Overall, the value of barley exports fell by an average -13.6% for all exporting countries since 2015 when barley shipments were valued at $7.8 billion. Year over year, exported barley dropped -12.6% from 2018 to 2019.
Barley is a traditional food ingredient used in soups, stews, breads and beverages. More recently, this major cereal grain has become a staple component for health foods. Barley is also used to ferment malt beer. A member of the grass family, barley has an additional food use serving as animal fodder.
Among continents, suppliers in Europe sold the highest dollar worth of exported barley during 2019 with shipments valued at $4.4 billion or almost three-quarters (65%) of total barley exports. In second place were exporters in Latin America plus the Caribbean (11%) closely followed by Oceania’s (10.8%) Australia and New Zealand. Meanwhile, 8.4% of worldwide barley shipments originated from North America whereas 4.7% worth was shipped from Asia. A tinier percentage came from Africa (0.03%).
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for raw barley is 1003 (which is the focus of this analysis). Please note that the HTS codes for rolled, flaked, pearled or otherwise worked barley are scattered under 6-digit subgroups attached to a 1104 prefix.
Barley Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of barley during 2019.
- France: US$1.5 billion (22.5% of total barley exports)
- Russia: $762 million (11.3%)
- Australia: $726.7 million (10.8%)
- Argentina: $719.8 million (10.7%)
- Canada: $532.1 million (7.9%)
- Ukraine: $445.1 million (6.6%)
- United Kingdom: $370.4 million (5.5%)
- Germany: $309.5 million (4.6%)
- Kazakhstan: $299.5 million (4.5%)
- Romania: $211.2 million (3.1%)
- Denmark: $118.2 million (1.8%)
- Estonia: $80.9 million (1.2%)
- Hungary: $79.3 million (1.2%)
- Lithuania: $55.3 million (0.8%)
- Czech Republic: $50.4 million (0.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 93.3% of global barley exported in 2019.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing barley exporters since 2015 were: Kazakhstan (up 186.9%), Argentina (up 106.4%), Estonia (up 56.3%) and Canada (up 49.8%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported barley sales were led by: Denmark (down -49.4%), Czech Republic (down -47.5%), Germany (down -45.5%), Hungary (down -44.7%) and Australia (down -44.4%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for barley 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 barley and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- France: US$1.5 billion (net export surplus down -3.9% since 2015)
- Russia: $756 million (down -14.4%)
- Australia: $726.6 million (down -44.4%)
- Argentina: $715.6 million (up 105.2%)
- Canada: $525 million (up 59.2%)
- Ukraine: $442.2 million (down -42.4%)
- United Kingdom: $350.9 million (up 35.9%)
- Kazakhstan: $293 million (up 193.3%)
- Romania: $181.8 million (down -24.1%)
- Denmark: $95.5 million (down -55.2%)
- Estonia: $77.7 million (up 55.1%)
- Hungary: $74.4 million (down -43.7%)
- Bulgaria: $49.7 million (down -32.1%)
- Lithuania: $45.8 million (down -38%)
- Latvia: $31.6 million (down -28.5%)
Overtaking Australia in 2019, France generated the highest surplus in the international trade of barley. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms France’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for barley 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 barley purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- China: US-$1.6 billion (net export deficit down -45.4% since 2015)
- Iran: -$574.4 million (up 28.6%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$541.8 million (down -63.1%)
- Netherlands: -$438.8 million (up 72.1%)
- Belgium: -$402.6 million (up 41.5%)
- Japan: -$322.9 million (up 10.3%)
- Spain: -$196.8 million (up 28.4%)
- Brazil: -$189 million (up 41.4%)
- Jordan: -$144.8 million (down -7.1%)
- Libya: -$107.7 million (down -45.3%)
- Turkey: -$106.4 million (up 121.6%)
- Italy: -$103.7 million (down -20.7%)
- Colombia: -$95.7 million (up 24.3%)
- Thailand: -$92.9 million (up 1505.9%)
- Tunisia: -$88.2 million (down -22%)
Overtaking Saudi Arabia in 2019, the People’s Republic of China posted the highest deficit in the international trade of barley. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights strong Chinese competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for barley-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful consumer demand.
Beverages
Types of Barley-based Drinks
The following beverages are made with barley as one of the key ingredients.
- barley water
- barley wine
- barley-based soft drinks
- beer
- expresso-style hot drinks
- instant barley cereal drinks
- malt whisky
- malted milk
- roasted barley tea
- roasted grain beverages
Searchable List of Barley Exporting Countries in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means 2018 data was unavailable.
| Rank | Exporter | Barley Exports (US$) | 2018-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | France | $1,514,989,000 | +13.8% |
| 2. | Russia | $762,041,000 | -25.6% |
| 3. | Australia | $726,717,000 | -47.2% |
| 4. | Argentina | $719,828,000 | +24.8% |
| 5. | Canada | $532,065,000 | +0.9% |
| 6. | Ukraine | $445,145,000 | -34.7% |
| 7. | United Kingdom | $370,404,000 | +91% |
| 8. | Germany | $309,533,000 | -19.1% |
| 9. | Kazakhstan | $299,458,000 | +2.6% |
| 10. | Romania | $211,182,000 | -24.1% |
| 11. | Denmark | $118,211,000 | -25.9% |
| 12. | Estonia | $80,907,000 | +66.5% |
| 13. | Hungary | $79,323,000 | -8.1% |
| 14. | Lithuania | $55,298,000 | +5.8% |
| 15. | Czech Republic | $50,389,000 | -35.4% |
| 16. | Bulgaria | $50,388,000 | -5% |
| 17. | Belgium | $47,044,000 | -13.5% |
| 18. | Sweden | $46,551,000 | -37.1% |
| 19. | Spain | $41,017,000 | -37.9% |
| 20. | Latvia | $37,110,000 | +51.6% |
| 21. | United States | $35,983,000 | +34.4% |
| 22. | Netherlands | $30,263,000 | -49.4% |
| 23. | Finland | $26,443,000 | +85.9% |
| 24. | Uruguay | $20,989,000 | +981.9% |
| 25. | Poland | $16,489,000 | -54.9% |
| 26. | Slovakia | $14,225,000 | -40.3% |
| 27. | Austria | $14,183,000 | -34.8% |
| 28. | Syria | $10,117,000 | 0% |
| 29. | Moldova | $8,792,000 | -48.4% |
| 30. | Serbia | $8,312,000 | -38.5% |
| 31. | Croatia | $8,032,000 | -12.1% |
| 32. | Ireland | $7,445,000 | +113.7% |
| 33. | Portugal | $6,916,000 | +6.5% |
| 34. | Slovenia | $3,185,000 | -34.4% |
| 35. | Luxembourg | $3,098,000 | -24.9% |
| 36. | Turkey | $2,892,000 | -3.8% |
| 37. | Azerbaijan | $2,698,000 | -65.2% |
| 38. | South Africa | $1,946,000 | +228.7% |
| 39. | Italy | $1,683,000 | -5% |
| 40. | Georgia | $1,140,000 | +8% |
| 41. | India | $826,000 | -46.8% |
| 42. | North Macedonia | $719,000 | -48.5% |
| 43. | Greece | $457,000 | -21.5% |
| 44. | Switzerland | $321,000 | -23.9% |
| 45. | Norway | $297,000 | -4.2% |
| 46. | Colombia | $276,000 | 0% |
| 47. | South Korea | $214,000 | -75.3% |
| 48. | China | $129,000 | +38.7% |
| 49. | Japan | $88,000 | -15.4% |
| 50. | Philippines | $86,000 | 0% |
| 51. | New Zealand | $73,000 | -29.8% |
| 52. | Malaysia | $68,000 | -30.6% |
| 53. | Sri Lanka | $60,000 | +5,900% |
| 54. | Peru | $49,000 | +25.6% |
| 55. | Ecuador | $46,000 | -2.1% |
| 56. | Singapore | $38,000 | -28.3% |
| 57. | Ethiopia | $37,000 | -48.6% |
| 58. | United Arab Emirates | $13,000 | -99.8% |
| 59. | Kyrgyzstan | $12,000 | 0% |
| 60. | Guatemala | $12,000 | +71.4% |
| 61. | Israel | $11,000 | -98.8% |
| 62. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $9,000 | -69% |
| 63. | Taiwan | $6,000 | +200% |
| 64. | Iran | $5,000 | -99.4% |
| 65. | Chile | $4,000 | -84.6% |
| 66. | Gambia | $4,000 | 0% |
| 67. | Thailand | $4,000 | -76.5% |
| 68. | Cyprus | $3,000 | 0% |
| 69. | Belarus | $3,000 | -94% |
| 70. | Brazil | $3,000 | 0% |
| 71. | Barbados | $2,000 | 0% |
| 72. | Hong Kong | $2,000 | -33.3% |
| 73. | Egypt | $2,000 | -89.5% |
| 74. | Uganda | $1,000 | -94.4% |
| 75. | Indonesia | $1,000 | 0% |
| 76. | Kenya | $1,000 | -99.9% |
See also Corn Exports by Country, Wheat Exports by Country and Rice Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 19, 2020
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 19, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 19, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 19, 2020
Wikipedia, general description of barley and its uses. Accessed on May 19, 2020
Wikipedia, List of barley-based beverages. Accessed on May 19, 2020
