From 2019 to 2020, the dollar value for total cotton shipments depreciated by -11.1%.
The biggest exporters of cotton (China, United States, India, Brazil, Vietnam) accounted for almost two-thirds (64.7%) of globally exported cotton in 2020.
From a continental perspective, Asian suppliers generated the highest portion of worldwide cotton exports at 62% of the global total. Sources in North America provided 16.1% worth, trailed by exporters in Europe at 10.6%.
Smaller percentages came from Latin America (7.9%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (2.7%) then Oceania (0,7%) mainly Australia.
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
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of cotton during 2020.
- China: US$11 billion (23.8% of total cotton exports)
- United States: $7 billion (15.2%)
- India: $5.8 billion (12.6%)
- Brazil: $3.3 billion (7.2%)
- Vietnam: $2.7 billion (5.8%)
- Pakistan: $2.6 billion (5.7%)
- Turkey: $1.5 billion (3.2%)
- Uzbekistan: $1.2 billion (2.6%)
- Italy: $979.7 million (2.1%)
- Germany: $689.5 million (1.5%)
- Hong Kong: $687.5 million (1.5%)
- Indonesia: $644.8 million (1.4%)
- Spain: $502.7 million (1.1%)
- Greece: $485.8 million (1.1%)
- Austria: $410.5 million (0.9%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 85.7% of globally exported cotton in 2020.
Among the top cotton exporters, the lone growth supplier from 2019 to 2020 was Brazil via a 19.4% increase.
Those countries that posted declines in their exported cotton sales were led by: Hong Kong (down -38.1%), Spain (down -23.8%), Greece (down -23.7%), Italy (down -22.6%) and China (down -22.2%).
Advantages
The following countries recorded the highest positive net exports for cotton 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 exported cotton and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- United States: US$6.1 billion (net export surplus down -13.3% since 2019)
- India: $5.3 billion (up 19.6%)
- Brazil: $3.2 billion (up 20.7%)
- China: $2.7 billion (down -44.6%)
- Pakistan: $1.2 billion (down -48.3%)
- Uzbekistan: $1 billion (no 2015 data)
- Greece: $415.2 million (down -25.2%)
- Australia: $253.5 million (down -76%)
- Turkmenistan: $176.7 million (down -27.6%)
- Spain: $175.9 million (down -31.6%)
- Tajikistan: $172.3 million (down -3%)
- Italy: $163.2 million (down -29.1%)
- Austria: $156.4 million (down -3.9%)
- Azerbaijan: $150.6 million (down -1.2%)
- Afghanistan: $106.5 million (up 1,157%)
The United States, India, Brazil and China posted the highest surpluses in the international trade of cotton. In turn, these positive cashflows confirm these leading countries’ strong competitive advantages for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for cotton 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 imported cotton purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Bangladesh: -US$4.8 billion (net export deficit down -24.8% since 2019)
- Vietnam: -$1.3 billion (up 1.9%)
- Turkey: -$1.1 billion (up 20.4%)
- Indonesia: -$683.0 million (down -43.5%)
- Honduras: -$515.1 million (up 5,029%)
- South Korea: -$507.2 million (down -15.7%)
- Russia: -$472.7 million (down -4.5%)
- Sri Lanka: -$452.2 million (down -26.4%)
- Cambodia: -$441.5 million (down -31.4%)
- Morocco: -$366.2 million (down -18.5%)
- Portugal: -$358.9 million (down -13.9%)
- Tunisia: -$332.8 million (down -41%)
- Togo: -$291.1 million (reversing a $60.4 million surplus)
- Iran: -$253.3 million (down -14.3%)
- Poland: -$250.5 million (down -4.1%)
A world leader manufacturing apparel, Bangladesh incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of cotton–a key component for making a wide range of clothing and related articles. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Bangladesh’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for cotton-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful Bangladeshi demand.
Searchable List of Cotton Exporting Countries in 2020
By value, the top 100 cotton exporters in the table below accounted for 99.9% of cotton shipped in 2020.
| Rank | Exporter | Exported Cotton (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $11,000,906,000 | -22.2% |
| 2. | United States | $7,013,425,000 | -11.3% |
| 3. | India | $5,809,190,000 | -3.2% |
| 4. | Brazil | $3,319,722,000 | +19.4% |
| 5. | Vietnam | $2,692,468,000 | -11.9% |
| 6. | Pakistan | $2,642,547,000 | -18.7% |
| 7. | Turkey | $1,463,452,000 | -15.5% |
| 8. | Uzbekistan | $1,200,138,000 | -7.2% |
| 9. | Italy | $979,727,000 | -22.6% |
| 10. | Germany | $689,528,000 | -15.3% |
| 11. | Hong Kong | $687,516,000 | -38.1% |
| 12. | Indonesia | $644,785,000 | -15.9% |
| 13. | Spain | $502,734,000 | -23.8% |
| 14. | Greece | $485,800,000 | -23.7% |
| 15. | Austria | $410,509,000 | -3.8% |
| 16. | Egypt | $403,096,000 | -14.5% |
| 17. | Mexico | $384,247,000 | -19.4% |
| 18. | South Korea | $373,629,000 | -6.7% |
| 19. | Thailand | $327,610,000 | -26.1% |
| 20. | Australia | $318,776,000 | -71.2% |
| 21. | Japan | $315,257,000 | -26.2% |
| 22. | Netherlands | $277,107,000 | -7.1% |
| 23. | Malaysia | $246,192,000 | -26.3% |
| 24. | Taiwan | $242,552,000 | -38.1% |
| 25. | Belgium | $234,864,000 | -13.7% |
| 26. | France | $234,532,000 | -13.4% |
| 27. | United Kingdom | $184,021,000 | -8.7% |
| 28. | Turkmenistan | $177,509,000 | -27.6% |
| 29. | Tajikistan | $173,850,000 | -4.6% |
| 30. | Portugal | $169,778,000 | -1.4% |
| 31. | Azerbaijan | $156,842,000 | -1% |
| 32. | Switzerland | $148,143,000 | +3.4% |
| 33. | Sudan | $123,457,000 | -8.1% |
| 34. | Afghanistan | $118,879,000 | +332.1% |
| 35. | Argentina | $110,430,000 | -10.9% |
| 36. | Tanzania | $108,599,000 | +175.1% |
| 37. | Ivory Coast | $107,771,000 | -72.2% |
| 38. | Czech Republic | $103,444,000 | -20% |
| 39. | Kazakhstan | $99,926,000 | -11.5% |
| 40. | Benin | $71,378,000 | -84.7% |
| 41. | Bangladesh | $62,971,000 | -24.8% |
| 42. | Romania | $60,692,000 | +15.7% |
| 43. | Russia | $60,181,000 | +5.1% |
| 44. | Poland | $57,655,000 | +10.6% |
| 45. | El Salvador | $53,677,000 | -32.3% |
| 46. | Burkina Faso | $52,121,000 | -85.3% |
| 47. | Denmark | $51,092,000 | +43.2% |
| 48. | Hungary | $50,919,000 | -3.1% |
| 49. | Mali | $49,989,000 | -88.2% |
| 50. | South Africa | $43,529,000 | -29.2% |
| 51. | Syrian Arab Republic | $40,175,000 | +473.7% |
| 52. | Uganda | $37,539,000 | -38.6% |
| 53. | Guatemala | $34,400,000 | -36.8% |
| 54. | Morocco | $34,139,000 | -2.6% |
| 55. | Bulgaria | $33,355,000 | -0.4% |
| 56. | Mauritius | $31,681,000 | -46.5% |
| 57. | Togo | $31,564,000 | -74.8% |
| 58. | Zimbabwe | $30,077,000 | -27.7% |
| 59. | Belarus | $29,624,000 | -14.3% |
| 60. | Myanmar | $27,693,000 | +4.1% |
| 61. | Lithuania | $27,464,000 | -14.7% |
| 62. | Kyrgyzstan | $26,916,000 | -26.5% |
| 63. | Canada | $25,125,000 | +11.2% |
| 64. | Costa Rica | $25,057,000 | -30.5% |
| 65. | Honduras | $23,277,000 | +4,064% |
| 66. | Mozambique | $21,292,000 | -47.7% |
| 67. | Singapore | $20,546,000 | -26.8% |
| 68. | Slovenia | $20,461,000 | -13.1% |
| 69. | Israel | $19,687,000 | -54.1% |
| 70. | Zambia | $17,731,000 | -66.6% |
| 71. | Ecuador | $17,621,000 | -18.9% |
| 72. | Peru | $16,086,000 | -44.1% |
| 73. | Nigeria | $14,995,000 | +167.9% |
| 74. | Sweden | $14,930,000 | -3.3% |
| 75. | Cameroon | $13,852,000 | -83.7% |
| 76. | North Macedonia | $13,239,000 | -8.6% |
| 77. | Lesotho | $13,013,000 | -34.8% |
| 78. | Tunisia | $12,913,000 | -65.1% |
| 79. | Nicaragua | $11,251,000 | +4.6% |
| 80. | Senegal | $10,136,000 | -15.6% |
| 81. | Croatia | $9,900,000 | -16.3% |
| 82. | Cambodia | $9,392,000 | +231.5% |
| 83. | Colombia | $8,247,000 | -58.7% |
| 84. | Finland | $7,483,000 | -22% |
| 85. | Paraguay | $6,984,000 | +11.3% |
| 86. | Algeria | $6,867,000 | +3.1% |
| 87. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $6,693,000 | -10.1% |
| 88. | Latvia | $6,420,000 | -7.8% |
| 89. | Norway | $6,215,000 | +34.2% |
| 90. | Oman | $5,936,000 | +39% |
| 91. | Western Sahara | $5,606,000 | 0% |
| 92. | Serbia | $5,560,000 | -11.8% |
| 93. | Philippines | $5,363,000 | +150.7% |
| 94. | Chad | $5,215,000 | +267.5% |
| 95. | Slovakia | $5,207,000 | -2.5% |
| 96. | Ethiopia | $5,165,000 | -42.7% |
| 97. | Bahrain | $4,995,000 | -89.6% |
| 98. | United Arab Emirates | $4,241,000 | -91.5% |
| 99. | Estonia | $3,772,000 | -15.1% |
| 100. | Sri Lanka | $3,587,000 | -62.6% |
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means no 2019 data was available.
See also Cotton Imports by Country, T-shirt Exports by Country, Leather Shoes Exports by Country and Top Exported Baby Clothing Sales
Research Sources:
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 15, 2021
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 15, 2021
Wikipedia, Cotton. Accessed on June 15, 2021
