The overall value of chocolate exports rose by an average 24.3% for all exporting countries since 2019 when chocolate shipments were valued at $29.8 billion.
Year over year, the value of exported chocolate increased by 9.5% compared to $33.8 billion during 2022.
The 5 largest chocolate exporters in 2023 were Germany, Belgium, Poland, Italy and the Netherlands. Collectively, that quintet of major chocolate suppliers approached half (49.1%) of globally exported chocolate products.
Among continents, European countries exported the highest dollar worth of chocolate during 2023 with shipments amounting to $27.9 billion or three-quarters (75.4%) of overall international chocolate sales. This compares with 12.3% from North America and another 8.3% from Asia.
Tinier percentages came from 1.7% from suppliers in Africa while 1.4% originated with Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean. Another 0.9% was furnished by exporters in Oceania led by Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 1806 for chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa.
Chocolate Exporters by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of chocolate during 2023.
- Germany: US$6.3 billion (16.9% of total chocolate exports)
- Belgium: $4 billion (10.8%)
- Poland: $2.7 billion (7.3%)
- Italy: $2.66 billion (7.2%)
- Netherlands: $2.55 billion (6.9%)
- Canada: $2.1 billion (5.6%)
- United States: $1.8 billion (4.9%)
- France: $1.7 billion (4.7%)
- United Kingdom: $1.1 billion (2.8%)
- Switzerland: $1 billion (2.8%)
- Türkiye: $879.7 million (2.4%)
- Spain: $734.3 million (2%)
- Mexico: $698.5 million (1.9%)
- Austria: $667.2 million (1.8%)
- Sweden: $517.9 million (1.4%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 79.3% of worldwide chocolate exports in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing chocolate exporters from 2022 to 2023 were: Austria (up 24.0%), Belgium (up 20.6%), Switzerland (up 17.0%) and France (up 16.1%).
Those countries that posted the most modest gains their exported chocolate sales were: United States of America (up 3.7%), United Kingdom (up 4.3%), Türkiye (up 4.5%), Canada (up 4.6%) and Mexico (up 5.2%).
Countries Earning Largest Surpluses from Global Chocolate Trade
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for chocolate during 2023. 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 chocolate exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Germany: US$3.3 billion (net export surplus up 10.8% since 2022)
- Belgium: $2.6 billion (up 17%)
- Italy: $1.9 billion (up 6.2%)
- Poland: $1.5 billion (up 16.6%)
- Netherlands: $773.9 million (up 16.7%)
- Canada: $764.2 million (up 4.9%)
- Switzerland: $699.2 million (up 18.4%)
- Türkiye: $697.2 million (up 2.9%)
- Mexico: $357 million (down -6%)
- Singapore: $216.2 million (down -32.4%)
- Ivory Coast: $208.7 million (up 11.6%)
- Malaysia: $204.4 million (up 27.1%)
- Egypt: $128.2 million (up 9.1%)
- Lithuania: $89 million (up 160.5%)
- Croatia: $61.5 million (up 128.1%)
Exporters in Germany and Belgium generated the highest surpluses in the international trade of chocolate. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms both competitors’ strong competitive advantages for this specific product category.
Countries Incurring Worst Deficits from Global Chocolate Trade
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for chocolate during 2023. 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 chocolate import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$2.2 billion (net export deficit up 7.1% since 2022)
- United Kingdom: -$2.1 billion (up 23.5%)
- France: -$993.5 million (up 7.2%)
- Japan: -$545.4 million (down -12.4%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$458.4 million (down -0.8%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$426.7 million (up 684.8%)
- Romania: -$337.7 million (up 22.2%)
- South Korea: -$295.3 million (down -0.4%)
- Russia: -$253.3 million (up 2,204%)
- Australia: -$252.7 million (up 43%)
- Portugal: -$246.1 million (up 7.9%)
- Philippines: -$226 million (up 8.7%)
- Iraq: -$218.9 million (down -4.3%)
- Kazakhstan: -$217.5 million (up 14.1%)
- Denmark: -$217.3 million (up 17.5%)
International traders in the United States of America and the United Kingdom incurred the severest deficits for the international trade of chocolate. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights each’s strong competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for chocolate-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from American and UK consumers.
Searchable List of Chocolate Exporting Countries in 2023
The top 100 exporters sold 99.97% of exported chocolate sold worldwide during 2023.
| Rank | Exporter | Chocolate Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $6,262,639,000 | +15.1% |
| 2. | Belgium | $4,007,488,000 | +20.6% |
| 3. | Poland | $2,701,852,000 | +14.6% |
| 4. | Italy | $2,661,795,000 | +9.1% |
| 5. | Netherlands | $2,553,168,000 | +13.7% |
| 6. | Canada | $2,061,576,000 | +4.6% |
| 7. | United States | $1,798,861,000 | +3.7% |
| 8. | France | $1,728,165,000 | +16.1% |
| 9. | United Kingdom | $1,052,814,000 | +4.3% |
| 10. | Switzerland | $1,031,772,000 | +17% |
| 11. | Türkiye | $879,661,000 | +4.5% |
| 12. | Spain | $734,332,000 | +13.1% |
| 13. | Mexico | $698,503,000 | +5.2% |
| 14. | Austria | $667,180,000 | +24% |
| 15. | Sweden | $517,905,000 | +11.2% |
| 16. | Singapore | $495,655,000 | -11.5% |
| 17. | Russia | $442,377,000 | -27.1% |
| 18. | Ireland | $404,923,000 | +16.9% |
| 19. | Malaysia | $394,048,000 | +7.3% |
| 20. | Czech Republic | $388,870,000 | +12.5% |
| 21. | mainland China | $388,835,000 | -3.4% |
| 22. | Slovakia | $334,117,000 | +6.2% |
| 23. | Croatia | $330,006,000 | +43.1% |
| 24. | Bulgaria | $309,768,000 | +21.8% |
| 25. | Hungary | $308,745,000 | +11.4% |
| 26. | Lithuania | $273,226,000 | +48.9% |
| 27. | Denmark | $224,716,000 | +17.6% |
| 28. | Ivory Coast | $216,778,000 | +11.7% |
| 29. | Australia | $212,746,000 | -19.9% |
| 30. | Hong Kong | $194,704,000 | +39.6% |
| 31. | Ukraine | $190,837,000 | +32.9% |
| 32. | Egypt | $181,801,000 | -5.4% |
| 33. | Brazil | $167,419,000 | +17.7% |
| 34. | Romania | $161,555,000 | +9.2% |
| 35. | Serbia | $148,287,000 | +29.2% |
| 36. | India | $125,387,000 | +7.1% |
| 37. | New Zealand | $115,204,000 | +17.6% |
| 38. | Japan | $105,463,000 | +1.9% |
| 39. | Finland | $95,845,000 | +8.6% |
| 40. | South Africa | $93,274,000 | +9% |
| 41. | Colombia | $86,286,000 | +1.4% |
| 42. | Thailand | $84,904,000 | +26.1% |
| 43. | Peru | $84,545,000 | +60.3% |
| 44. | Kazakhstan | $77,282,000 | +63.5% |
| 45. | Portugal | $70,570,000 | +48% |
| 46. | Indonesia | $65,633,000 | -14.6% |
| 47. | South Korea | $60,957,000 | -8.7% |
| 48. | Greece | $58,870,000 | +8.9% |
| 49. | Argentina | $55,463,000 | +77.9% |
| 50. | Latvia | $52,330,000 | +4.5% |
| 51. | Slovenia | $49,377,000 | +0.8% |
| 52. | Norway | $49,224,000 | +35.2% |
| 53. | Nigeria | $38,050,000 | +108.6% |
| 54. | Tunisia | $35,971,000 | +44% |
| 55. | Vietnam | $35,425,000 | +45.6% |
| 56. | United Arab Emirates | $29,326,000 | -94.1% |
| 57. | North Macedonia | $28,393,000 | +43.1% |
| 58. | Ghana | $27,430,000 | +5.5% |
| 59. | Chile | $26,283,000 | +15.2% |
| 60. | Estonia | $22,209,000 | +10% |
| 61. | Ecuador | $20,895,000 | -21.5% |
| 62. | Armenia | $20,608,000 | -10% |
| 63. | Saudi Arabia | $20,062,000 | -71.4% |
| 64. | Guatemala | $19,069,000 | -1% |
| 65. | Israel | $18,815,000 | -12.9% |
| 66. | Costa Rica | $17,510,000 | +25.3% |
| 67. | Sri Lanka | $17,223,000 | +30.2% |
| 68. | Lebanon | $16,853,000 | -48.5% |
| 69. | Panama | $13,745,000 | +43.2% |
| 70. | Belarus | $12,550,000 | -24.2% |
| 71. | Trinidad/Tobago | $11,576,000 | -48.2% |
| 72. | Luxembourg | $10,028,000 | +25.9% |
| 73. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $9,923,000 | -13.3% |
| 74. | Azerbaijan | $9,706,000 | -19.2% |
| 75. | Moldova | $9,683,000 | -10.2% |
| 76. | Morocco | $8,908,000 | +65.8% |
| 77. | Uzbekistan | $8,106,000 | -29.8% |
| 78. | Dominican Republic | $7,871,000 | -0.5% |
| 79. | Philippines | $7,506,000 | +2.6% |
| 80. | Taiwan | $6,703,000 | -18.5% |
| 81. | El Salvador | $5,930,000 | -1.8% |
| 82. | Eswatini | $5,593,000 | +38.2% |
| 83. | Zambia | $5,028,000 | -18.9% |
| 84. | Venezuela | $4,739,000 | +20.9% |
| 85. | Pakistan | $4,296,000 | +10.6% |
| 86. | Iceland | $4,023,000 | +41.9% |
| 87. | Bangladesh | $3,996,000 | -43.3% |
| 88. | Iran | $3,956,000 | -87.8% |
| 89. | Jordan | $3,877,000 | -90.7% |
| 90. | Madagascar | $3,310,000 | +23.6% |
| 91. | Kenya | $2,911,000 | +4% |
| 92. | Montenegro | $1,850,000 | -30.1% |
| 93. | Cyprus | $1,713,000 | -6% |
| 94. | Angola | $1,238,000 | +1596% |
| 95. | Georgia | $1,237,000 | -3.5% |
| 96. | Kyrgyzstan | $1,230,000 | -4.6% |
| 97. | Albania | $984,000 | 0% |
| 98. | Togo | $821,000 | +247.9% |
| 99. | Suriname | $761,000 | +624.8% |
| 100. | Algeria | $620,000 | +7.3% |
Expanding our focus to encompass the 100 biggest chocolate exporters, the fastest growers were Angola (up 1,596% from 2022), Suriname (up 624.8%), Togo (up 247.9%), Nigeria (up 108.6%), Argentina (up 77.9%) and Morocco (up 65.8%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. The right-most column highlights the percentage change in exported chocolate from 2022 to 2023. An entry of 0% in that column means that no 2022 data was available.
Chocolate Exporting Companies
Based on the Candy Industry’s Top 100 Confectionery Companies, below are the world’s largest conglomerates that produce chocolate bars and other cocoa-containing food preparations. Show within parenthesis is the country where each colossus is headquartered.
- Arcor (Argentina)
- August Storck KG (Germany)
- Cemoi (France)
- Chocoladenfabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG (Switzerland)
- Crown Confectionery Co. Ltd (South Korea)
- Ezaki Glico Co Ltd (Japan)
- Ferrara Candy Co (United States)
- Ferrero Group (Italy)
- Hershey Foods Corp (United States)
- Lotte Confectionery Co. Ltd (South Korea)
- Mars Inc (United States)
- Meiji Co Ltd (Japan)
- Mondelez International (United States)
- Nestle SA (Switzerland)
- Orion Corp (South Korea)
- United Confectionary Manufacturers (Russia)
- Yildiz Holding (Turkey)
See also Chocolate Imports by Country, Hot Chocolate Exports by Country, Candy Sweets Exports by Country, Natural Honey Exports by Country and Sugar Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Candy Industry, 2019 Top 100 Confectionery Companies in the World. Accessed on July 22, 2024
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 22, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on July 22, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 22, 2024
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on July 22, 2024
Wikipedia, Chocolate. Accessed on July 22, 2024