Year over year, the value of worldwide cotton imports accelerated by 35.9% compared to $40.7 billion for 2020.
The 5 biggest buyers of imported cotton are mainland China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Turkey, and Pakistan. Collectively, that quintet bought over half (54.4%) of worldwide spending on cotton imported in 2021.
From a continental perspective, Asian countries bought well over two-thirds (70.7%) of overall cotton imports.
Smaller percentages of the global total were imported into Europe (13.6%), Africa (6.2%), Latin America (5.5%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, North America (3.8%), and 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 2021.
- China: US$10.6 billion (19.2% of total imported cotton)
- Bangladesh: $8.7 billion (15.8%)
- Vietnam: $5.1 billion (9.3%)
- Turkey: $3.7 billion (6.7%)
- Pakistan: $1.91 billion (3.5%)
- Indonesia: $1.87 billion (3.4%)
- South Korea: $1.3 billion (2.3%)
- Italy: $1.1 billion (2%)
- United States: $985.1 million (1.8%)
- Mexico: $958.8 million (1.7%)
- Germany: $805.6 million (1.5%)
- Portugal: $794.7 million (1.4%)
- Russia: $742 million (1.3%)
- India: $712 million (1.3%)
- Sri Lanka: $688.8 million (1.2%)
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for cotton from 2020 to 2021 were: Mexico (up 86.3%), Bangladesh (up 62.4%), Portugal (up 49.2%) and India (up 46.4%).
Year over year, the most modest increases in imported cotton purchases belonged to Germany (up 5.9% from 2020) and the United States of America (up 8.7%).
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased 72.4% of all cotton imported in 2021.
Searchable List of Cotton Importing Countries in 2021
The 100 major importers of cotton in the table below represent 99.2% of the overall amount spent on imported cotton during 2021.
| Rank | Importer | Cotton Imports | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $10,588,614,000 | +27.9% |
| 2. | Bangladesh | $8,723,631,000 | +62.4% |
| 3. | Vietnam | $5,144,907,000 | +39.3% |
| 4. | Turkey | $3,714,928,000 | +46.1% |
| 5. | Pakistan | $1,910,888,000 | +37% |
| 6. | Indonesia | $1,866,063,000 | +40.5% |
| 7. | South Korea | $1,269,838,000 | +44.2% |
| 8. | Italy | $1,130,113,000 | +33.5% |
| 9. | United States | $985,090,000 | +8.7% |
| 10. | Mexico | $958,776,000 | +86.3% |
| 11. | Germany | $805,596,000 | +5.9% |
| 12. | Portugal | $794,700,000 | +49.2% |
| 13. | Russia | $742,014,000 | +39.2% |
| 14. | India | $711,989,000 | +46.4% |
| 15. | Sri Lanka | $688,777,000 | +36% |
| 16. | Hong Kong | $648,750,000 | +1.2% |
| 17. | Tunisia | $625,996,000 | +20.8% |
| 18. | Morocco | $587,896,000 | +46.8% |
| 19. | Thailand | $567,643,000 | +19.9% |
| 20. | Egypt | $564,336,000 | +4.1% |
| 21. | Cambodia | $539,958,000 | +19.8% |
| 22. | Colombia | $535,022,000 | +113.9% |
| 23. | Japan | $496,867,000 | +15.4% |
| 24. | Guatemala | $496,252,000 | +91.7% |
| 25. | France | $466,249,000 | +23.7% |
| 26. | Spain | $458,110,000 | +40.2% |
| 27. | Dominican Republic | $434,455,000 | +65.2% |
| 28. | Peru | $409,694,000 | +64.9% |
| 29. | Malaysia | $366,382,000 | +4.2% |
| 30. | Poland | $346,371,000 | +12.4% |
| 31. | United Arab Emirates | $313,865,000 | +141.5% |
| 32. | Iran | $312,544,000 | +74.4% |
| 33. | Austria | $300,914,000 | +15.7% |
| 34. | Romania | $292,867,000 | +8.3% |
| 35. | Taiwan | $287,190,000 | +27.8% |
| 36. | United Kingdom | $282,030,000 | +14.7% |
| 37. | Netherlands | $243,076,000 | +14.1% |
| 38. | Mali | $236,746,000 | +8.1% |
| 39. | El Salvador | $222,564,000 | +22.8% |
| 40. | Belgium | $221,052,000 | +7.1% |
| 41. | Nicaragua | $180,358,000 | +28% |
| 42. | Haiti | $176,237,000 | +46% |
| 43. | South Africa | $164,771,000 | +50.2% |
| 44. | Czech Republic | $161,823,000 | +21.9% |
| 45. | Ghana | $159,220,000 | +38.2% |
| 46. | Bulgaria | $156,773,000 | +11.2% |
| 47. | Ukraine | $146,418,000 | +10.7% |
| 48. | Brazil | $141,901,000 | +46% |
| 49. | Canada | $129,528,000 | +22.5% |
| 50. | Mauritius | $128,503,000 | +25% |
| 51. | Madagascar | $128,300,000 | +35.4% |
| 52. | Switzerland | $115,812,000 | +1.2% |
| 53. | Philippines | $107,793,000 | +22.4% |
| 54. | Belarus | $105,383,000 | +16.9% |
| 55. | Kazakhstan | $95,181,000 | +142.4% |
| 56. | Myanmar | $94,747,000 | -34.6% |
| 57. | Greece | $94,523,000 | +34% |
| 58. | Nepal | $93,313,000 | +47.4% |
| 59. | Argentina | $92,422,000 | +64.3% |
| 60. | Ecuador | $90,134,000 | +112.6% |
| 61. | Jordan | $90,044,000 | +252.2% |
| 62. | Eswatini | $89,364,000 | +41.7% |
| 63. | Ivory Coast | $82,782,000 | +181.4% |
| 64. | Yemen | $81,160,000 | +30.3% |
| 65. | Kenya | $80,409,000 | +26% |
| 66. | Australia | $74,059,000 | +13.4% |
| 67. | Israel | $73,925,000 | +45.7% |
| 68. | North Macedonia | $72,956,000 | -0.7% |
| 69. | Guinea | $72,913,000 | +46.2% |
| 70. | Chile | $70,699,000 | +70.4% |
| 71. | Hungary | $68,246,000 | -10.4% |
| 72. | Serbia | $65,781,000 | +12.3% |
| 73. | Albania | $63,904,000 | +31% |
| 74. | Lithuania | $61,121,000 | +18.3% |
| 75. | Sudan | $60,353,000 | -17.9% |
| 76. | Djibouti | $59,797,000 | +22.8% |
| 77. | Denmark | $54,344,000 | +24.8% |
| 78. | Venezuela | $52,779,000 | +209.9% |
| 79. | Algeria | $49,305,000 | +3.9% |
| 80. | Togo | $47,920,000 | +1.3% |
| 81. | Oman | $41,305,000 | -25.2% |
| 82. | Iraq | $41,142,000 | +15.8% |
| 83. | Cameroon | $40,142,000 | -33.6% |
| 84. | Paraguay | $39,832,000 | +65% |
| 85. | Lesotho | $36,857,000 | -33.9% |
| 86. | Slovakia | $36,416,000 | -59.1% |
| 87. | Sweden | $35,153,000 | +13.3% |
| 88. | Laos | $34,086,000 | +3.1% |
| 89. | Croatia | $34,023,000 | +0.3% |
| 90. | Tanzania | $33,985,000 | +2.8% |
| 91. | Estonia | $31,795,000 | +8.9% |
| 92. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $30,533,000 | +19.5% |
| 93. | Singapore | $26,866,000 | +3.3% |
| 94. | Slovenia | $25,271,000 | +13.9% |
| 95. | Syrian Arab Republic | $25,178,000 | -9.9% |
| 96. | Kuwait | $24,876,000 | +62.9% |
| 97. | Benin | $24,410,000 | +17.7% |
| 98. | Saudi Arabia | $24,205,000 | -0.3% |
| 99. | Moldova | $22,475,000 | +8.8% |
| 100. | Dem. Rep. Congo | $21,840,000 | +39.3% |
Posting triple-digit increases in their purchases of imported cotton compared to 2020 were: Jordan (up 252.2%), Venezuela (up 209.9%), Ivory Coast (up 181.4%), Kazakhstan (up 142.4%), United Arab Emirates (up 141.5%), Colombia (up 113.9%) and Ecuador (up 112.6%).
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 2020 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 August 5, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 5, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 5, 2022
Wikipedia, Cotton. Accessed on August 5, 2022
