Year over year, international purchases of corn accelerated via a 35.5% uptick from $41.2 billion during 2020.
The 5 biggest importers of corn in 2021 were mainland China, Mexico, Japan, South Korea and Egypt. That cohort of major corn buyers paid over four-fifths (41.3%) of total international spending on corn imported in 2021.
From a continental perspective, Asian countries spent the most on imported corn during 2021 with purchases costing $27.7 billion or 47.8% of the global total. In second place were European importers at 19.6% while 12.2% of globally imported corn was delivered to Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean. Another 11.3% was sent to importers in North America.
Smaller percentages were sold to Africa (9.1%) and Oceania (0.1%) led by New Zealand and Australia.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for corn is 1005.
Corn Imports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that spent the most on imported corn during 2021.
- China: US$7.6 billion (13.6% of total imported corn)
- Mexico: $5.1 billion (9.2%)
- Japan: $4.7 billion (8.5%)
- South Korea: $3.2 billion (5.8%)
- Egypt: $2.41 billion (4.3%)
- Vietnam: $2.36 billion (4.2%)
- Spain: $2.2 billion (3.9%)
- Colombia: $1.8 billion (3.2%)
- Netherlands: $1.52 billion (2.7%)
- Iran: $1.49 billion (2.7%)
- Italy: $1.4 billion (2.5%)
- Taiwan: $1.3 billion (2.4%)
- Malaysia: $1.12 billion (2%)
- Peru: $1.11 billion (2%)
- Germany: $979.6 million (1.8%)
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for corn since 2020 were: mainland China (up 204.4%), Mexico (up 65.8%), Taiwan (up 49.1%) and Colombia (up 45.4%).
A trio of top buyers posted declines in their imported corn purchases namely Iran (down -40.8%), Germany (down -2.4% from 2020) and Vietnam (down -1.8%).
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased over two-thirds (68.7%) of all corn imported in 2021.
Corn Imports into China
Mainland China’s global purchases of imported corn totaled US$7.58 billion in 2021. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which the People’s Republic imported the highest dollar value worth of corn during 2021. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2020 to 2021.
- United States: US$5.5 billion (up 472.1% from 2020)
- Ukraine: $2.1 billion (up 51.2%)
- Russia: $19.4 million (down -10.3%)
- Myanmar: $8 million (down -79.3%)
- Laos: $2.2 million (down -94.8%)
- France: $1.9 million (down -28.6%)
- Germany: $697,000 (up 255.6%)
- South Africa: $655,000 (up 1.2%)
- Peru: $342,000 (down -57.4%)
- Argentina: $227,000 (up 47.4%)
- Chile: $182,000 (down -46.2%)
- Malaysia: $8,000 (down -42.9%)
- Brazil: $3,000 (down -25%)
- Hungary: $2,000 (down -50%)
- Philippines: $2,000 (down -88.9%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.9999% of corn imported by mainland China in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of corn to China since 2020 were: United States of America (up 472.1%), Germany (up 255.6%), Ukraine (up 51.2%) and Argentina (up 47.4%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their corn supplied to Chinese importers included: Laos (down -94.8%), Philippines (down -88.9%), Myanmar (down -79.3%) and Peru (down -57.4%).
Overall, the value of China’s imported corn accelerated by an average 204.4% from all supplying countries since 2020 when corn purchased cost $2.5 billion.
Corn Imports into Mexico
Mexico’s global purchases of imported corn totaled US$5.12 billion in 2021. Below are the top suppliers from which Mexico imported the highest dollar value worth of corn during 2021. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying from country from 2020 to 2021.
- United States: US$5 billion (up 74.4% from 2020)
- Brazil: $123.6 million (down -43.4%)
- Chile: $3 million (up 25.9%)
- France: $109,000 (down -19.9%)
- Argentina: $37,000 (down -96.5%)
- Germany: $1,000 (2020 data unavailable)
- Hungary: $1,000 (down -80%)
By value, the listed countries shipped 100% of corn imported by Mexico in 2021.
Among the above countries, the suppliers of corn that expanded their sales to Mexico since 2020 were the United States of America (up 74.4%) and Chile (up 25.9%).
Leading the decliners were corn exporters in Argentina (down -96.5%) and Hungary (down -80%).
Overall, the value of Mexico’s imported corn increased by an average 65.8% from all supplying countries since 2020 when corn purchased cost $3.1 billion.
Corn Imports into Japan
Japan’s global purchases of imported corn totaled US$4.74 billion in 2021. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Japan imported the highest dollar value worth of corn during 2021. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2020 to 2021.
- United States: US$3.4 billion (up 63.8% from 2020)
- Brazil: $673.9 million (down -40.3%)
- Argentina: $379.7 million (up 25,587%)
- South Africa: $221.2 million (up 660%)
- France: $8 million (up 13.8%)
- Russia: $2.6 million (down -82.8%)
- India: $2.1 million (down -8.8%)
- Peru: $1.9 million (down -16.6%)
- Chile: $1.6 million (up 31.6%)
- New Zealand: $834,000 (down -5.9%)
- Austria: $627,000 (up 850%)
- Germany: $570,000 (up 19.2%)
- Australia: $404,000 (2020 data unavailable)
- Italy: $332,000 (up 70.3%)
- Ukraine: $286,000 (up 2,100%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.980% of corn imported by Japan in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of corn to Japan since 2020 were: Argentina (up 25,587%), Ukraine (up 2,100%), Austria (up 850%) and South Africa (up 660%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their corn supplied to Japanese importers included: Russia (down -82.8%), Brazil (down -40.3%), Peru (down -16.6%) and India (down -8.8%).
Overall, the value of Japan’s imported corn advanced by an average 43.9% from all supplying countries since 2020 when corn purchased cost $3.3 billion.
Corn Imports into South Korea
South Korea’s global purchases of imported corn totaled US$3.22 billion in 2021. Below are the top 15 suppliers from which South Korea imported the highest dollar value worth of corn during 2021. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2020 to 2021.
- Argentina: US$1.3 billion (up 138.3% from 2020)
- United States: $841.8 million (up 31.4%)
- Brazil: $419 million (up 18.3%)
- Russia: $152.7 million (up 185%)
- Serbia: $137.5 million (up 5.3%)
- Bulgaria: $117.2 million (up 239.4%)
- South Africa: $104.2 million (up 44.5%)
- Ukraine: $59.1 million (down -85.2%)
- Paraguay: $39.1 million (down -43.9%)
- Australia: $26.7 million (up 70%)
- Hungary: $26.1 million (up 153.1%)
- Romania: $12.8 million (down -73.5%)
- Bhutan: $1.7 million (2020 data unavailable)
- New Zealand: $1.4 million (up 11.4%)
- Antigua/Barbuda: $807,000 (2020 data unavailable)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.95% of corn imported by South Korea in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of corn to South Korea since 2020 were: Bulgaria (up 239.4%), Russia (up 185%), Hungary (up 153.1%) and Argentina (up 138.3%).
Three top exporters experienced declines in the value of their corn supplied to Korean importers namely Ukraine (down -85.2%), Romania (down -73.5%) and Paraguay (down -43.9%).
Overall, the value of South Korea’s imported corn went up by an average 36% from all supplying countries since 2020 when corn purchased cost $2.4 billion.
Searchable List of Corn Importing Countries in 2021
The 100 key importers in the automated database below represent 99.3% of global spending on imported corn during 2021.
| Rank | Importer | Corn Imports (US$) | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $7,581,504,000 | +204.4% |
| 2. | Mexico | $5,123,692,000 | +65.8% |
| 3. | Japan | $4,741,027,000 | +43.9% |
| 4. | South Korea | $3,223,894,000 | +36% |
| 5. | Egypt | $2,411,130,000 | +28.2% |
| 6. | Vietnam | $2,358,235,000 | -1.8% |
| 7. | Spain | $2,199,447,000 | +33% |
| 8. | Colombia | $1,775,572,000 | +45.4% |
| 9. | Netherlands | $1,517,305,000 | +17.6% |
| 10. | Iran | $1,492,874,000 | -40.8% |
| 11. | Italy | $1,403,544,000 | +15.7% |
| 12. | Taiwan | $1,324,446,000 | +49.1% |
| 13. | Malaysia | $1,124,660,000 | +42.1% |
| 14. | Peru | $1,105,491,000 | +41.8% |
| 15. | Germany | $979,557,000 | -2.4% |
| 16. | Algeria | $823,493,000 | -1% |
| 17. | Canada | $818,249,000 | +80.2% |
| 18. | Saudi Arabia | $799,971,000 | +22.3% |
| 19. | Brazil | $733,644,000 | +261.3% |
| 20. | United Kingdom | $726,078,000 | +17.2% |
| 21. | Chile | $709,597,000 | +23.9% |
| 22. | Turkey | $680,343,000 | +40.2% |
| 23. | Morocco | $675,640,000 | +19% |
| 24. | Belgium | $561,660,000 | +26.4% |
| 25. | Portugal | $519,974,000 | +37.3% |
| 26. | Bangladesh | $471,707,000 | +13.3% |
| 27. | Dominican Republic | $428,747,000 | +64.6% |
| 28. | Guatemala | $426,830,000 | +38.9% |
| 29. | Thailand | $409,268,000 | +43.1% |
| 30. | Romania | $357,174,000 | -2.4% |
| 31. | Israel | $357,128,000 | -0.2% |
| 32. | United States | $343,623,000 | +1.8% |
| 33. | France | $341,953,000 | +8.7% |
| 34. | Ireland | $320,898,000 | +17.6% |
| 35. | Austria | $311,067,000 | +33.9% |
| 36. | Iraq | $302,080,000 | +106.4% |
| 37. | Indonesia | $297,296,000 | +72.2% |
| 38. | Tunisia | $283,193,000 | +42.1% |
| 39. | Costa Rica | $226,828,000 | +16.8% |
| 40. | Hungary | $226,167,000 | +72.4% |
| 41. | Honduras | $223,496,000 | +41.8% |
| 42. | Venezuela | $214,602,000 | -30.6% |
| 43. | Greece | $200,793,000 | +29% |
| 44. | Jordan | $192,542,000 | +18% |
| 45. | El Salvador | $186,229,000 | +26.1% |
| 46. | Poland | $184,737,000 | -3.4% |
| 47. | Philippines | $177,240,000 | -16.6% |
| 48. | Yemen | $167,722,000 | +45.8% |
| 49. | United Arab Emirates | $167,684,000 | +32.1% |
| 50. | Libya | $158,587,000 | +14.9% |
| 51. | Panama | $157,658,000 | +47.9% |
| 52. | Nicaragua | $154,089,000 | +82.5% |
| 53. | Nepal | $145,053,000 | +6.8% |
| 54. | Lebanon | $135,233,000 | +14.8% |
| 55. | Oman | $125,937,000 | +94.1% |
| 56. | Kenya | $123,770,000 | +79.8% |
| 57. | Cuba | $111,482,000 | -17.6% |
| 58. | Russia | $110,914,000 | -16.4% |
| 59. | Ukraine | $89,451,000 | -15.2% |
| 60. | Cyprus | $82,326,000 | +35.3% |
| 61. | Czech Republic | $80,802,000 | +22.2% |
| 62. | Cambodia | $80,358,000 | +22.9% |
| 63. | Paraguay | $79,386,000 | +55% |
| 64. | Zimbabwe | $78,519,000 | -73.7% |
| 65. | Jamaica | $76,817,000 | +36% |
| 66. | Bulgaria | $74,539,000 | +31.7% |
| 67. | Pakistan | $73,033,000 | +28.7% |
| 68. | Slovakia | $69,237,000 | +36.6% |
| 69. | Slovenia | $67,479,000 | +46.5% |
| 70. | Denmark | $67,124,000 | -8.1% |
| 71. | Senegal | $64,683,000 | -11.4% |
| 72. | Switzerland | $64,554,000 | +51% |
| 73. | Botswana | $61,827,000 | +3.8% |
| 74. | Ecuador | $58,547,000 | +31.7% |
| 75. | Belarus | $58,155,000 | +4.3% |
| 76. | Angola | $46,965,000 | +209.5% |
| 77. | Mozambique | $46,534,000 | -18.4% |
| 78. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $43,662,000 | +17.2% |
| 79. | Croatia | $42,498,000 | +17.7% |
| 80. | Lithuania | $39,051,000 | -35.9% |
| 81. | Eswatini | $38,994,000 | +3.6% |
| 82. | Namibia | $38,472,000 | -6.6% |
| 83. | Syria | $37,810,000 | -21.5% |
| 84. | Kuwait | $37,215,000 | -31.6% |
| 85. | Uruguay | $36,275,000 | -29.2% |
| 86. | Ghana | $33,938,000 | +381.3% |
| 87. | South Africa | $31,063,000 | -13.7% |
| 88. | New Zealand | $27,862,000 | -0.1% |
| 89. | Mauritius | $27,319,000 | +2.6% |
| 90. | Myanmar | $26,588,000 | -18.1% |
| 91. | Norway | $26,473,000 | +58.3% |
| 92. | Argentina | $25,252,000 | +54.2% |
| 93. | Latvia | $24,412,000 | +25.9% |
| 94. | Uzbekistan | $23,811,000 | +35.2% |
| 95. | Ivory Coast | $23,644,000 | +512.7% |
| 96. | Trinidad/Tobago | $22,893,000 | +20.9% |
| 97. | Guyana | $22,192,000 | +94.3% |
| 98. | Albania | $21,934,000 | +6.1% |
| 99. | Georgia | $21,397,000 | -11.1% |
| 100. | Serbia | $20,497,000 | +21.5% |
The fastest gainers from 2020 to 2021 were corn importers in Ivory Coast (up 512.7%), Ghana (up 381.3%), Brazil (up 261.3%), Angola (up 209.5%) and mainland China (up 204.4%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the above table columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that no 2020 data was available.
See also Corn Exports by Country, China’s Top Trading Partners, Mexico’s Top Trading Partners, Japan’s Top Trading Partners and South Korea’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Imports – Commodities. Accessed on July 3, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 3, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 3, 2022
Wikipedia, Maize. Accessed on July 3, 2022
