Among continents, suppliers in Europe sold the highest dollar worth of exported butter during 2019 with shipments valued at $5.6 billion or roughly three-quarters (75.9%) of the global total. In second place were Oceania exporters at 18.1% mostly New Zealand and Australia. Smaller percentages came from shippers in Latin America (1.7%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Asia (1.4%) and Africa (0.1%).
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for butter is 040510. That code prefix excludes dehydrated butter and ghee. The term ghee means clarified butter (fat) made from the milk of a buffalo or cow and is commonly used in South Asian cooking.
Butter Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of butter during 2019.
- New Zealand: US$1.3 billion (17.2% of total butter exports)
- Ireland: $1.2 billion (16.5%)
- Netherlands: $1.1 billion (15.3%)
- Germany: $615.1 million (8.4%)
- Belgium: $560.5 million (7.6%)
- France: $446.7 million (6.1%)
- Belarus: $392.4 million (5.3%)
- Denmark: $285.5 million (3.9%)
- Poland: $241.8 million (3.3%)
- United Kingdom: $205 million (2.8%)
- Finland: $159.9 million (2.2%)
- India: $118.1 million (1.6%)
- United States: $102.3 million (1.4%)
- Uruguay: $62.5 million (0.8%)
- Australia: $61.5 million (0.8%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 93.2% of globally exported butter in 2019.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of butter since 2015 were: India (up 1,268%), United Kingdom (up 124.2%), Ireland (up 101.5%) and Poland (up 97.4%).
Australia posted a -29.5% declines in itsl international sales of butter over the 5-year period.
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for butter 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 butter and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- New Zealand: US$1.3 billion (net export surplus up 43.3% since 2015)
- Ireland: $1.2 billion (up 103.5%)
- Netherlands: $461 million (up 57.5%)
- Belarus: $392.2 million (up 76.8%)
- Denmark: $226.7 million (up 55.2%)
- Poland: $184.1 million (up 114.4%)
- Finland: $156.8 million (up 25.2%)
- Belgium: $119.7 million (up 343.6%)
- India: $116.5 million (up 1485.1%)
- Uruguay: $58.1 million (down -3.1%)
- Argentina: $49.5 million (up 91.3%)
- Ukraine: $46 million (up 83.1%)
- Portugal: $40.3 million (down -13.8%)
- Kyrgyzstan: $15.7 million (up 762.6%)
- Costa Rica: $5.4 million (up 8.6%)
New Zealand generated the highest surplus in the international trade of butter. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms New Zealand’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for butter 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 butter purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Russia: -US$554.5 million (net export deficit up 106.7% since 2015)
- France: -$452.7 million (up 97.1%)
- China: -$320.6 million (up 61.7%)
- United States: -$189.9 million (up 343.6%)
- Japan: -$128.9 million (up 135.6%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$124.6 million (down -7.6%)
- United Kingdom: -$116.1 million (down -29.2%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$111.1 million (up 95.8%)
- Italy: -$100.1 million (down -4%)
- Canada: -$99.8 million (up 117.9%)
- Taiwan: -$95.7 million (up 42.5%)
- Australia: -$92.1 million (reversing a $33 million surplus)
- Egypt: -$88.7 million (down -42.4%)
- Czech Republic: -$87.5 million (up 37.9%)
- Indonesia: -$87 million (up 82.3%)
Overtaking France in 2019, the Russian Federation incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of butter. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Russia’s competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for butter-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Companies
Butter Exporting Companies
Below are global butter-producing cooperatives and multi-national dairy companies. Shown within parenthesis is the city and country where the headquarters for each business is located.
- Arla Foods (Viby, Denmark)
- Fonterra (Auckland, New Zealand)
- Lactalis (Laval, France)
- Müller (Fischach, Germany)
- Parmalat (Collecchio, Italy)
- Zott (Mertingen,Germany)
Searchable List of Butter Exporting Countries in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2018 data is unavailable.
| Rank | Exporter | Butter Exports (US$) | 2018-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | New Zealand | $1,267,649,000 | -11.5% |
| 2. | Ireland | $1,216,222,000 | -5.5% |
| 3. | Netherlands | $1,129,508,000 | -7.6% |
| 4. | Germany | $615,074,000 | -8.9% |
| 5. | Belgium | $560,483,000 | -23.8% |
| 6. | France | $446,718,000 | -6.1% |
| 7. | Belarus | $392,353,000 | +11% |
| 8. | Denmark | $285,480,000 | -19.5% |
| 9. | Poland | $241,849,000 | -31.7% |
| 10. | United Kingdom | $204,990,000 | -4.3% |
| 11. | Finland | $159,896,000 | -1.2% |
| 12. | India | $118,074,000 | +81.6% |
| 13. | United States | $102,274,000 | -26.1% |
| 14. | Uruguay | $62,469,000 | -7% |
| 15. | Australia | $61,521,000 | -0.6% |
| 16. | Portugal | $58,032,000 | -27% |
| 17. | Ukraine | $57,869,000 | -52.2% |
| 18. | Italy | $56,889,000 | -1.4% |
| 19. | Argentina | $51,120,000 | +16.9% |
| 20. | Spain | $50,293,000 | -3.3% |
| 21. | Austria | $24,300,000 | +0.4% |
| 22. | Czech Republic | $20,449,000 | +43.5% |
| 23. | Lithuania | $19,518,000 | -38% |
| 24. | Kyrgyzstan | $15,950,000 | +68.6% |
| 25. | Saudi Arabia | $14,108,000 | +9.1% |
| 26. | Kazakhstan | $11,514,000 | +43% |
| 27. | Singapore | $11,338,000 | +11.9% |
| 28. | Azerbaijan | $7,719,000 | +665.8% |
| 29. | Luxembourg | $7,195,000 | +24.9% |
| 30. | Sweden | $6,962,000 | -58.8% |
| 31. | Hong Kong | $6,935,000 | +15.6% |
| 32. | South Africa | $6,818,000 | -19.3% |
| 33. | China | $6,705,000 | +28.3% |
| 34. | Russia | $6,262,000 | -25.1% |
| 35. | Costa Rica | $5,579,000 | -6.8% |
| 36. | Malaysia | $5,058,000 | -36.6% |
| 37. | Slovakia | $4,870,000 | -35.7% |
| 38. | Croatia | $4,326,000 | +21.2% |
| 39. | Estonia | $3,579,000 | -30.4% |
| 40. | Turkey | $3,045,000 | +3.7% |
| 41. | United Arab Emirates | $3,005,000 | -85.1% |
| 42. | Switzerland | $2,959,000 | -48.5% |
| 43. | Latvia | $2,612,000 | -44.8% |
| 44. | Bulgaria | $2,587,000 | +3.8% |
| 45. | Paraguay | $2,126,000 | +8% |
| 46. | Brazil | $1,862,000 | +169.9% |
| 47. | Georgia | $1,811,000 | +338.5% |
| 48. | Thailand | $1,675,000 | +1.5% |
| 49. | Greece | $1,577,000 | +3.5% |
| 50. | Colombia | $1,398,000 | -66.4% |
| 51. | Serbia | $1,264,000 | +12.7% |
| 52. | Romania | $1,171,000 | -61.9% |
| 53. | Hungary | $1,133,000 | -25.2% |
| 54. | Iceland | $780,000 | -42.9% |
| 55. | Bolivia | $745,000 | +10.2% |
| 56. | Iran | $654,000 | -86.5% |
| 57. | Indonesia | $563,000 | +132.6% |
| 58. | Moldova | $533,000 | +141.2% |
| 59. | Mexico | $471,000 | -94.5% |
| 60. | Slovenia | $464,000 | -8.7% |
| 61. | Kuwait | $397,000 | -66.6% |
| 62. | Armenia | $319,000 | +279.8% |
| 63. | South Korea | $247,000 | +162.8% |
| 64. | North Macedonia | $228,000 | +10.7% |
| 65. | Egypt | $202,000 | +38.4% |
| 66. | Senegal | $163,000 | +7.2% |
| 67. | Canada | $163,000 | -92% |
| 68. | Uzbekistan | $140,000 | +233.3% |
| 69. | Norway | $140,000 | +42.9% |
| 70. | Japan | $135,000 | +21.6% |
| 71. | Nicaragua | $131,000 | -16% |
| 72. | Namibia | $121,000 | +476.2% |
| 73. | Ivory Coast | $118,000 | +686.7% |
| 74. | El Salvador | $118,000 | +32.6% |
| 75. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $111,000 | 0% |
| 76. | New Caledonia | $105,000 | +707.7% |
| 77. | Botswana | $79,000 | +38.6% |
| 78. | Jordan | $76,000 | -30.9% |
| 79. | Ghana | $65,000 | +132.1% |
| 80. | Syria | $48,000 | +585.7% |
| 81. | Taiwan | $46,000 | -54% |
| 82. | Philippines | $44,000 | +340% |
| 83. | Sri Lanka | $43,000 | -47.6% |
| 84. | Haiti | $39,000 | +1,200% |
| 85. | Morocco | $30,000 | -44.4% |
| 86. | Cyprus | $28,000 | -3.4% |
| 87. | Tunisia | $24,000 | +60% |
| 88. | Venezuela | $20,000 | +66.7% |
| 89. | Sierra Leone | $18,000 | 0% |
| 90. | Pakistan | $17,000 | -88.7% |
| 91. | Mauritius | $16,000 | 0% |
| 92. | Vietnam | $16,000 | -93.5% |
| 93. | Panama | $13,000 | -91.8% |
| 94. | Malawi | $10,000 | 0% |
| 95. | Turkmenistan | $8,000 | 0% |
| 96. | Togo | $7,000 | +133.3% |
| 97. | Bermuda | $6,000 | +20% |
| 98. | Bangladesh | $4,000 | -95.1% |
| 99. | Aruba | $4,000 | -95.2% |
| 100. | Peru | $4,000 | +100% |
| 101. | Benin | $3,000 | -76.9% |
| 102. | Guatemala | $3,000 | -62.5% |
| 103. | Lebanon | $2,000 | -95% |
| 104. | Mozambique | $2,000 | 0% |
| 105. | Malta | $1,000 | 0% |
| 106. | Chile | $1,000 | -99.8% |
| 107. | Barbados | $1,000 | 0% |
See also Top Milk Exporting Countries, Cheese Exports by Country and Top Yogurt Exporters
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 28, 2020
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 28, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 28, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 28, 2020
Wikipedia, Category:Multinational dairy companies . Accessed on May 28, 2020
