Year over year, the value of exported chocolates decreased by -3.6% from 2019 to 2020.
The biggest 5 chocolate exporters (Germany, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Netherlands) account for almost one half (49%) of globally exported chocolate products.
Among continents, European countries exported the highest dollar worth of chocolate during 2020 with shipments amounting to $21.7 billion or about three-quarters (75.8%) of overall international chocolate sales. This compares with 12.6% from North America and 8% from Asia.
Tinier percentages came from 1.5% from Africa while 1.1% originated with Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean. Another 1% was sent by suppliers 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
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of chocolate during 2020.
- Germany: US$4.9 billion (17% of total chocolate exports)
- Belgium: $3.1 billion (11%)
- Italy: $2.1 billion (7.3%)
- Poland: $2.08 billion (7.3%)
- Netherlands: $1.8 billion (6.4%)
- Canada: $1.6 billion (5.6%)
- United States: $1.4 billion (4.9%)
- France: $1.3 billion (4.6%)
- United Kingdom: $1 billion (3.5%)
- Switzerland: $752.1 million (2.6%)
- Russia: $729.2 million (2.5%)
- Mexico: $604.4 million (2.1%)
- Turkey: $554.8 million (1.9%)
- Spain: $470.5 million (1.6%)
- Austria: $445.8 million (1.6%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 80% of global chocolate exported in 2020.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing chocolate exporters from 2019 to 2020 were: Poland (up 13.3%), France (up 6.8%), Austria (up 6.6%) and United Kingdom (up 2.3%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported chocolate sales were led by: United States (down -16.1%), Mexico (down -10.1%), Switzerland (down -10%), Netherlands (down -7.3%) and Spain (down -6.9%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for chocolate during 2020. 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$2.5 billion (net export surplus down -2% since 2019)
- Belgium: $2.1 billion (down -3.7%)
- Italy: $1.5 billion (down -1.1%)
- Poland: $1.1 billion (up 13.4%)
- Canada: $594.1 million (up 2.7%)
- Netherlands: $501.1 million (down -25.9%)
- Switzerland: $482.3 million (down -16.7%)
- Turkey: $447.1 million (up 2.5%)
- Mexico: $413.4 million (up 6.8%)
- Singapore: $267.1 million (up 12.1%)
- Russia: $182.8 million (up 40.5%)
- Ivory Coast: $161.5 million (up 11.2%)
- Malaysia: $122.2 million (down -16.5%)
- Egypt: $87.5 million (down -19%)
- India: $44.4 million (down -23.9%)
Exporters in Germany and Belgium generated the highest surplus in the international trade of chocolate. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms both competitors’ strong competitive advantages for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for chocolate during 2020. 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$1.5 billion (net export deficit up 15.2% since 2019)
- United Kingdom: -$1.2 billion (up 12.2%)
- France: -$898.7 million (down -4.7%)
- Japan: -$497.4 million (down -2.8%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$383.4 million (down -16.8%)
- South Korea: -$268.8 million (down -1.3%)
- Romania: -$243 million (up 0.5%)
- Portugal: -$213.3 million (down -0.2%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$204.8 million (down -14%)
- Australia: -$199.5 million (down -20.2%)
- China: -$199 million (up 31.1%)
- Norway: -$171.5 million (up 25.6%)
- Denmark: -$169.5 million (up 14%)
- Israel: -$162.2 million (up 4.2%)
- Iraq: -$145.6 million (down -9.1%)
International traders in the United States and United Kingdom and incurred the highest deficits for the international trade of chocolate. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights each’s strong competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for chocolate-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from American and UK consumers.
Companies
Chocolate Exporting Companies
Based on the Candy Industry’s 2016 Top 100 Confectionery Companies in the World, below are the world’s largest conglomerates that produce chocolate bars and other cocoa-containing food preparations. Show within parenthesis is the country where each colossus is headquartered.
- Mars Inc (United States)
- Mondelez International (United States)
- Ferrero Group (Italy)
- Nestle SA (Switzerland)
- Meiji Co Ltd (Japan)
- Hershey Foods Corp (United States)
- Chocoladenfabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG (Switzerland)
- Arcor (Argentina)
- Ezaki Glico Co Ltd (Japan)
- August Storck KG (Germany)
- United Confectionary Manufacturers (Russia)
- Orion Corp (South Korea)
- Yildiz Holding (Turkey)
- Lotte Confectionery Co. Ltd (South Korea)
- Crown Confectionery Co. Ltd (South Korea)
- Cemoi (France)
- Ferrara Candy Co (United States)
Searchable List of Chocolate Exporting Countries in 2020
The top 100 exporters generate 99.98% of overall shipments by value in 2020.
| Rank | Exporter | Chocolate Exports (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $4,866,331,000 | -1.8% |
| 2. | Belgium | $3,141,521,000 | -0.8% |
| 3. | Italy | $2,096,444,000 | -0.6% |
| 4. | Poland | $2,079,762,000 | +13.3% |
| 5. | Netherlands | $1,844,272,000 | -7.3% |
| 6. | Canada | $1,610,247,000 | +0.9% |
| 7. | United States | $1,390,101,000 | -16.1% |
| 8. | France | $1,308,482,000 | +6.8% |
| 9. | United Kingdom | $1,005,909,000 | +2.3% |
| 10. | Switzerland | $752,061,000 | -10% |
| 11. | Russia | $729,156,000 | +1.9% |
| 12. | Mexico | $604,353,000 | -10.1% |
| 13. | Turkey | $554,842,000 | -1.9% |
| 14. | Spain | $470,465,000 | -6.9% |
| 15. | Austria | $445,760,000 | +6.6% |
| 16. | Singapore | $442,321,000 | -9.2% |
| 17. | Sweden | $381,286,000 | -0.5% |
| 18. | Ireland | $339,224,000 | +2.7% |
| 19. | Czech Republic | $312,272,000 | +4.6% |
| 20. | China | $274,844,000 | -17% |
| 21. | Slovakia | $262,159,000 | +9.4% |
| 22. | Malaysia | $247,820,000 | -19.8% |
| 23. | Australia | $240,729,000 | +7.3% |
| 24. | Hungary | $220,915,000 | +7.5% |
| 25. | Bulgaria | $218,361,000 | +16.1% |
| 26. | Croatia | $177,806,000 | -7.4% |
| 27. | Ivory Coast | $169,742,000 | +12.6% |
| 28. | Hong Kong | $163,608,000 | -23.1% |
| 29. | Denmark | $159,861,000 | +2.1% |
| 30. | Ukraine | $158,368,000 | -6.6% |
| 31. | Lithuania | $150,859,000 | +5.2% |
| 32. | Egypt | $142,429,000 | -18.6% |
| 33. | Romania | $121,227,000 | -6.1% |
| 34. | India | $100,289,000 | -25.7% |
| 35. | Brazil | $97,136,000 | -5% |
| 36. | United Arab Emirates | $90,366,000 | -79.2% |
| 37. | Japan | $81,286,000 | -1.2% |
| 38. | Finland | $74,163,000 | -11.5% |
| 39. | Argentina | $71,008,000 | -23.5% |
| 40. | South Africa | $70,081,000 | +0.9% |
| 41. | Belarus | $69,799,000 | -9% |
| 42. | Serbia | $61,529,000 | -12% |
| 43. | South Korea | $57,879,000 | +4.9% |
| 44. | New Zealand | $53,467,000 | +10.6% |
| 45. | Colombia | $48,650,000 | -9.7% |
| 46. | Greece | $47,802,000 | +10.9% |
| 47. | Slovenia | $44,786,000 | +27.6% |
| 48. | Indonesia | $44,062,000 | -7.6% |
| 49. | Saudi Arabia | $39,724,000 | -28.7% |
| 50. | Latvia | $37,400,000 | -0.7% |
| 51. | Thailand | $36,112,000 | -48.8% |
| 52. | Portugal | $34,234,000 | +10% |
| 53. | Kazakhstan | $33,039,000 | +4.6% |
| 54. | Norway | $32,641,000 | -26.3% |
| 55. | Peru | $25,395,000 | -1.9% |
| 56. | Lebanon | $21,778,000 | -39.9% |
| 57. | Ghana | $18,535,000 | -44% |
| 58. | Israel | $18,036,000 | -20.4% |
| 59. | Vietnam | $17,301,000 | -5.8% |
| 60. | Estonia | $15,841,000 | +2.4% |
| 61. | Chile | $13,959,000 | -26.9% |
| 62. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $13,823,000 | +26.8% |
| 63. | North Macedonia | $13,546,000 | -0.6% |
| 64. | Armenia | $13,348,000 | -27.4% |
| 65. | Ecuador | $12,411,000 | -33.9% |
| 66. | Guatemala | $10,965,000 | -3.3% |
| 67. | Taiwan | $10,454,000 | -32% |
| 68. | Jordan | $10,415,000 | +19.6% |
| 69. | Costa Rica | $8,125,000 | -10.5% |
| 70. | Luxembourg | $7,201,000 | -4.6% |
| 71. | Moldova | $7,142,000 | -15.7% |
| 72. | El Salvador | $6,837,000 | +13.8% |
| 73. | Senegal | $6,447,000 | -12.9% |
| 74. | Philippines | $5,703,000 | +33.3% |
| 75. | Uzbekistan | $4,823,000 | -31.4% |
| 76. | Trinidad/Tobago | $4,672,000 | -60.7% |
| 77. | Dominican Republic | $3,957,000 | -26.8% |
| 78. | Azerbaijan | $3,901,000 | -27.7% |
| 79. | Bangladesh | $3,702,000 | -4.5% |
| 80. | Zambia | $3,364,000 | +49.6% |
| 81. | Morocco | $3,344,000 | -13.1% |
| 82. | Iceland | $3,003,000 | +42.1% |
| 83. | Madagascar | $2,605,000 | +57.8% |
| 84. | Eswatini | $2,386,000 | -34.2% |
| 85. | Montenegro | $2,344,000 | +30.4% |
| 86. | Iran | $1,958,000 | -74.2% |
| 87. | Sri Lanka | $1,577,000 | -52% |
| 88. | Venezuela | $1,453,000 | +31.9% |
| 89. | Cyprus | $1,252,000 | +60.7% |
| 90. | Georgia | $1,250,000 | -16.3% |
| 91. | Kyrgyzstan | $1,097,000 | +71.1% |
| 92. | Syrian Arab Republic | $991,000 | -51.9% |
| 93. | Tunisia | $950,000 | -96.6% |
| 94. | Nigeria | $944,000 | -7.8% |
| 95. | Iraq | $774,000 | -5.6% |
| 96. | Bahrain | $756,000 | -75.9% |
| 97. | Uruguay | $708,000 | -56.1% |
| 98. | Pakistan | $686,000 | -29.1% |
| 99. | Malta | $651,000 | -58.8% |
| 100. | Algeria | $600,000 | -57.1% |
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 2019 to 2020. An entry of 0% in that column means that no 2019 data was available.
See also Chocolate Imports by Country, Hot Chocolate Exports by Country and Germany’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Candy Industry, 2016 Top 100 Confectionery Companies in the World. Accessed on June 10, 2021
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on June 10, 2021
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 10, 2021
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 10, 2021
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on June 10, 2021
Wikipedia, Chocolate. Accessed on June 10, 2021
