The overall value of cotton exports grew by an average 10.3% for all exporting countries from five years earlier in 2020 when cotton shipments were worth a total $47.7 billion.
Year over year, the dollar value for total cotton shipments shrank by -1.4% compared to $53.3 billion during 2023.
The largest exporters of cotton are mainland China, India, United States of America, Brazil and Vietnam. Combined, that powerful cohort of leading cotton shippers generated three-fifths (60.3%) of globally exported cotton in 2024.
From a continental perspective, suppliers located in Asia generated the highest portion of worldwide cotton exports at 58.1% of the global total. Sources based in North America provided another 12.3% worth, trailed by exporters in Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean at 11.4% then those in Europe (9.1%).
Smaller percentages came from providers in Oceania (4.8%) mainly Australia, and Africa (4.3%).
For research purposes, the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for cotton is 52. This broad classification includes raw cotton, cotton yarn, thread and woven fabrics.
Top Cotton Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of cotton during 2024.
- mainland China: US$10.8 billion (20.6% of total cotton exports)
- India: $6.5 billion (12.4%)
- United States: $6.2 billion (11.7%)
- Brazil: $5.3 billion (10.1%)
- Vietnam: $2.9 billion (5.4%)
- Pakistan: $2.7 billion (5.1%)
- Australia: $2.5 billion (4.8%)
- Uzbekistan: $2.3 billion (4.4%)
- Türkiye: $2.2 billion (4.1%)
- Italy: $1.1 billion (2.1%)
- Germany: $605.9 million (1.2%)
- Benin: $525.7 million (1%)
- Spain: $502.5 million (1%)
- Greece: $486.4 million (0.9%)
- Egypt: $475.3 million (0.9%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 85.8% of cotton exported in 2024.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing cotton exporters from 2023 were: Brazil (up 65%), Uzbekistan (up 37%from 2023), Türkiye (up 3.8%) and Benin (up 1.9%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported cotton sales were led by: Germany (down -16.6% from 2023), United States of America (down -15.3%), Australia (down -14.4%), Pakistan (down -12.8%) and Egypt (down -9.1%).
Searchable List of Cotton Exporting Countries in 2024
By value, the top 100 cotton exporters in the table below accounted for 99.9% of cotton shipped in 2024.
| Rank | Exporter | Exported Cotton | 2023-4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | mainland China | $10,839,636,000 | +1.6% |
| 2. | India | $6,543,318,000 | +0.7% |
| 3. | United States | $6,177,245,000 | -15.3% |
| 4. | Brazil | $5,289,442,000 | +65% |
| 5. | Vietnam | $2,859,812,000 | -6.2% |
| 6. | Pakistan | $2,683,354,000 | -12.8% |
| 7. | Australia | $2,528,195,000 | -14.4% |
| 8. | Uzbekistan | $2,313,238,000 | +37% |
| 9. | Türkiye | $2,178,998,000 | +3.8% |
| 10. | Italy | $1,099,084,000 | -6.3% |
| 11. | Germany | $605,875,000 | -16.6% |
| 12. | Benin | $525,661,000 | +1.9% |
| 13. | Spain | $502,506,000 | -8.1% |
| 14. | Greece | $486,419,000 | +1.3% |
| 15. | Egypt | $475,259,000 | -9.1% |
| 16. | Austria | $425,563,000 | -11.8% |
| 17. | Indonesia | $415,310,000 | -14.1% |
| 18. | Burkina Faso | $335,504,000 | +29.1% |
| 19. | Malaysia | $319,759,000 | +10.1% |
| 20. | South Korea | $303,035,000 | -6.8% |
| 21. | Ivory Coast | $294,469,000 | +31.3% |
| 22. | Netherlands | $286,816,000 | -16.8% |
| 23. | Mexico | $273,262,000 | -33.6% |
| 24. | France | $268,018,000 | -14.4% |
| 25. | Hong Kong | $261,746,000 | -4.6% |
| 26. | Japan | $260,866,000 | -2.8% |
| 27. | Thailand | $235,251,000 | -12.8% |
| 28. | Afghanistan | $226,525,000 | +64.6% |
| 29. | Azerbaijan | $213,523,000 | +30.2% |
| 30. | Portugal | $186,455,000 | -5.2% |
| 31. | Taiwan | $185,905,000 | -17.9% |
| 32. | United Kingdom | $166,839,000 | -17% |
| 33. | Kazakhstan | $160,801,000 | +8.3% |
| 34. | Argentina | $159,042,000 | +191.5% |
| 35. | Belgium | $155,160,000 | -26.2% |
| 36. | Bangladesh | $132,262,000 | -9.8% |
| 37. | Dominican Republic | $122,662,000 | -21% |
| 38. | Turkmenistan | $120,356,000 | -21.8% |
| 39. | Czech Republic | $106,138,000 | -16.3% |
| 40. | Costa Rica | $99,256,000 | +53.1% |
| 41. | Sudan | $93,954,000 | -61.9% |
| 42. | Guatemala | $91,873,000 | +15.7% |
| 43. | El Salvador | $89,353,000 | -15% |
| 44. | Tanzania | $76,623,000 | -26.8% |
| 45. | Switzerland | $76,185,000 | -31.9% |
| 46. | Togo | $72,407,000 | +8.8% |
| 47. | Romania | $71,588,000 | -13.2% |
| 48. | Tajikistan | $71,334,000 | -71.4% |
| 49. | Denmark | $67,483,000 | +6.1% |
| 50. | Mali | $62,953,000 | -80.6% |
| 51. | South Africa | $58,933,000 | +25.2% |
| 52. | Poland | $58,029,000 | -31.2% |
| 53. | Syria | $51,896,000 | +5.6% |
| 54. | Paraguay | $49,813,000 | +60.4% |
| 55. | Hungary | $45,162,000 | +10.3% |
| 56. | Nicaragua | $44,460,000 | -4% |
| 57. | Israel | $40,074,000 | -19.2% |
| 58. | Bulgaria | $37,049,000 | -11.5% |
| 59. | Cameroon | $36,840,000 | -84.9% |
| 60. | Kyrgyzstan | $31,855,000 | -26.7% |
| 61. | Lesotho | $28,429,000 | +4.8% |
| 62. | Canada | $22,983,000 | +0.6% |
| 63. | Peru | $22,509,000 | -33.7% |
| 64. | Ethiopia | $22,246,000 | +90.6% |
| 65. | Ecuador | $21,958,000 | +45.2% |
| 66. | Mauritius | $20,945,000 | -1% |
| 67. | Uganda | $19,067,000 | -32.9% |
| 68. | Morocco | $18,808,000 | -50% |
| 69. | Zimbabwe | $18,331,000 | -47.3% |
| 70. | Mozambique | $17,572,000 | -53.3% |
| 71. | Cambodia | $17,500,000 | +16% |
| 72. | Russia | $16,696,000 | -9% |
| 73. | Lithuania | $15,021,000 | -34.8% |
| 74. | Zambia | $14,576,000 | -46.9% |
| 75. | Myanmar | $14,078,000 | -47.5% |
| 76. | Chad | $13,977,000 | +29.4% |
| 77. | Singapore | $12,625,000 | -23.5% |
| 78. | Colombia | $12,445,000 | -27.9% |
| 79. | Sri Lanka | $11,481,000 | -82% |
| 80. | Croatia | $11,187,000 | +12.1% |
| 81. | Senegal | $10,925,000 | -21.6% |
| 82. | Slovenia | $10,438,000 | -35.7% |
| 83. | Mauritania | $10,101,000 | +26.8% |
| 84. | Nigeria | $9,997,000 | -41% |
| 85. | Sweden | $9,563,000 | -37.1% |
| 86. | Bahrain | $9,302,000 | -2.5% |
| 87. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $8,526,000 | -11.3% |
| 88. | Norway | $8,048,000 | +18.2% |
| 89. | Tunisia | $7,823,000 | -63.7% |
| 90. | North Macedonia | $7,786,000 | -1.8% |
| 91. | Serbia | $7,382,000 | -7.6% |
| 92. | Slovakia | $7,336,000 | +49.8% |
| 93. | Venezuela | $5,598,000 | -5.1% |
| 94. | Madagascar | $5,509,000 | -30.6% |
| 95. | Algeria | $5,104,000 | +8.1% |
| 96. | Estonia | $3,773,000 | -12.1% |
| 97. | Latvia | $3,723,000 | -17.1% |
| 98. | Finland | $3,591,000 | -22.8% |
| 99. | United Arab Emirates | $3,339,000 | -94.4% |
| 100. | New Zealand | $2,996,000 | +249.2% |
Posting the strongest percentage gains in their international sales of cotton were suppliers in New Zealand (up 249.2% from 2023), Argentina (up 191.5%), Ethiopia (up 90.6%), Brazil (up 65%) then Afghanistan (up 64.6%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns above. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means no 2023 data was available.
Countries Earning Largest Trade Surpluses from Cotton
The following countries recorded the highest positive net exports for cotton during 2024. 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 cotton and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- United States: US$5.4 billion (net export surplus down -17.3% since 2022)
- India: $5.3 billion (down -6.3%)
- Brazil: $5.1 billion (up 66.4%)
- Australia: $2.5 billion (down -14.5%)
- Uzbekistan: $2.3 billion (up 36.9%)
- Pakistan: $1.8 billion (down -15.2%)
- mainland China: $1.5 billion (down -10.3%)
- Benin: $507.1 million (up 3.5%)
- Greece: $414.8 million (up 5.5%)
- Burkina Faso: $329.8 million (up 30.7%)
- Ivory Coast: $262.8 million (up 38.8%)
- Azerbaijan: $203.9 million (up 30.5%)
- Afghanistan: $187.7 million (up 72.1%)
- Austria: $169.1 million (up 16.6%)
- Italy: $145.3 million (up 26.5%)
The United States of America generated the highest surplus in the international trade of cotton. In turn, these positive cashflows confirm these leading countries’ strong competitive advantages for this specific product category.
Countries Causing Worst Trade Deficits from Cotton
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for cotton during 2024. 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 cotton purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Bangladesh: -US$7.6 billion (net export deficit up 9.2% since 2022)
- Vietnam: -$2 billion (up 65.4%)
- Indonesia: -$1.1 billion (up 4%)
- Russia: -$929.8 million (up 25.1%)
- Cambodia: -$748.5 million (up 36.9%)
- Nigeria: -$663.3 million (up 13308.7%)
- Sri Lanka: -$586.2 million (up 28.3%)
- Mexico: -$532.6 million (up 31.7%)
- Morocco: -$504.4 million (down -11.3%)
- South Korea: -$483.4 million (down -3.2%)
- Colombia: -$434.4 million (up 34.7%)
- Tunisia: -$408.6 million (down -31%)
- Portugal: -$397.8 million (up 9.3%)
- Egypt: -$393.2 million (up 136.1%)
- Guatemala: -$379.6 million (up 20.4%)
A world leader in manufacturing apparel, Bangladesh incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of cotton–a key component for making a wide range of clothing and related articles. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Bangladesh’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for cotton-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful Bangladeshi demand.
See also Cotton Imports by Country, T-shirt Exports by Country, Leather Shoes Exports by Country, Top Exported Baby Clothing Sales and Top Exported Hats by Country
Research Sources:
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 17, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 17, 2025
Wikipedia, Cotton. Accessed on July 17, 2025