Sweet-tasting bananas are sometimes called dessert bananas, as distinct from plantains that are typically used for cooking a variety of dishes.
The world’s lowest average unit price for the sweet fruit that grows in bunches in 2024 was the $103 per ton of bananas exported from the West African country Benin.
A landlocked nation in southern Eurasia, Armenia ranks as the costliest exporter of bananas in 2024 by charging an average $25,000 per ton.
As quantified by weight, total shipments of fresh or dried bananas excluding plantains amounted to 24.66 million tons.
That global shipment tonnage reflects a -11.3% decrease from 24.73 million tons for 2023 and a flatlining -0.3% slowdown over the 5-year period starting in 2020.
The biggest exporters of bananas in terms of shipment volume are Ecuador, Guatemala, Philippines, Colombia and Costa Rica. That leading subset of 5 bananas exporters sold nearly two-thirds (66%) of globally exported bananas by weight.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 0803 for fresh or dried bananas excluding plantains.
Lowest and Highest Unit Prices for Exported Bananas
The average tonnage charge for the number one bananas exporter by weight, Ecuador, was US$589 per ton. That dollar average is below the global average unit price of $614 per ton in part due to economies of scale.
Ranked in ascending order, listed below are the 20 countries charging the least expensive average unit prices for exported bananas in 2024.
- Benin: $103 per ton (2023 data unavailable)
- Tanzania: $104 per ton (up 85.7% from 2023)
- Zambia: $138 per ton (up 86.5%)
- Oman: $147 per ton (down -84.6%)
- Pakistan: $166 per ton (down -2.9%)
- Malawi: $167 per ton (up 456.7%)
- Zimbabwe: $192 per ton (up 19.3%)
- Samoa: $250 per ton (down -58.3%)
- Nicaragua: $279 per ton (down -9.1%)
- Eswatini: $307 per ton (up 34.1%)
- Malaysia: $311 per ton (up 2.6%)
- Bolivia: $329 per ton (down -7.3%)
- Senegal: $333 per ton (down -43.5%)
- Kazakhstan: $340 per ton (down -38.7%)
- Chile: $346 per ton (down -66.2%)
- Paraguay: $358 per ton (up 5.6%)
- Mozambique: $359 per ton (up 1.4%)
- Botswana: $400 per ton (down -60%)
- Tonga: $400 per ton (2023 data unavailable)
- Indonesia: $401 per ton (up 4.2%)
Posting the greatest percentage reductions in average unit price per ton for bananas from 2023 to 2024 were low-cost exporters Oman (down -84.6%), Chile (down -66.2%), Botswana (down -60%), Samoa (down -58.3%) and Senegal (down -43.5%).
The following 20 countries exported bananas costing the highest average unit prices.
- Armenia: US$25,000 per ton (up 177.8% from 2023)
- Myanmar: $9,426 per ton (up 605.5%)
- Serbia: $7,035 per ton (up 396.1%)
- Togo: $6,000 per ton (2023 data unavailable))
- Australia: $4,952 per ton (down -4.5%)
- Trinidad/Tobago: $3,933 per ton (up 35.6%)
- Uruguay: $3,032 per ton (up 3.8%)
- Afghanistan: $3,000 per ton (up 200%)
- Canada: $2,964 per ton (down -25.5%)
- Bulgaria: $2,867 per ton (down -12%)
- Rwanda: $2,786 per ton (down -20.4%)
- El Salvador: $2,500 per ton (up 25%)
- Ukraine: $2,500 per ton (down -80.7%)
- Kenya: $2,481 per ton (up 87.4%)
- Switzerland: $2,346 per ton (up 57.2%)
- Montenegro: $2,000 per ton (2023 data unavailable)
- South Korea: $1,905 per ton (up 78.7%)
- Iceland: $1,864 per ton (2023 data unavailable)
- New Zealand: $1,857 per ton (up 1.3%)
- Bangladesh: $1,759 per ton (up 7.9%)
Focusing on the above exporters, the 5 strongest gains in terms of higher average unit prices for 2024 compared to 2023 were for bananas shipped by Myanmar (up 605.5%), Serbia (up 396.1%), Afghanistan (up 200%), Armenia (up 177.8%), and Kenya (up 87.4%).
Major Bananas Export Countries by Shipment Weight
Bananas were exported from international suppliers about 140 countries, islands or territories in 2024.
Below are the top 20 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of bananas during 2024.
- Ecuador: 6,544,389 tons (26.5% of exported bananas)
- Guatemala: 2,855,428 tons (11.6%)
- Philippines: 2,333,225 tons (9.5%)
- Colombia: 2,318,606 tons (9.4%)
- Costa Rica: 2,236,142 tons (9.1%)
- Belgium: 941,262 tons (3.8%)
- Netherlands: 856,641 tons (3.5%)
- India: 764,774 tons (3.1%)
- United States: 618,882 tons (2.5%)
- Honduras: 476,021 tons (1.9%)
- Ivory Coast: 425,077 tons (1.7%)
- Vietnam: 423,512 tons (1.7%)
- Cameroon: 354,836 tons (1.4%)
- Panama: 332,946 tons (1.3%)
- Germany: 311,858 tons (1.3%)
- Cambodia: 261,224 tons (1.1%)
- Dominican Republic: 257,041 tons (1%)
- France: 201,910 tons (0.8%)
- Nicaragua: 184,198 tons (0.7%)
- Peru: 152,496 tons (0.6%)
As measured by weight, the listed 20 countries shipped 92.6% of globally exported bananas in 2024.
Among the top banana suppliers by volume, double-digit percentage exporters on international markets since 2023 were: Cameroon (up 69.6%), India (up 53.1%), Colombia (up 27.6%), Vietnam (up 19%) and Belgium (up 13.3%).
Those major providers that endured the worst shrinkage in their exported bananas sales by tonnage were: France (down -14.1% from 2023), Cambodia (down -9.4%), Dominican Republic (down -8.4%) then Germany (down -8%).
See also Bananas Exports by Country, Bananas Imports by Country, Top Saffron Exports & Imports by Country Plus Average Prices, Top Cranberries Exports & Imports by Country Plus Average Prices and Top Figs Exports & Imports by Country Plus Average Prices
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Bananas Showroom. Accessed on January 19, 2026
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on January 19, 2026
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on January 19, 2026
Wikipedia, Banana. Accessed on January 19, 2026