Importing Countries by Quantity
Turning attention to countries that buy rice on international markets, the top 10 rice importers below accounted for 42.5% of globally imported rice during 2022.
- China: 6.16 million tons (12.2% of global rice imports)
- Philippines: 3.9 million tons (7.6%)
- Iraq: 2.13 million tons (4.2%)
- Ivory Coast: 1.56 million tons (3.1%)
- Benin: 1.51 million tons (3%)
- Senegal: 1.49 million tons (2.9%)
- United States: 1.3 million tons (2.6%%)
- Iran: 1.25 million tons (2.5%)
- Malaysia: 1.24 million tons (2.4%)
- Niger: 1.05 million tons (2.1%)
Three among the 10 biggest importing countries by imported rice volume are highly populated Asian nations (China, Philippines and Malaysia). That trio is geographically close to some of the lowest-cost rice exporters on that same continent.
For instance, one top rice importer is the Philippines located in Southeast Asia near China and India.
See also Rice Exports by Country (dollar value), Rice Imports by Country (dollar value), Crude Oil Exports by Country, Petroleum Gas Exports by Country and OPEC Countries Crude Oil Exports Sales Data
Research Sources:
Alibaba’s supplier information for rice. Accessed on September 26, 2023
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Agriculture – Products. Accessed on September 26, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 26, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 26, 2023
OXFAM Research Reports, Cereal Secrets, pp 9-10. Accessed on September 26, 2023
Wikipedia, Rice. Accessed on September 26, 2023