From 2020 to 2021, the growth in the value of globally exported cinnamon slowed to 4.5%.
The world’s top 5 exporters of cinnamon are mainland China, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Netherlands. That cohort of major suppliers generated 89.5% of the world’s spending on cinnamon exported during 2021. Such a high percentage suggests a relatively concentrated set of international suppliers for the popular spice.
From a continental perspective, 89.2% of worldwide spending on cinnamon exports were shipped from suppliers in Asia. Another 8.1% came from Europe.
Tinier percentages originated from exporters in North America (1.8%), Africa (0.7%), Latin America (0.2%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, and Oceania (0.04%) mostly Australia.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 0906 for cinnamon including cinnamon-tree flowers.
Cinnamon Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of cinnamon during 2021.
- China: US$275.6 million (25.5% of total cinnamon exports)
- Vietnam: $252 million (23.3%)
- Sri Lanka: $247.4 million (22.9%)
- Indonesia: $160.7 million (14.9%)
- Netherlands: $30.5 million (2.8%)
- United States: $17.5 million (1.6%)
- Germany: $15 million (1.4%)
- India: $11.2 million (1%)
- France: $7.1 million (0.7%)
- United Arab Emirates: $5.7 million (0.5%)
- Madagascar: $5.4 million (0.5%)
- Spain: $4.8 million (0.4%)
- Austria: $4.6 million (0.4%)
- United Kingdom: $4.5 million (0.4%)
- Poland: $4.2 million (0.4%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 96.9% of globally exported cinnamon in 2021.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing cinnamon exporters since 2020 were: Netherlands (up 37.9%), Spain (up 31.8%), Madagascar (up 24.1%) and the United States of America (up 17.8%).
Four top international suppliers posted declines in their exported cinnamon sales namely United Arab Emirates (down -61.4%), France (down -13.1%), mainland China (down -5.9%) and Germany (down -3.8%).
Countries Reaping Largest Trade Surpluses from Cinnamon
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for cinnamon 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 cinnamon and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- China: US$273.7 million (net export surplus down -5.6% since 2020)
- Sri Lanka: $247.4 million (up 14.3%)
- Indonesia: $139.5 million (up 2.5%)
- Vietnam: $82.3 million (down -60.5%)
- Madagascar: $5.4 million (up 24.1%)
- Netherlands: $2.3 million (reversing a -$2 million deficit)
- Tanzania: $1.1 million (up 12.5%)
- Nepal: $664,000 (up 57.3%)
- Myanmar: $528,000 (up 363.2%)
- Seychelles: $135,000 (up 365.5%)
- Liberia: $133,000 (reversing a -$7,000 deficit)
- Afghanistan: $75,000 (reversing a -$235,000 deficit)
- Grenada: $38,000 (up 216.7%)
- Turkmenistan: $38,000 (reversing a -$2,000 deficit)
- Laos: $34,000 (down -78.5%)
Mainland China generated the highest surplus in the international trade of cinnamon. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms China’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Causing Worst Trade Deficits from Cinnamon
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for cinnamon 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 cinnamon purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$167.8 million (net export deficit up 20.4% since 2020)
- India: -$98 million (down -0.8%)
- Mexico: -$85.8 million (up 18.7%)
- Bangladesh: -$20.2 million (down -40.1%)
- Peru: -$17.3 million (down -35.8%)
- Canada: -$17 million (up 25.2%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$14.1 million (down -16%)
- Germany: -$12.6 million (up 96.3%)
- United Kingdom: -$12.6 million (up 0.02%)
- Iran: -$12.3 million (down -4.1%)
- Colombia: -$11.7 million (up 11.6%)
- Brazil: -$10.9 million (down -12.6%)
- Japan: -$10.7 million (up 5.9%)
- Pakistan: -$9.7 million (down -7.6%)
- Malaysia: -$9 million (up 1.2%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of cinnamon. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for cinnamon-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful consumer demand.
Cinnamon-Sticks Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following suppliers are examples of cinnamon-sticks trading exporters. The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.
- CV Kerinci Agro (Indonesia)
- G.P. De Silva Spices (United States)
- Justingredients (United Kingdom)
- Nature’s Agro Products Lanka Co. (Sri Lanka)
- RKR Exports (India)
- Vietnam Hanfimex Corp. (Vietnam)
- Wuzhou Hengsheng Trading Co. (China)
- Yehiawy (Egypt)
Searchable List of Cinnamon Exporting Countries in 2021
By value, the 100 countries showcased in the following automated database were responsible for 99.996% of globally exported cinnamon during 2021.
| Rank | Exporter | Cinnamon Exports | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $275,620,000 | -5.9% |
| 2. | Vietnam | $251,977,000 | +5.8% |
| 3. | Sri Lanka | $247,368,000 | +14.3% |
| 4. | Indonesia | $160,694,000 | +6.2% |
| 5. | Netherlands | $30,489,000 | +37.9% |
| 6. | United States | $17,479,000 | +17.8% |
| 7. | Germany | $14,957,000 | -3.8% |
| 8. | India | $11,235,000 | +16.1% |
| 9. | France | $7,072,000 | -13.1% |
| 10. | United Arab Emirates | $5,729,000 | -61.4% |
| 11. | Madagascar | $5,377,000 | +24.1% |
| 12. | Spain | $4,849,000 | +31.8% |
| 13. | Austria | $4,622,000 | +7.4% |
| 14. | United Kingdom | $4,538,000 | +13.4% |
| 15. | Poland | $4,220,000 | +1.9% |
| 16. | Sweden | $2,472,000 | +8.7% |
| 17. | Turkey | $2,441,000 | +57.3% |
| 18. | Czech Republic | $2,106,000 | +7.9% |
| 19. | Nepal | $2,045,000 | +26.4% |
| 20. | Estonia | $1,855,000 | -0.5% |
| 21. | Belgium | $1,822,000 | +89.2% |
| 22. | Portugal | $1,719,000 | -3.5% |
| 23. | Singapore | $1,530,000 | +7.4% |
| 24. | Canada | $1,472,000 | +54% |
| 25. | Malaysia | $1,382,000 | +32.9% |
| 26. | Italy | $1,351,000 | +40.4% |
| 27. | Tanzania | $1,257,000 | +20.1% |
| 28. | Denmark | $914,000 | +144.4% |
| 29. | Israel | $881,000 | -24.6% |
| 30. | Romania | $862,000 | +130.5% |
| 31. | Guatemala | $836,000 | +8.2% |
| 32. | Latvia | $736,000 | +37.3% |
| 33. | Russia | $546,000 | -3.2% |
| 34. | Myanmar | $528,000 | +355.2% |
| 35. | Thailand | $426,000 | +26.8% |
| 36. | Hungary | $374,000 | +94.8% |
| 37. | Australia | $360,000 | +20.4% |
| 38. | Croatia | $330,000 | +1.2% |
| 39. | Colombia | $310,000 | +1622% |
| 40. | Slovakia | $307,000 | -15% |
| 41. | Bulgaria | $253,000 | +42.9% |
| 42. | Greece | $224,000 | +23.8% |
| 43. | South Africa | $220,000 | +23.6% |
| 44. | Chile | $218,000 | 0% |
| 45. | El Salvador | $203,000 | +18% |
| 46. | Costa Rica | $182,000 | -25.1% |
| 47. | Peru | $161,000 | 0% |
| 48. | Uganda | $156,000 | +5100% |
| 49. | Lithuania | $151,000 | +39.8% |
| 50. | Finland | $146,000 | -5.2% |
| 51. | Liberia | $143,000 | 0% |
| 52. | Seychelles | $143,000 | +240.5% |
| 53. | Serbia | $137,000 | -2.8% |
| 54. | Jordan | $127,000 | -82.9% |
| 55. | Ecuador | $120,000 | +26.3% |
| 56. | Afghanistan | $113,000 | 0% |
| 57. | Hong Kong | $109,000 | -35.9% |
| 58. | South Korea | $109,000 | +41.6% |
| 59. | Bangladesh | $102,000 | +12.1% |
| 60. | Switzerland | $100,000 | -59% |
| 61. | Kenya | $93,000 | +31% |
| 62. | Mexico | $84,000 | +61.5% |
| 63. | Dominican Republic | $83,000 | -59.3% |
| 64. | Cayman Islands | $79,000 | 0% |
| 65. | Trinidad/Tobago | $64,000 | +120.7% |
| 66. | Ukraine | $62,000 | +6.9% |
| 67. | Lebanon | $61,000 | -9% |
| 68. | Egypt | $54,000 | +25.6% |
| 69. | Brazil | $49,000 | +32.4% |
| 70. | Norway | $47,000 | +370% |
| 71. | Turkmenistan | $43,000 | 0% |
| 72. | Grenada | $43,000 | +230.8% |
| 73. | Bahrain | $37,000 | -42.2% |
| 74. | Iran | $36,000 | +157.1% |
| 75. | Laos | $34,000 | -78.5% |
| 76. | New Zealand | $30,000 | +7.1% |
| 77. | Pakistan | $29,000 | +222.2% |
| 78. | Bolivia | $25,000 | -7.4% |
| 79. | Ireland | $22,000 | +144.4% |
| 80. | Morocco | $19,000 | +11.8% |
| 81. | Slovenia | $18,000 | 0% |
| 82. | Philippines | $17,000 | 0% |
| 83. | Ethiopia | $17,000 | -89.8% |
| 84. | Saint Lucia | $14,000 | -36.4% |
| 85. | Syria | $13,000 | -18.8% |
| 86. | Saudi Arabia | $12,000 | 0% |
| 87. | Nicaragua | $12,000 | -91.3% |
| 88. | Belarus | $12,000 | -7.7% |
| 89. | Panama | $9,000 | +125% |
| 90. | Cambodia | $8,000 | 0% |
| 91. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $8,000 | -38.5% |
| 92. | Honduras | $8,000 | -60% |
| 93. | Taiwan | $7,000 | -36.4% |
| 94. | Luxembourg | $7,000 | +75% |
| 95. | Nigeria | $7,000 | -58.8% |
| 96. | Ivory Coast | $6,000 | 0% |
| 97. | Dominica | $4,000 | -42.9% |
| 98. | Uzbekistan | $4,000 | -33.3% |
| 99. | Kazakhstan | $3,000 | 0% |
| 100. | Iraq | $2,000 | 0% |
The fastest year-over-year gainers were Uganda (up 5,100% from 2020), Colombia (up 1,622%), Norway (up 370%), Myanmar also called Burma (up 355.2%), Seychelles (up 240.5%), Grenada (up 230.8%) then Pakistan (up 222.2%).
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 Top Exported Spices by Sales, Weight and Unit Value, Sugar Exports by Country, Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Coffee and Top Peppermint Exports & Imports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 17, 2022
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on July 17, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 17, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 17, 2022
Wikipedia, Cinnamon. Accessed on July 17, 2022
