That dollar amount results from a 261% increase compared to $11.3 billion five years earlier in 2018.
Year over year, the overall value of exported electric cars accelerated by 56.3% from $59.9 billion for 2021.
Baselined against the $779.5 billion in overall international sales for all types of cars in 2022, electric cars represent 12% of global revenues from exported cars. The most recent percentage of electric cars is a strong increase from 8.4% in 2021 and even more so when compared to the 1.5% share for 2018.
The 5 biggest exporters of electric cars are Germany, mainland China, Belgium, South Korea then the United States of America. Collectively, those 5 leaders in exporting electric cars generated over three-quarters (78%) of electric car global sales in 2022.
Among continents, suppliers in European countries sold the most exported electric cars during 2022 with shipments valued at $56.8 billion or 60.7% of the world total. In second place were Asian exporters at 32.8% while another 6.3% of the international sales for electric cars originated from shippers in North America.
Tinier percentages came from exporters in Africa (0.11%), mostly Australia in Oceania (0.004%), and Latin America (0.003%) excluding Mexico.
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 870380 for motor vehicles powered by electric motor only (also called electric smart cars). This is a relatively new HTS code since 2017 is the first year for which trade data specific to electric cars was available.
Top Electric Cars Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of electric cars during 2022.
- Germany: US$26.4 billion (28.2% of exported electric cars)
- China: $20.1 billion (21.5%)
- Belgium: $12.5 billion (13.4%)
- South Korea: $8.2 billion (8.7%)
- United States: $5.8 billion (6.2%)
- Spain: $3.9 billion (4.2%)
- Czech Republic: $2.9 billion (3.1%)
- France: $2.6 billion (2.7%)
- Japan: $2.2 billion (2.4%)
- United Kingdom: $1.9 billion (2%)
- Italy: $1.7 billion (1.8%)
- Slovakia: $1.6 billion (1.7%)
- Hungary: $1.1 billion (1.1%)
- Austria: $635.8 million (0.7%)
- Slovenia: $525.9 million (0.6%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 98.4% of globally exported electric cars in 2022.
Among the top suppliers, the fastest-growing exporters of electric cars since n 2021 were: Hungary (up 841.6%), mainland China (up 133.7%), Japan (up 117.4%) and Spain (up 84.9%).
A trio of major exporters recorded declines in their international sales of electric cars, namely Slovakia (down -37.2% from 2021), Slovenia (down -26.2%) and Austria (down -13.6%).
Countries Earning Largest Trade Surpluses from Electric Cars
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for electric cars during 2022. 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 electric cars and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- China: US$18.6 billion (net export surplus up 139% since 2021)
- Germany: $15.3 billion (up 129.9%)
- South Korea: $6.2 billion (up 40.2%)
- Belgium: $4.4 billion (up 30.4%)
- Czech Republic: $2.8 billion (up 10.3%)
- Spain: $1.7 billion (up 43%)
- Slovakia: $1.5 billion (down -38.5%)
- Japan: $1.2 billion (reversing a -$102 million deficit)
- Hungary: $893.9 million (reversing a -$45.1 million deficit)
- Italy: $426.9 million (reversing a -$748.4 million deficit)
- Slovenia: $414.3 million (down -33.3%)
- Morocco: $85.3 million (up 27.3%)
- Vietnam: $59.8 million (up 1505.6%)
- Gibraltar: $162,000 (reversing a -$954,000 deficit)
- North Korea: $68,000 (down -13.9%)
Mainland China generated the highest surplus in the international trade of electric cars. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms China’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Facing Worst Trade Deficits from Electric Cars
The following countries incurred the highest negative net exports for electric cars during 2022. 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 electric cars purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United Kingdom: -US$8.9 billion (net export deficit up 45.9% since 2021)
- Norway: -$7 billion (up 25.2%)
- Canada: -$5 billion (up 112.7%)
- United States of America: -$4.9 billion (up 580.1%)
- Sweden: -$3.6 billion (up 40.1%)
- France: -$3 billion (up 33.5%)
- Netherlands: -$2.3 billion (down -1.2%)
- Switzerland: -$2 billion (up 35.7%)
- Denmark: -$1.6 billion (up 37.7%)
- Australia: -$1.5 billion (up 107.1%)
- Israel: -$1.45 billion (up 208.1%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$1.3 billion (up 584.6%)
- Finland: -$933.9 million (up 61.4%)
- Hong Kong: -$925.1 million (up 171.1%)
- Taiwan: -$890.3 million (up 134.6%)
The United Kingdom and Norway incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of electric cars. These negative cashflows highlight both countries’ apparent competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for suppliers of electric cars to better meet the growing consumer demand for more environmentally friendly products.
Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles
Below are major global automobile makers with facilities for producing electric plug-in cars or hybrid vehicles. Shown within parenthesis is the country where each corporation has its headquarters.
- BMW i (Germany)
- BYD Auto Co. (China)
- Daimler AG (Germany)
- Ford Motor Company (United States)
- General Motors (United States)
- Nissan (Japan)
- PSA Group (France)
- Renault (France)
- Rimac Automobili (Croatia)
- Tesla (United States)
- Toyota (Japan)
- Volkswagen Group (Germany)
Searchable List of Exporters for Electric Cars in 2022
The following automated database presents the 98 countries (up from 78 one year earlier) that exported electric cars during 2022, ranked by international sales in 2022.
| Rank | Exporter | Electric Cars Exports | 2021-2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $26,361,572,000 | +68.6% |
| 2. | China | $20,088,878,000 | +133.7% |
| 3. | Belgium | $12,538,190,000 | +28.3% |
| 4. | South Korea | $8,175,751,000 | +44.7% |
| 5. | United States | $5,784,450,000 | +24.8% |
| 6. | Spain | $3,940,917,000 | +84.9% |
| 7. | Czech Republic | $2,926,124,000 | +11.7% |
| 8. | France | $2,566,056,000 | +22.1% |
| 9. | Japan | $2,215,482,000 | +117.4% |
| 10. | United Kingdom | $1,855,181,000 | +6% |
| 11. | Italy | $1,703,523,000 | +59.2% |
| 12. | Slovakia | $1,602,336,000 | -37.2% |
| 13. | Hungary | $1,072,118,000 | +841.6% |
| 14. | Austria | $635,758,000 | -13.6% |
| 15. | Slovenia | $525,873,000 | -26.2% |
| 16. | Netherlands | $464,012,000 | +127.6% |
| 17. | Poland | $137,824,000 | 0% |
| 18. | Mexico | $136,757,000 | 0% |
| 19. | Sweden | $131,616,000 | +8.1% |
| 20. | Denmark | $103,911,000 | +71.8% |
| 21. | Morocco | $98,040,000 | +35.8% |
| 22. | Hong Kong | $86,349,000 | +154.6% |
| 23. | Vietnam | $71,567,000 | +787.3% |
| 24. | Norway | $55,138,000 | +178.8% |
| 25. | Lithuania | $42,617,000 | +49.5% |
| 26. | India | $32,636,000 | +436.2% |
| 27. | Luxembourg | $24,808,000 | +11.5% |
| 28. | Estonia | $24,470,000 | +38% |
| 29. | Latvia | $19,065,000 | -9.4% |
| 30. | Finland | $16,777,000 | +37.3% |
| 31. | Canada | $12,953,000 | -53.7% |
| 32. | Romania | $10,393,000 | -3% |
| 33. | Switzerland | $10,353,000 | +24.8% |
| 34. | Croatia | $7,128,000 | +10.2% |
| 35. | United Arab Emirates | $7,039,000 | -71.8% |
| 36. | Jordan | $6,924,000 | +9132% |
| 37. | Türkiye | $5,160,000 | +177.1% |
| 38. | Australia | $3,417,000 | -71.4% |
| 39. | Bulgaria | $3,056,000 | +64.7% |
| 40. | Greece | $2,963,000 | -36.6% |
| 41. | Singapore | $2,877,000 | +107.1% |
| 42. | Armenia | $2,812,000 | +5639% |
| 43. | Thailand | $2,370,000 | +119% |
| 44. | Ukraine | $2,240,000 | -32.8% |
| 45. | Israel | $1,529,000 | +360.5% |
| 46. | Moldova | $1,258,000 | +2968% |
| 47. | Serbia | $1,210,000 | +304.7% |
| 48. | Russia | $1,014,000 | -77.9% |
| 49. | Portugal | $894,000 | +17.8% |
| 50. | Chile | $799,000 | +113.1% |
| 51. | Kazakhstan | $765,000 | -48.7% |
| 52. | Malaysia | $668,000 | +402.3% |
| 53. | Colombia | $538,000 | -38.2% |
| 54. | Taiwan | $499,000 | -14.7% |
| 55. | Gibraltar | $495,000 | -70.4% |
| 56. | Andorra | $494,000 | +112.9% |
| 57. | Macao | $461,000 | +33.2% |
| 58. | Panama | $438,000 | -11.5% |
| 59. | Indonesia | $417,000 | +541.5% |
| 60. | South Africa | $320,000 | +37.9% |
| 61. | Montenegro | $316,000 | +327% |
| 62. | Uzbekistan | $315,000 | 0% |
| 63. | Kyrgyzstan | $292,000 | +1725% |
| 64. | Barbados | $282,000 | +84.3% |
| 65. | Iceland | $270,000 | -74.2% |
| 66. | Dominican Republic | $267,000 | +55.2% |
| 67. | Pakistan | $224,000 | 0% |
| 68. | Lebanon | $218,000 | +808.3% |
| 69. | Guatemala | $216,000 | +120.4% |
| 70. | Djibouti | $196,000 | 0% |
| 71. | Ireland | $194,000 | -96.3% |
| 72. | Azerbaijan | $193,000 | 0% |
| 73. | Bahamas | $125,000 | 0% |
| 74. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $112,000 | +14.3% |
| 75. | Brazil | $106,000 | 0% |
| 76. | Uruguay | $99,000 | 0% |
| 77. | Bolivia | $72,000 | 0% |
| 78. | North Korea | $68,000 | -13.9% |
| 79. | French Polynesia | $53,000 | 0% |
| 80. | Costa Rica | $53,000 | 0% |
| 81. | Curaçao | $49,000 | +2350% |
| 82. | Ecuador | $48,000 | 0% |
| 83. | American Samoa | $42,000 | 0% |
| 84. | Kuwait | $40,000 | -16.7% |
| 85. | Philippines | $40,000 | +3900% |
| 86. | North Macedonia | $39,000 | 0% |
| 87. | Cambodia | $38,000 | 0% |
| 88. | Jamaica | $28,000 | 0% |
| 89. | Cyprus | $26,000 | -99.2% |
| 90. | Mongolia | $21,000 | 0% |
| 91. | El Salvador | $12,000 | -90.6% |
| 92. | Bangladesh | $10,000 | 0% |
| 93. | Marshall Islands | $5,000 | 0% |
| 94. | Turkmenistan | $5,000 | 0% |
| 95. | Botswana | $4,000 | -33.3% |
| 96. | Cayman Islands | $3,000 | 0% |
| 97. | Lesotho | $2,000 | -96.1% |
| 98. | Eswatini | $2,000 | 0% |
Albeit starting from smaller dollar amounts, the fastest-growing exporters of electric cars were Jordan (up 9,132% from 2021), Armenia (up 5,639%), Philippines (up 3,900%), Moldova (up 2,968%), Curaçao (up 2,350%) and Kyrgyzstan (up 1,725%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the above table’s columns.
An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2021 data was unavailable.
See also Electric Cars Imports by Country, Cars Exports by Country, Cars Imports by Country and US Exported & Imported Cars by State
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on August 3, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 3, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 3, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 3, 2023
Wikipedia, Electric vehicle manufacturers. Accessed on August 3, 2023
