Overall, the value of exported electrical energy increased by an average 12.1% for all exporting countries since 2015 when electricity shipments were valued at $29.5 billion. Year over year, exported electricity declined by -5.8% from 2018 to 2019.
Among continents, Europe sold the highest dollar worth of exported electricity during 2019 with shipments valued at $22.7 billion or more than two-thirds (68.6%) of the global total. In second place were Asian exporters at 13% while 7.5% of worldwide electrical energy shipments originated from North America. Smaller percentages came from electricity suppliers in Latin America (6.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, and Africa (4.8%).
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for electrical energy is 2716.
Electricity Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of electricity during 2019.
- Germany: US$3.8 billion (11.4% of total electricity exports)
- France: $3 billion (9.1%)
- Canada: $1.9 billion (5.8%)
- Switzerland: $1.8 billion (5.5%)
- China: $1.59 billion (4.8%)
- Paraguay: $1.57 billion (4.8%)
- Sweden: $1.5 billion (4.6%)
- Laos: $1.4 billion (4.2%)
- Austria: $1.37 billion (4.1%)
- Czech Republic: $1.3 billion (4%)
- Russia: $911.3 million (2.8%)
- Hungary: $908.7 million (2.8%)
- Spain: $871.4 million (2.6%)
- Slovenia: $832 million (2.5%)
- South Africa: $740.8 million (2.2%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 71.3% of global electricity exported in 2019 by value.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing electricity exporters since 2015 were: Sweden (up 93.2%), South Africa (up 52.1%), Slovenia (up 47.2%) and Austria (up 43.7%).
Five countries posted declines in their exported electricity sales namely: Paraguay (down -24.2%), Canada (down -22.3%), Switzerland (down -16.6%), Germany (down -4.7%) and France (down -0.5%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for electricity during 2019. 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 electricity and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- France: US$2.2 billion (net export surplus down -13.3% since 2015)
- Germany: $1.8 billion (down -23.2%)
- Paraguay: $1.6 billion (down -24.2%)
- Canada: $1.5 billion (down -33.7%)
- China: $1.4 billion (up 30.6%)
- Laos: $1.3 billion (reversing a -$83.5 million deficit)
- Sweden: $1.1 billion (up 117.1%)
- Russia: $877.5 million (up 109.3%)
- Czech Republic: $534.2 million (up 187.9%)
- India: $524.2 million (reversing a -$17.8 million deficit)
- South Africa: $480.7 million (up 70.6%)
- Switzerland: $428.4 million (up 38.5%)
- Bulgaria: $292.3 million (down -20.8%)
- Netherlands: $278.3 million (down -73.1%)
- Mozambique: $263.6 million (up 203%)
France generated the highest surplus in the international trade of electricity. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms France’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for electricity during 2019. 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 electricity purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Italy: -US$2 billion (net export deficit down -9.8% since 2015)
- United States: -$1.6 billion (down -29.3%)
- Thailand: -$1.19 billion (up 204.6%)
- United Kingdom: -$1.17 billion (down -12.2%)
- Finland: -$999.4 million (up 84.5%)
- Hong Kong: -$844.5 million (up 25.6%)
- Hungary: -$693.3 million (up 15.5%)
- Poland: -$589.3 million (up 1314.6%)
- Lithuania: -$535.5 million (up 69.6%)
- Macao: -$459.4 million (up 7%)
- Bangladesh: -$452.4 million (no 2018 data)
- Greece: -$441.4 million (up 7.9%)
- Croatia: -$374.3 million (up 13.6%)
- Argentina: -$355.6 million (up 17.3%)
- Denmark: -$230.6 million (up 112%)
Italy incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of electricity. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Italy’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for electricity-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Companies
Electricity Exporting Companies
Below are global utility service providers, transmission system operators or distribution grid companies that represent players engaged in the international trade of electricity. The home country for each is shown within parenthesis.
- China Southern Power Grid (China)
- E.ON (Germany)
- Électricité de France (France)
- Enel (Italy)
- Eskom (South Africa)
- Hydro-Québec (Canada)
- PAO Rosseti (Russia)
- State Grid Corporation of China (China)
- TenneT (Netherlands)
- Vattenfall (Sweden)
Searchable List of Electricity Exporting Countries in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that no 2018 data is available.
| Rank | Exporter | Exported Electricity (US$) | 2018-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $3,778,530,000 | +0.3% |
| 2. | France | $3,000,795,000 | -28.6% |
| 3. | Canada | $1,909,114,000 | -15.1% |
| 4. | Switzerland | $1,817,762,000 | -14.1% |
| 5. | China | $1,587,179,000 | +5.2% |
| 6. | Paraguay | $1,568,672,000 | -25.6% |
| 7. | Sweden | $1,514,079,000 | -4.1% |
| 8. | Laos | $1,401,320,000 | +0.2% |
| 9. | Austria | $1,366,602,000 | +22.7% |
| 10. | Czech Republic | $1,333,034,000 | -12.9% |
| 11. | Russia | $911,300,000 | +12.7% |
| 12. | Hungary | $908,655,000 | +21.6% |
| 13. | Spain | $871,426,000 | +9.3% |
| 14. | Slovenia | $832,008,000 | +7% |
| 15. | South Africa | $740,844,000 | +30.1% |
| 16. | Slovakia | $613,429,000 | +32.3% |
| 17. | Netherlands | $608,862,000 | +1,001% |
| 18. | India | $549,705,000 | +139.8% |
| 19. | Norway | $526,392,000 | -45.7% |
| 20. | Mozambique | $435,152,000 | +8.4% |
| 21. | Poland | $421,890,000 | +5.1% |
| 22. | Belgium | $417,262,000 | +65.9% |
| 23. | United States | $408,070,000 | +3.9% |
| 24. | Bulgaria | $392,431,000 | +15% |
| 25. | Ukraine | $367,471,000 | +10.7% |
| 26. | Italy | $365,128,000 | +14.8% |
| 27. | Denmark | $339,937,000 | -24% |
| 28. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $329,295,000 | -5.2% |
| 29. | Croatia | $294,554,000 | -4.2% |
| 30. | Guatemala | $259,238,000 | +43.4% |
| 31. | Thailand | $206,920,000 | +148% |
| 32. | Finland | $200,943,000 | +39.8% |
| 33. | Portugal | $181,562,000 | -51.3% |
| 34. | Latvia | $181,242,000 | -26% |
| 35. | United Kingdom | $179,742,000 | +6.8% |
| 36. | Lithuania | $174,604,000 | +17.1% |
| 37. | Estonia | $146,950,000 | -47.8% |
| 38. | Romania | $145,564,000 | -39% |
| 39. | Mexico | $143,750,000 | -36.6% |
| 40. | Togo | $141,187,000 | -1.5% |
| 41. | Malaysia | $129,610,000 | +22.6% |
| 42. | Greece | $119,429,000 | -52.2% |
| 43. | Turkey | $104,425,000 | +4.8% |
| 44. | Uruguay | $88,507,000 | -17.1% |
| 45. | Nigeria | $85,655,000 | -23.5% |
| 46. | Serbia | $81,158,000 | +2.1% |
| 47. | Azerbaijan | $76,828,000 | +17.1% |
| 48. | Albania | $70,062,000 | +47.5% |
| 49. | Ecuador | $68,272,000 | +1,027% |
| 50. | Ireland | $67,281,000 | -68.2% |
| 51. | Armenia | $65,569,000 | -18.1% |
| 52. | Morocco | $60,744,000 | +261.7% |
| 53. | Ghana | $53,675,000 | 0% |
| 54. | Ivory Coast | $52,597,000 | -68.4% |
| 55. | Kazakhstan | $46,725,000 | -41.5% |
| 56. | Belarus | $43,261,000 | -20.8% |
| 57. | North Macedonia | $39,015,000 | +26.3% |
| 58. | Myanmar (Burma) | $37,021,000 | +62.4% |
| 59. | Tajikistan | $34,856,000 | -55.3% |
| 60. | Nepal | $25,495,000 | 0% |
| 61. | Zimbabwe | $16,969,000 | +37.7% |
| 62. | El Salvador | $13,630,000 | +1,677% |
| 63. | Venezuela | $12,944,000 | -69.7% |
| 64. | North Korea | $11,429,000 | +0.3% |
| 65. | Panama | $9,143,000 | +86.8% |
| 66. | Montenegro | $8,888,000 | -85.4% |
| 67. | Georgia | $7,837,000 | -81.1% |
| 68. | Luxembourg | $6,489,000 | -8.1% |
| 69. | Malta | $4,053,000 | +124.4% |
| 70. | Iran | $3,819,000 | 0% |
| 71. | Colombia | $2,401,000 | -54.6% |
| 72. | Peru | $1,117,000 | -2.4% |
| 73. | Lesotho | $514,000 | 0% |
| 74. | Mongolia | $371,000 | -0.8% |
| 75. | Malawi | $140,000 | -82.6% |
| 76. | Algeria | $121,000 | -97.7% |
| 77. | Kyrgyzstan | $111,000 | -99.3% |
| 78. | United Arab Emirates | $8,000 | -96.7% |
See also Crude Oil Exports by Country and Drugs and Medicine Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 9, 2020
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 9, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 9, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 9, 2020
Wikipedia, Electricity distribution companies by country. Accessed on May 9, 2020
