Overall, the value of cotton bought by all importing countries increased by an average 13.7% since 2018 when globally imported cotton was valued at $52.9 billion.
Year over year, the value of worldwide cotton imports rose by 9.2% compared to $55.1 billion for 2021.
The 5 biggest buyers of imported cotton are mainland China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Türkiye and Indonesia. Collectively, that quintet bought roughly half (50.9%) of worldwide spending on cotton imported in 2022.
From a continental perspective, Asian countries bought over two-thirds (67.9%) of overall cotton imports.
Smaller percentages of the global total were imported by buyers in Europe (13.8%), Latin America 8.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (6.2%), North America (3.8%), then Oceania (0.2%) led by Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
For research purposes, the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System code for cotton is 52. This broad category includes raw cotton, cotton yarn, thread and woven fabrics.
Top Cotton Imports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that purchased the highest dollar value worth of imported cotton during 2022.
- China: US$9.3 billion (15.4% of total imported cotton)
- Bangladesh: $8.6 billion (14.3%)
- Vietnam: $5.6 billion (9.3%)
- Türkiye: $4.8 billion (8%)
- Indonesia: $2.2 billion (3.7%)
- Pakistan: $2.1 billion (3.4%)
- India: $1.7 billion (2.9%)
- Italy: $1.5 billion (2.5%)
- South Korea: $1.23 billion (2%)
- Honduras: $1.17 billion (1.9%)
- Mexico: $1.1 billion (1.9%)
- United States: $1 billion (1.7%)
- Russia: $995.6 million (1.7%)
- Germany: $934.3 million (1.6%)
- Thailand: $931.3 million (1.5%)
  ;
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased 72% of all cotton imported in 2022.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for cotton from 2021 to 2022 were: Honduras (up 6,454%), India (up 145.6%), Thailand (up 64.1%) and Russia (up 34.2%).
Three major buyer countries posted declines in their imported cotton purchases, namely: mainland China (down -12.2% from 2021), Bangladesh (down -5.3%) and South Korea (down -3.4%).
Searchable List of Cotton Importing Countries in 2022
The 100 major importers of cotton in the table below represent 99.2% of the overall amount spent on imported cotton during 2022.
| Rank | Importer | Cotton Imports | 2021-2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $9,296,332,000 | -12.2% |
| 2. | Bangladesh | $8,633,032,000 | -5.3% |
| 3. | Vietnam | $5,601,659,000 | +14% |
| 4. | Türkiye | $4,842,014,000 | +30.3% |
| 5. | Indonesia | $2,243,500,000 | +20.2% |
| 6. | Pakistan | $2,076,591,000 | +8.7% |
| 7. | India | $1,748,968,000 | +145.6% |
| 8. | Italy | $1,493,482,000 | +30.5% |
| 9. | South Korea | $1,226,437,000 | -3.4% |
| 10. | Honduras | $1,173,243,000 | +6454% |
| 11. | Mexico | $1,141,006,000 | +19% |
| 12. | United States | $1,026,616,000 | +4.2% |
| 13. | Russia | $995,649,000 | +34.2% |
| 14. | Germany | $934,312,000 | +15.6% |
| 15. | Thailand | $931,333,000 | +64.1% |
| 16. | Portugal | $770,630,000 | -2.8% |
| 17. | Sri Lanka | $666,559,000 | -3.2% |
| 18. | Egypt | $633,144,000 | +12.2% |
| 19. | Morocco | $632,071,000 | +7.5% |
| 20. | Japan | $611,283,000 | +23% |
| 21. | Colombia | $597,208,000 | +11.6% |
| 22. | Guatemala | $593,642,000 | +19.6% |
| 23. | Peru | $592,205,000 | +44.5% |
| 24. | Dominican Republic | $558,249,000 | +28.5% |
| 25. | Tunisia | $534,872,000 | -14.6% |
| 26. | Cambodia | $507,933,000 | -5.9% |
| 27. | France | $505,668,000 | +7.6% |
| 28. | Spain | $460,395,000 | +0.5% |
| 29. | Malaysia | $455,186,000 | +24.2% |
| 30. | Poland | $348,355,000 | +0.6% |
| 31. | Austria | $314,355,000 | +5.4% |
| 32. | United Kingdom | $314,247,000 | +9.6% |
| 33. | Hong Kong | $312,165,000 | -51.9% |
| 34. | United Arab Emirates | $306,359,000 | +138.9% |
| 35. | Romania | $302,990,000 | +3.5% |
| 36. | El Salvador | $294,305,000 | +32.2% |
| 37. | Iran | $284,859,000 | -8.9% |
| 38. | Taiwan | $272,590,000 | -5.1% |
| 39. | Nicaragua | $269,558,000 | +49.5% |
| 40. | Belgium | $240,147,000 | +8.6% |
| 41. | Mali | $217,907,000 | -9.7% |
| 42. | Netherlands | $208,445,000 | -14.8% |
| 43. | Haiti | $184,604,000 | +4.7% |
| 44. | Mauritius | $176,745,000 | +37.5% |
| 45. | Czech Republic | $165,784,000 | +1.5% |
| 46. | South Africa | $165,708,000 | +0.6% |
| 47. | Ghana | $159,348,000 | 0% |
| 48. | Madagascar | $148,010,000 | +15.4% |
| 49. | Philippines | $145,543,000 | +35% |
| 50. | Bulgaria | $144,997,000 | -5.2% |
| 51. | Gambia | $141,565,000 | +15372% |
| 52. | Switzerland | $139,155,000 | +20.1% |
| 53. | Myanmar | $135,192,000 | +42.7% |
| 54. | Lesotho | $132,307,000 | +133.3% |
| 55. | Argentina | $124,688,000 | +34.9% |
| 56. | Ukraine | $122,503,000 | -17.2% |
| 57. | Ecuador | $122,147,000 | +35.5% |
| 58. | Canada | $118,579,000 | -8.5% |
| 59. | Brazil | $115,657,000 | -18.5% |
| 60. | Greece | $108,276,000 | +14.4% |
| 61. | Kenya | $106,062,000 | +31.9% |
| 62. | Nepal | $81,625,000 | -12.4% |
| 63. | Serbia | $79,833,000 | +21.2% |
| 64. | Algeria | $78,277,000 | +58.6% |
| 65. | North Macedonia | $74,798,000 | +1.2% |
| 66. | Australia | $72,474,000 | -2.1% |
| 67. | Hungary | $70,386,000 | +2.5% |
| 68. | Albania | $65,947,000 | +7.6% |
| 69. | Sudan | $65,638,000 | +3.4% |
| 70. | Israel | $62,614,000 | -14.8% |
| 71. | Venezuela | $59,870,000 | +12.9% |
| 72. | Chile | $59,090,000 | -16.4% |
| 73. | Guinea | $58,682,000 | -25.9% |
| 74. | Lithuania | $58,253,000 | -5.3% |
| 75. | Belarus | $57,237,000 | -45.7% |
| 76. | Saudi Arabia | $55,745,000 | +130.3% |
| 77. | Paraguay | $55,128,000 | +38.4% |
| 78. | Denmark | $53,509,000 | +12.1% |
| 79. | Djibouti | $52,322,000 | -13.7% |
| 80. | Togo | $48,023,000 | +0.2% |
| 81. | Uzbekistan | $43,103,000 | +168.1% |
| 82. | Kazakhstan | $42,941,000 | +15.1% |
| 83. | Tanzania | $38,613,000 | +13.6% |
| 84. | Ivory Coast | $38,359,000 | -0.1% |
| 85. | Croatia | $37,964,000 | +12.1% |
| 86. | Democratic Rep. Congo | $35,978,000 | +53.6% |
| 87. | Eswatini | $34,835,000 | -61% |
| 88. | Oman | $34,785,000 | +0.8% |
| 89. | Cameroon | $34,681,000 | +607.8% |
| 90. | Sweden | $34,451,000 | -4.4% |
| 91. | Estonia | $32,733,000 | +1.5% |
| 92. | Slovenia | $31,121,000 | +22.8% |
| 93. | Slovakia | $30,926,000 | -14.9% |
| 94. | Costa Rica | $29,402,000 | +60.8% |
| 95. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $28,817,000 | -5.6% |
| 96. | Jordan | $26,728,000 | +4% |
| 97. | Kuwait | $25,339,000 | +46.4% |
| 98. | Congo | $24,433,000 | +6504% |
| 99. | Armenia | $24,415,000 | +30.6% |
| 100. | Singapore | $23,912,000 | -11% |
Posting the strongest increases in their purchases of imported cotton were buyers in: Gambia (up 15,372% from 2021), Congo (up 6,504%), Honduras (up 6,454%), Cameroon (up 607.8%), Uzbekistan (up 168.1%) and India (up 145.6%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the above table’s columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means 2021 data was unavailable.
See also Cotton Exports by Country, T-shirt Exports by Country, Leather Shoes Exports by Country, Top Exported Hats by Country and Top Exported Baby Clothing Sales by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 10, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 10, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 10, 2023
Wikipedia, Cotton. Accessed on September 10, 2023