Overall, the dollar cost of crude oil bought by all importing countries expanded by 15.9% since 2017 when globally imported crude oil purchases were valued at $886,5 billion.
Year over year, total spending on crude oil imports inflated by 44.9% from the $709.4 billion during 2020.
The top 5 importers of this fossil-fuel commodity are mainland China, United States of America, India, South Korea and Japan. Collectively, that quintet of major crude oil imports accounted for almost three-fifths (58.8%) of the world’s total spending on imported crude petroleum purchased on international markets in 2021.
At the continent level, Asian countries bought the highest dollar worth of imported crude oil during 2021 with purchases costing $563.8 billion or 54.8% of the worldwide total. In second place were European nations at 26.7% while another 14.6% worth of crude oil imports were delivered to North America.
Smaller percentages of crude petroleum oils were sold to Latin America (1.9%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (1.2%), then Oceania (0.7%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
Based on our independent calculations, the world’s average unit price per ton of imported crude oil was $347 for 2021. That average price is a -25% drop from $462 per ton of crude oil in 2020.
As you will read further down this article, we identify the 15 countries paying the highest and lowest costs per ton for crude petroleum imports.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for crude oil is 2709.
Crude Oil Imports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of crude oil during 2021.
- China: US$229.3 billion (22.3% of imported crude oil)
- United States: $138.4 billion (13.5%)
- India: $106.4 billion (10.4%)
- South Korea: $67 billion (6.5%)
- Japan: $63.1 billion (6.1%)
- Germany: $40 billion (3.9%)
- Netherlands: $36.3 billion (3.5%)
- Italy: $29.9 billion (2.9%)
- Spain: $29.6 billion (2.9%)
- Thailand: $25.5 billion (2.5%)
- United Kingdom: $23.9 billion (2.3%)
- Singapore: $22.7 billion (2.2%)
- Taiwan: $19.9 billion (1.9%)
- France: $19.2 billion (1.9%)
- Belgium: $18.9 billion (1.8%)
Based on total cost, the listed 15 countries purchased 84.7% of all crude oil imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for crude oil from 2020 to 2021 were: Belgium (up 92.2%), Italy (up 84.8%), United States of America (up 69.1%) and France (up 65.4%).
The mildest increases in year-over-year spending belonged to mainland China (up 30%), Thailand (up 44.6%), Japan (up 45.1%) and Germany (up 45.8%).
Crude Oil Imports into China
One half (50%) of mainland China’s overall crude oil imports came from member countries of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which China imported the highest dollar value worth of crude oil during 2021. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplier from 2020 to 2021.
China’s top 3 suppliers of crude oil are Saudi Arabia, the Russian Federation and Iraq. Combined, those key providers generated 43.3% of total Chinese imports of crude petroleum.
- Saudi Arabia: US$39.9 billion (up 42.3% from 2020)
- Russia: $35.8 billion (up 31.1%)
- Iraq: $23.5 billion (up 22.3%)
- Oman: $20.2 billion (up 58.1%)
- Angola: $17.3 billion (up 24.4%)
- Kuwait: $14.1 billion (up 57.9%)
- United Arab Emirates: $14 billion (up 44.2%)
- Brazil: $13.8 billion (down -0.7%)
- Malaysia: $7.3 billion (up 100.1%)
- Norway: $5.8 billion (up 35.7%)
- United States: $5.3 billion (down -16.1%)
- Congo: $4.1 billion (up 35.7%)
- Qatar: $3.8 billion (up 92.5%)
- United Kingdom: $3.7 billion (up 73.2%)
- Colombia: $3.6 billion (up 3.3%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 92.6% of all Chinese crude oil imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of crude oil to mainland China from 2020 to 2021 were: Malaysia (up 100.1%), Qatar (up 92.5%), United Kingdom (up 73.2%) and Oman (up 58.1%).
Two top suppliers experienced declines in the value of crude oil sold to Chinese importers namely the United States of America (down -16.1%) and Brazil (down -0.7%).
Overall, the value of Chinese crude oil imports went up by an average 30% from all supplying countries since 2020 when crude oil purchases were valued at $176.3 billion.
Crude Oil Imports into the United States
Just 17.4% of America’s overall crude oil imports came from member countries of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which the US imported the highest dollar value worth of crude oil during 2021. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2020 to 2021.
America’s top 3 suppliers of crude oil are Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Combined, those key providers generated almost three-quarters (73.9%) of total US imports of crude petroleum.
- Canada: US$80 billion (up 73.1% from 2020)
- Mexico: $13.2 billion (up 48.3%)
- Saudi Arabia: $9 billion (up 18.9%)
- Russia: $4.8 billion (up 242.3%)
- Colombia: $4.2 billion (up 20.7%)
- Iraq: $3.8 billion (up 16.8%)
- Ecuador: $3.8 billion (up 39.5%)
- Brazil: $3.5 billion (up 109.2%)
- Nigeria: $2.9 billion (up 137%)
- Libya: $2.19 billion (up 893.5%)
- Guyana: $2.12 billion (up 244.3%)
- Ghana: $1.4 billion (up 237.6%)
- United Kingdom: $1.3 billion (up 176.3%)
- Norway: $1.1 billion (up 392.7%)
- Angola: $1 billion (up 116.4%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 97% of all American crude oil imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of crude oil to United States from 2020 to 2021 were: Libya (up 893%), Norway (up 392.7%), Guyana (up 244.3%) and Russia (up 242.3%).
Top suppliers that experienced the mildest gains in the value of their crude oil supplied to American importers included: Iraq (up 16.8%), Saudi Arabia (up 18.9%) and Colombia (up 20.7%).
Overall, the value of American crude oil imports rose by an average 69.1% from all supplying countries since 2020 when crude oil purchases were valued at $81.8 billion.
Crude Oil Imports into India
Over two-thirds (68.4%) of India’s overall crude oil imports came from member countries of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which India imported the highest dollar value worth of crude oil during 2021. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2020 to 2021.
India’s top 3 suppliers of crude oil are Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Combined, those key providers generated over half (51.4%) of total Indian imports of crude petroleum.
- Iraq: US$25.1 billion (up 68.7% from 2020)
- Saudi Arabia: $17.9 billion (up 43.6%)
- United Arab Emirates: $11.7 billion (up 49.9%)
- United States: $10.4 billion (up 180.6%)
- Nigeria: $8.2 billion (up 55.5%)
- Kuwait: $6.8 billion (up 106.8%)
- Mexico: $3.3 billion (up 52.3%)
- Oman: $2.8 billion (up 199.3%)
- Russia: $2.3 billion (up 149.1%)
- Brazil: $2.02 billion (up 71.3%)
- Colombia: $1.96 billion (up 493.4%)
- Angola: $1.6 billion (up 14.4%)
- Egypt: $1.5 billion (up 74.6%)
- Norway: $1.1 billion (up 2114.1%)
- Malaysia: $1 billion (up 14.1%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 91.9% of all Indian crude oil imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of crude oil to India from 2020 to 2021 were: Norway (up 2,114%), Colombia (up 493.4%), Oman (up 199.3%) and the United States of America (up 180.6%).
Top suppliers that experienced the mildest gains in the value of their crude oil supplied to Indian importers were: Malaysia (up 14.1%) and Angola (up 14.4%).
Overall, the value of Indian crude oil imports expanded by an average 64.8% from all supplying countries since 2020 when crude oil purchases were valued at $64.6 billion.
Crude Oil Imports into South Korea
More than half (56%) of South Korea’s overall crude oil imports came from member countries of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which South Korea imported the highest dollar value worth of crude oil during 2021. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2020 to 2021.
South Korea’s top 3 suppliers of crude oil are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United States Combined, those key providers furnished well over half (55.1%) of total Korean imports of crude petroleum.
- Saudi Arabia: US$21.3 billion (up 46.4% from 2020)
- United States: $8.4 billion (up 55.7%)
- Kuwait: $7.24 billion (up 33.3%)
- Russia: $4.3 billion (up 79%)
- Iraq: $4 billion (up 14.1%)
- United Arab Emirates: $3.8 billion (up 4.5%)
- Qatar: $3.5 billion (up 36.9%)
- Mexico: $3.3 billion (up 52.8%)
- Kazakhstan: $1.8 billion (up 135%)
- Brazil: $1.62 billion (up 147%)
- Australia: $1.59 billion (up 191.2%)
- Norway: $1.22 billion (up 223.3%)
- United Kingdom: $1.19 billion (up 210.8%)
- Algeria: $611.7 million (up 44.5%)
- Gabon: $578.6 million (up 306.2%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 96.2% of all Korean crude oil imported in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of crude oil to South Korea from 2020 to 2021 were: Gabon (up 306.2%), Norway (up 223.3%), United Kingdom (up 210.8%) and Australia (up 191.2%).
Top suppliers that experienced the most modest gains in the value of their crude oil supplied to Korean importers were: United Arab Emirates (up 4.5%) and Iraq (up 14.1%).
Overall, the value of Korean crude oil imports accelerated by an average 50.7% from all supplying countries since 2020 when crude oil purchases were valued at $44.5 billion.
Searchable List of Crude Oil Importing Countries in 2021
The 100 key buyers in the automated database below bought virtually all (99.9999%) of crude petroleum oil imported during 2021.
| Rank | Importer | Crude Oil Imports (US$) | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $229,291,241,000 | +30% |
| 2. | United States | $138,383,896,000 | +69.1% |
| 3. | India | $106,406,787,000 | +64.8% |
| 4. | South Korea | $67,019,705,000 | +50.7% |
| 5. | Japan | $63,136,252,000 | +45.1% |
| 6. | Germany | $39,962,984,000 | +45.8% |
| 7. | Netherlands | $36,312,455,000 | +65.2% |
| 8. | Italy | $29,948,706,000 | +84.8% |
| 9. | Spain | $29,581,126,000 | +62.4% |
| 10. | Thailand | $25,505,137,000 | +44.6% |
| 11. | United Kingdom | $23,948,508,000 | +53.3% |
| 12. | Singapore | $22,675,673,000 | +57.6% |
| 13. | Taiwan | $19,889,322,000 | +57.5% |
| 14. | France | $19,185,448,000 | +65.4% |
| 15. | Belgium | $18,905,434,000 | +92.2% |
| 16. | Greece | $11,772,845,000 | +67.9% |
| 17. | Canada | $11,763,215,000 | +37.4% |
| 18. | Poland | $11,327,938,000 | +43.2% |
| 19. | Sweden | $9,473,684,000 | +66.8% |
| 20. | Indonesia | $7,047,199,000 | +107.8% |
| 21. | Israel | $6,336,380,000 | +68.7% |
| 22. | Panama | $5,735,370,000 | 0% |
| 23. | Australia | $5,621,207,000 | +17.3% |
| 24. | South Africa | $5,427,344,000 | +7.8% |
| 25. | Brunei Darussalam | $5,158,177,000 | +254.3% |
| 26. | Portugal | $4,782,890,000 | +23.6% |
| 27. | Chile | $4,401,313,000 | +98.3% |
| 28. | Lithuania | $4,321,448,000 | +79% |
| 29. | Denmark | $4,315,228,000 | +183.9% |
| 30. | Finland | $4,286,330,000 | +24.9% |
| 31. | Pakistan | $4,216,847,000 | +85.7% |
| 32. | Austria | $4,059,718,000 | +63.6% |
| 33. | Brazil | $3,995,459,000 | +52.9% |
| 34. | Egypt | $3,728,829,000 | -2% |
| 35. | Czech Republic | $3,558,967,000 | +65.7% |
| 36. | Malaysia | $3,478,182,000 | -24.5% |
| 37. | Romania | $3,405,884,000 | +49.2% |
| 38. | Hungary | $2,883,099,000 | +71.1% |
| 39. | Slovakia | $2,614,606,000 | +42.7% |
| 40. | Bulgaria | $2,079,377,000 | +41.2% |
| 41. | New Zealand | $1,941,965,000 | +26% |
| 42. | Philippines | $1,886,526,000 | +40.1% |
| 43. | Peru | $1,818,521,000 | +134.8% |
| 44. | Ireland | $1,640,213,000 | +63.8% |
| 45. | Croatia | $1,573,327,000 | +46.3% |
| 46. | Côte d'Ivoire | $1,463,317,000 | +1.9% |
| 47. | Serbia | $1,341,389,000 | +60.4% |
| 48. | Switzerland | $1,221,802,000 | +27.8% |
| 49. | Norway | $1,155,245,000 | +18.4% |
| 50. | Uruguay | $1,046,081,000 | +43% |
| 51. | United Arab Emirates | $933,171,000 | -95.6% |
| 52. | Ukraine | $749,549,000 | +89.8% |
| 53. | Saint Lucia | $702,075,000 | +35103650% |
| 54. | Tunisia | $689,250,000 | +120.1% |
| 55. | Dominican Republic | $666,354,000 | +266.3% |
| 56. | Gibraltar | $525,763,000 | +0.3% |
| 57. | Senegal | $513,534,000 | +16.3% |
| 58. | Nicaragua | $384,422,000 | +104.3% |
| 59. | Vietnam | $311,031,000 | -91.9% |
| 60. | Uzbekistan | $264,775,000 | +35.8% |
| 61. | Bahamas | $251,905,000 | +2289946% |
| 62. | Colombia | $149,658,000 | +498% |
| 63. | Myanmar | $131,916,000 | +219760% |
| 64. | Ghana | $103,259,000 | -18.6% |
| 65. | Jamaica | $87,417,000 | -77% |
| 66. | Cuba | $70,196,000 | 0% |
| 67. | Curaçao | $69,264,000 | 0% |
| 68. | Dominica | $55,726,000 | 0% |
| 69. | Azerbaijan | $52,543,000 | -10.5% |
| 70. | Zambia | $46,465,000 | -79.8% |
| 71. | Papua New Guinea | $36,431,000 | -56.1% |
| 72. | Laos | $35,658,000 | +823.8% |
| 73. | Venezuela | $31,475,000 | +3147400% |
| 74. | Estonia | $31,459,000 | +90.8% |
| 75. | Barbados | $1,974,000 | 0% |
| 76. | Marshall Islands | $1,891,000 | +317.4% |
| 77. | Guatemala | $708,000 | +102.9% |
| 78. | Tajikistan | $546,000 | -79.4% |
| 79. | Latvia | $395,000 | +170.5% |
| 80. | Kiribati | $385,000 | 0% |
| 81. | Kyrgyzstan | $336,000 | +68% |
| 82. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $310,000 | +39% |
| 83. | Ethiopia | $264,000 | +486.7% |
| 84. | Wallis/Futuna Is | $239,000 | +326.8% |
| 85. | Kazakhstan | $190,000 | -95.7% |
| 86. | Djibouti | $176,000 | 0% |
| 87. | Russia | $139,000 | -77.9% |
| 88. | Lesotho | $138,000 | +58.6% |
| 89. | Tuvalu | $135,000 | +237.5% |
| 90. | Micronesia | $109,000 | -31.4% |
| 91. | Namibia | $92,000 | -96% |
| 92. | Vanuatu | $41,000 | +78.3% |
| 93. | El Salvador | $41,000 | +355.6% |
| 94. | Equatorial Guinea | $36,000 | +176.9% |
| 95. | Luxembourg | $33,000 | 0% |
| 96. | Qatar | $28,000 | -99.8% |
| 97. | Christmas Island | $27,000 | 0% |
| 98. | Malawi | $25,000 | +2400% |
| 99. | Mozambique | $24,000 | -63.1% |
| 100. | Iraq | $23,000 | 0% |
Expanding the scope to the 100 largest importers of crude petroleum, the fastest gainers were relatively smaller geographies including Saint Lucia (up 35,103,650% from 2020), Venezuela (up 3,147,400%), the Bahamas (up 2,289,946%) then the much more populated Myanmar also called Burma (up 219,760%).
Leading decliners were Qatar (down -99.8%), Namibia (down -96%), Kazakhstan (down -95.7%), United Arab Emirates (down -95.6%) and Vietnam (down -91.9%).
You can change the table’s presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns above.
Note that an entry of 0% in the table’s right-most column means no 2020 data was available.
Countries Paying Highest Rates for Imported Crude Oil
Listed below are 15 top buyer countries that paid among the highest average rates per ton of imported crude oil in 2021.
- Brunei Darussalam: US$754 per ton of imported crude oil
- Thailand: $582 per ton
- Netherlands: $542 per ton
- Sweden: $538 per ton
- Denmark: $537 per ton
- United Kingdom: $536 per ton
- France: $535 per ton
- Lithuania: $534 per ton
- Austria: $532 per ton
- Malaysia: $532 per ton
- Singapore: $526 per ton
- Australia: $524 per ton
- Italy: $521 per ton
- Czech Republic: $520 per ton
- South Korea: $519 per ton
Countries Paying Lowest Rates for Imported Crude Oil
In contrast, the following 15 countries paid among the cheapest average rates per ton of imported crude oil in 2021.
- Chile: US$322 per ton of imported crude oil
- Philippines: $445 per ton
- United States: $459 per ton
- South Africa: $468 per ton
- Pakistan: $480 per ton
- Poland: $486 per ton
- China: $491 per ton
- Brazil: $496 per ton
- Egypt: $496 per ton
- Canada: $498 per ton
- India: $498 per ton
- Romania: $499 per ton
- Portugal: $501 per ton
- Bulgaria: $501 per ton
- Greece: $503 per ton
See also Crude Oil Exports by Country, China’s Top Trading Partners, OPEC Countries Crude Oil Exports Sales Data, Largest Oil and Gas Export Companies and Best Solar & Wind Exporters Powering International Energy Sales
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on June 23, 2022
E-tools Age, Oil Converter and Calculator. Accessed on June 23, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 23, 2022
Investopedia, Net Importer Definition. Accessed on June 23, 2022
Wikipedia, Big Oil. Accessed on June 23, 2022
