The overall value of candy sweets exports increased by an average 17% for all exporting countries since 2017 when candy sweets shipments were valued at $10.6 billion.
Year over year, the worldwide value of exported candy sweets accelerated by 18.1% compared to $10.5 billion during 2020.
The 5 biggest exporters of candy sweets are Germany, mainland China, Belgium, Mexico, and Spain. That cohort collected 39.8% worth of the international revenues for globally exported candy sweets.
From a continental perspective, shippers in Europe sold the highest dollar worth of exported candy sweets during 2021 with shipments valued at $6.75 billion or over half (54.6%) of the global total. In second place were Asian exporters at 23.9% while another 14% originated from North America.
Smaller percentages came from Latin America (4.5%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (1.9%), then Oceania (1%) mostly New Zealand and Australia.
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for candy sweets is 170490. That code prefix encompasses a wide range of confectionery including lollipops, jelly beans, caramels, candy floss, fudge and peanut brittle. Specifically excluded are chewing gum and items containing cocoa (chocolate) which are covered under separate tariff codes.
Candy Sweets Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of candy sweets during 2021.
- Germany: US$1.6 billion (12.7% of exported candy sweets)
- China: $990.9 million (8%)
- Belgium: $888.5 million (7.2%)
- Mexico: $783.9 million (6.3%)
- Spain: $684.8 million (5.5%)
- Netherlands: $682.8 million (5.5%)
- Turkey: $585.4 million (4.7%)
- United States: $529.7 million (4.3%)
- Poland: $496.2 million (4%)
- Canada: $416.4 million (3.4%)
- Italy: $250.8 million (2%)
- France: $218.3 million (1.8%)
- United Kingdom: $211.4 million (1.7%)
- Russia: $204.5 million (1.7%)
- Czech Republic: $202.1 million (1.6%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 70.5% of global candy sweets exported in 2021.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of candy sweets since 2020 were: Turkey (up 30.7%), Italy (up 29.6%), Belgium (up 26.3%) and Spain (up 24.3%).
The United Kingdom was the sole top supplier to post a decline in its international sales of candy sweets year over year.
Countries Earning Best Trade Surpluses from Candy Sweets
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for candy sweets during 2021. 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 candy sweets and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Germany: US$808 million (net export surplus up 34.2% since 2020)
- Mexico: $700.9 million (up 19%)
- China: $632.2 million (up 15.8%)
- Turkey: $561.6 million (up 31.8%)
- Belgium: $552.4 million (up 35.2%)
- Spain: $540.9 million (up 25.3%)
- Netherlands: $240.3 million (up 29.9%)
- Poland: $217.7 million (up 2.7%)
- Colombia: $141.3 million (up 31.7%)
- Ukraine: $134.7 million (up 18.3%)
- Brazil: $134 million (up 31.4%)
- Iran: $121.3 million (down -15.8%)
- India: $116.5 million (up 46.3%)
- Czech Republic: $98.1 million (up 21.4%)
- Italy: $86.2 million (up 48.7%)
World-leading Germany generated the highest surplus in the international trade of candy sweets during 2021. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Germany’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Incurring Worst Trade Deficits from Candy Sweets
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for candy sweets during 2021. 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 candy sweets purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$1.8 billion (net export deficit up 19.8% since 2020)
- United Kingdom: -$537.7 million (up 42.1%)
- France: -$231.8 million (up 12.8%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$160.1 million (down -18.1%)
- Australia: -$155.7 million (up 24.5%)
- Norway: -$126.9 million (up 35.4%)
- South Korea: -$122.6 million (up 12%)
- Iraq: -$120.6 million (down -6.6%)
- Romania: -$98.2 million (up 33.1%)
- Sweden: -$91.7 million (down -9.4%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$72.9 million (up 123.1%)
- Israel: -$65.6 million (up 56.4%)
- Chile: -$65.5 million (up 79.6%)
- Kazakhstan: -$57.3 million (up 40%)
- Philippines: -$55.5 million (up 17%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of candy sweets. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for candy confectionery-suppliers that target American consumers’ sweet tooth cravings.
Candy Sweets Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following companies are examples of verified companies engaged in the international sales of candies. Their home countries are shown within parenthesis.
- Aspro BV (Netherlands)
- Big Buy (Spain)
- Bold Marketing Mexico S de RL de CV (Mexico)
- Chaozhou Qiaoxiang Foodstuff Factory (China)
- EUROBRANDS Grosshandel Lebensmittel GmbH (Germany)
- GeNaTa European Goods SP ZOO SpK (Poland)
- JM Alexander Corporation (United States)
- Kaizer Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Turkey)
- Probel Group SA (Belgium)
- Super Super Market Export Ltd (United Kingdom)
Searchable List of Candy Sweets Exporters in 2021
The 100 key export countries in the automated database below sold 99.97% of the globally exported candy sweets during 2021.
| Rank | Exporter | Exported Candy Sweets | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $1,571,312,000 | +19.6% |
| 2. | China | $990,911,000 | +23.4% |
| 3. | Belgium | $888,484,000 | +26.3% |
| 4. | Mexico | $783,881,000 | +18% |
| 5. | Spain | $684,786,000 | +24.3% |
| 6. | Netherlands | $682,765,000 | +14.6% |
| 7. | Turkey | $585,437,000 | +30.7% |
| 8. | United States | $529,729,000 | +21.2% |
| 9. | Poland | $496,193,000 | +9.5% |
| 10. | Canada | $416,418,000 | +8.6% |
| 11. | Italy | $250,757,000 | +29.6% |
| 12. | France | $218,286,000 | +24.1% |
| 13. | United Kingdom | $211,374,000 | -2.9% |
| 14. | Russia | $204,486,000 | +17.2% |
| 15. | Czech Republic | $202,100,000 | +18.3% |
| 16. | Ukraine | $200,036,000 | +18.4% |
| 17. | Sweden | $164,788,000 | +23.8% |
| 18. | Colombia | $164,450,000 | +30.1% |
| 19. | Thailand | $159,602,000 | +12.1% |
| 20. | Denmark | $159,593,000 | +12.5% |
| 21. | Brazil | $154,895,000 | +32.1% |
| 22. | India | $144,310,000 | +48.7% |
| 23. | Switzerland | $137,045,000 | -8% |
| 24. | Japan | $135,061,000 | +20.9% |
| 25. | Indonesia | $124,481,000 | +5.6% |
| 26. | Iran | $121,335,000 | -15.8% |
| 27. | Hong Kong | $116,209,000 | +47.5% |
| 28. | Slovakia | $111,886,000 | +7.3% |
| 29. | Austria | $106,174,000 | +6.7% |
| 30. | South Korea | $105,535,000 | -4.4% |
| 31. | Ireland | $100,390,000 | +3.6% |
| 32. | Vietnam | $93,772,000 | +68.6% |
| 33. | Hungary | $87,515,000 | +9.6% |
| 34. | Malaysia | $77,623,000 | +16.4% |
| 35. | Guatemala | $74,917,000 | +33.2% |
| 36. | New Zealand | $67,966,000 | +1.2% |
| 37. | South Africa | $66,557,000 | +28.5% |
| 38. | Australia | $58,754,000 | +20.9% |
| 39. | Greece | $55,027,000 | +21% |
| 40. | Taiwan | $47,268,000 | +13.1% |
| 41. | Egypt | $46,279,000 | +33.5% |
| 42. | Finland | $45,523,000 | +13.2% |
| 43. | El Salvador | $41,953,000 | +31.6% |
| 44. | Pakistan | $41,400,000 | +40.3% |
| 45. | Argentina | $38,233,000 | +19.9% |
| 46. | Singapore | $34,933,000 | +12.9% |
| 47. | Lithuania | $32,114,000 | +18.3% |
| 48. | Kenya | $29,340,000 | +25% |
| 49. | Zambia | $28,982,000 | +75.1% |
| 50. | Kazakhstan | $27,626,000 | -4.3% |
| 51. | Saudi Arabia | $27,307,000 | -20.2% |
| 52. | Jordan | $27,122,000 | +8.8% |
| 53. | Bulgaria | $25,542,000 | +21% |
| 54. | Philippines | $24,716,000 | +38.8% |
| 55. | Costa Rica | $24,487,000 | +44.6% |
| 56. | Ecuador | $22,728,000 | +59.7% |
| 57. | Morocco | $20,654,000 | +42.5% |
| 58. | Romania | $20,131,000 | +32.2% |
| 59. | Belarus | $14,937,000 | +23.6% |
| 60. | Togo | $14,660,000 | +44.8% |
| 61. | Bangladesh | $13,742,000 | +22% |
| 62. | Croatia | $13,530,000 | +22.7% |
| 63. | Slovenia | $13,150,000 | +9.1% |
| 64. | Latvia | $13,124,000 | +22.8% |
| 65. | Israel | $12,680,000 | +7.9% |
| 66. | Eswatini | $12,388,000 | +90% |
| 67. | Lebanon | $11,468,000 | -13.5% |
| 68. | Tunisia | $11,454,000 | +33.9% |
| 69. | United Arab Emirates | $11,407,000 | -81.7% |
| 70. | Serbia | $9,657,000 | +16.6% |
| 71. | Estonia | $8,103,000 | +18.7% |
| 72. | Syria | $8,070,000 | +16.1% |
| 73. | Peru | $6,888,000 | +78.9% |
| 74. | Portugal | $6,807,000 | -1% |
| 75. | Moldova | $6,315,000 | +50.6% |
| 76. | Trinidad/Tobago | $5,705,000 | -10.4% |
| 77. | Dominican Republic | $5,277,000 | +82.6% |
| 78. | North Macedonia | $5,193,000 | +1.5% |
| 79. | Uzbekistan | $4,915,000 | +18.2% |
| 80. | Honduras | $4,416,000 | +27.5% |
| 81. | Chile | $4,057,000 | +47.8% |
| 82. | Norway | $3,944,000 | +26.9% |
| 83. | Senegal | $3,513,000 | -6.7% |
| 84. | Armenia | $1,550,000 | +147.6% |
| 85. | Oman | $1,425,000 | -63.5% |
| 86. | Panama | $1,417,000 | +18% |
| 87. | Cambodia | $1,339,000 | 0% |
| 88. | Zimbabwe | $1,320,000 | +6.9% |
| 89. | Nigeria | $1,049,000 | +63.9% |
| 90. | Kuwait | $950,000 | -91.4% |
| 91. | Macao | $899,000 | +817.3% |
| 92. | Luxembourg | $811,000 | +30.6% |
| 93. | Azerbaijan | $780,000 | +74.5% |
| 94. | Georgia | $757,000 | +45.6% |
| 95. | Bahrain | $728,000 | -29% |
| 96. | Kyrgyzstan | $592,000 | -6.6% |
| 97. | Cameroon | $561,000 | -28.8% |
| 98. | Iceland | $516,000 | +83.6% |
| 99. | Mauritius | $494,000 | +23.5% |
| 100. | Sri Lanka | $459,000 | +245.1% |
Focusing on the top 100 exporters, the fastest growers from 2020 t0 2021 were Macao (up 817.3%), Sri Lanka (up 245.1%), Armenia (up 147.6%), Eswatini (up 90%) then Iceland (up 83.6%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the above table’s columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2020 data was unavailable.
See also Bananas Exports by Country, Pineapples Exports by Country, Apples Exports by Country, Oranges Exports by Country and Kiwifruit Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier information for candy sweets. Accessed on August 12, 2022
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on August 12, 2022
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 12, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 12, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 12, 2022
Wikipedia, List of top-selling candy brands. Accessed on August 12, 2022
