The overall dollar value of exported chemicals rose by an average 32.7% for all exporting countries since five years earlier in 2020 when chemical shipments were valued at $502.8 billion.
Year over year, the combined total comprising exported organic plus inorganic chemicals shrank by -3.9% compared to $694.5 billion for 2023.
The world’s 5 biggest exporters of organic plus inorganic chemicals combined are mainland China, United States of America, Germany, South Korea and Japan. Collectively, these leading countries generated 40.3% of all international sales for exported chemicals during 2024.
The primary difference between organic and inorganic chemicals is technical. Specifically, a carbon atom is a must-have component of organic chemicals whereas inorganic chemicals contain no carbon atoms.
Exported organic chemicals were valued at $490.3 billion during 2024 (73.5% of the global total) while worldwide shipments of inorganic chemicals raked in much less cash from global customers at $177 billion (26.5% compared to 28.5% prior year).
For research purposes, the respective 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefixes are 28 for inorganic chemicals and 29 for organic chemicals.
Chemical Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of chemicals during 2024 encompassing both organic and inorganic chemicals:
- mainland China: US$109.2 billion (16.4% of total exported chemicals)
- United States: $66.4 billion (9.9%)
- Germany: $39.8 billion (6%)
- South Korea: $31.7 billion (4.8%)
- Japan: $22.1 billion (3.3%)
- Australia: $8 billion (1.2%)
- Canada: $11.2 billion (1.7%)
- Netherlands: $27.9 billion (4.2%)
- France: $19 billion (2.9%)
- Russia: $7.3 billion (1.1%)
- Kazakhstan: $5.6 billion (0.8%)
- Chile: $5.9 billion (0.9%)
- Brazil: $6.8 billion (1%)
- Belgium: $29.5 billion (4.4%)
- India: $24.6 billion (3.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped under two-thirds (62.2%) of globally exported chemicals in 2024.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing chemicals exporters since 2020 were: Chile (up 156.8%), Kazakhstan (up 129.1%), Canada (up 71.6%) and South Korea (up 53.7%).
Belgium was the lone competitor to record a decline in its exported chemicals sales over that 5-year timespan via a -2% slowdown.
Exports of Organic Chemicals
The following list showcases the top 15 exporters of organic chemicals in 2024.
- mainland China: US$82.6 billion (16.9% of exported organic chemicals)
- United States: $51.9 billion (10.6%)
- Switzerland: $47.2 billion (9.6%)
- Ireland: $46.4 billion (9.5%)
- Germany: $27.9 billion (5.7%)
- Belgium: $25.2 billion (5.1%)
- South Korea: $22.2 billion (4.5%)
- India: $21.0 billion (4.3%)
- Netherlands: $20.8 billion (4.2%)
- Japan: $14.3 billion (2.9%)
- France: $12.7 billion (2.6%)
- Singapore: $11.7 billion (2.4%)
- Saudi Arabia: $11.2 billion (2.3%)
- Italy: $8.6 billion (1.8%)
- Spain: $8.5 billion (1.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 84.1% of globally exported organic chemicals in 2024. Total export sales for organic chemicals rose by 27.5% from 2020.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing exporters of organic chemicals since 2020 were: mainland China (up 45.1%), Switzerland (up 17.1%), India (up 8.3%) and South Korea (up 4.7%).
Those countries that posted declines in their sales of exported organic chemicals were: Singapore (down -19.7% from 2020), France (down -16.8%), Belgium (down -15.3%), Saudi Arabia (down -5.6%) and Japan (down -3.4%).
Exports of Inorganic Chemicals
The following list highlights the leading 15 exporters of inorganic chemicals in 2024.
- mainland China: US$26.5 billion (15% of exported inorganic chemicals)
- United States: $14.5 billion (8.2%)
- Germany: $11.9 billion (6.7%)
- South Korea: $9.6 billion (5.4%)
- Japan: $7.8 billion (4.4%)
- Australia: $7.6 billion (4.3%)
- Canada: $7.2 billion (4%)
- Netherlands: $7.1 billion (4%)
- France: $6.3 billion (3.6%)
- Russia: $5.5 billion (3.1%)
- Kazakhstan: $5.48 billion (3.1%)
- Chile: $5.41 billion (3.1%)
- Brazil: $4.9 billion (2.8%)
- Belgium: $4.3 billion (2.4%)
- India: $3.6 billion (2%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 72.1% of globally exported inorganic chemicals in 2024. Total export sales for inorganic chemicals accelerated by 49.8% from 2020.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing exporters of inorganic chemicals since 2020 were: mainland China (up 74.6%), Canada (up 26.6%), Kazakhstan (up 26.2%) and France (up 24.4%).
Those countries that posted declines in their sales of exported inorganic chemicals were led by: Chile (down -46.9%), South Korea (down -41.6%), Japan (down -12.5%), Belgium (down -9.2%) and Germany (down -7.9%).
Major Chemicals Companies
According to Chemical & Engineering News, the following companies are major players in global chemical sales. The entries are listed in alphabetical order.
- BASF (Germany)
- Bayer (Germany)
- Dow Chemical (United States)
- DuPont (United States)
- ExxonMobil (United States)
- Formosa Plastics (Taiwan)
- Ineos (Switzerland)
- LyondellBasell Industries (United States)
- SABIC (Saudi Arabia)
- Sinopec (China)
See also Lithium Ion Batteries Exports by Country, Uranium Exports by Country, Top Importers of Laptop Computers Ranked by Dollar Value, Gold Exports by Country Plus Average Prices and Silver Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 13, 2025
Chemical & Engineering News, Volume 93 Issue 30, pp. 14-26. Accessed on September 13, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 13, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 13, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 13, 2025