Paintings and drawings may be subjective art where traditionally beauty resides in the eye of the beholder. What’s statistically indisputable is that exported artwork places among the fastest-growing commodities sold in the international marketplace.
Among continents, suppliers in Europe sold the highest dollar amount for exported paintings and drawings during 2019 with shipments valued at $11.7 billion approaching half (46%) of the global total. In second place were North American exporters at 37.5% while 13% of total revenues from the international sale of paintings and drawings originated from Asia. Smaller percentages came from exporters in Latin America (3.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Oceania (0.2%) led by Australia, and Africa (also 0.2%).
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 970110 which encompasses oil, watercolor and pastel paintings as well as drawings.
Exported Paintings and Drawings by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of paintings and drawings during 2019.
- United States: US$9.2 billion (36.4% of exported paintings and drawings)
- United Kingdom: $8.6 billion (34%)
- Hong Kong: $2 billion (7.8%)
- Switzerland: $1.2 billion (4.6%)
- France: $863 million (3.4%)
- China: $542.2 million (2.1%)
- Argentina: $483.5 million (1.9%)
- Germany: $417.7 million (1.6%)
- Singapore: $272.6 million (1.1%)
- Canada: $264.8 million (1%)
- Japan: $257.1 million (1%)
- Brazil: $242.1 million (1%)
- Italy: $193.9 million (0.8%)
- Austria: $85.9 million (0.3%)
- Belgium: $77 million (0.3%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 97.5% of globally exported paintings and drawings in 2019.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of paintings and drawings since 2015 were: Argentina (up 56,848%), Hong Kong (up 452.5%), Brazil (up 290.5%) and Canada (up 79.7%).
Three countries posted declines in their international sales of paintings and drawings: Italy (down -25.8%), Austria (down -13.1%) and Germany (down -0.4%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for paintings and drawings 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 paintings and drawings and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- United Kingdom: US$6.7 billion (net export surplus up 226.7% since 2015)
- United States: $1.6 billion (reversing a -$447.5 million deficit)
- France: $540.4 million (up 53.7%)
- Argentina: $482.7 million (up 75,211%)
- Brazil: $234.9 million (up 487.3%)
- Canada: $120.9 million (reversing a -$75.3 million deficit)
- Italy: $89.6 million (down -55%)
- China: $50.8 million (down -82.8%)
- Germany: $27.6 million (down -82.5%)
- Colombia: $19.4 million (up 11,724%)
- Indonesia: $17.4 million (up 585.7%)
- Israel: $17.2 million (up 275.7%)
- Trinidad/Tobago: $8.7 million (up 790.5%)
- Greece: $8.2 million (reversing a -$1.4 million deficit)
- Denmark: $6.9 million (up 6%)
Overtaking the United Kingdom since 2018, the United States of America earned the highest surplus in the international trade of paintings and drawings. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms America’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for paintings and drawings 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 paintings and drawings purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Hong Kong: -US$1.6 billion (net export deficit up 9.9% since 2015)
- Switzerland: -$403.1 million (down -27.5%)
- South Korea: -$215 million (reversing a $290.2 million surplus)
- Japan: -$118.1 million (up 140.8%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$56.1 million (reversing a $43.4 million surplus)
- Austria: -$56 million (up 268.3%)
- Luxembourg: -$55.4 million (reversing a $250.3 million surplus)
- Taiwan: -$54.9 million (up 70.3%)
- Australia: -$39.4 million (up 120.9%)
- Belgium: -$33.1 million (up 753.8%)
- Lebanon: -$25.9 million (up 453.8%)
- Qatar: -$24.8 million (reversing a $33 million surplus)
- Norway: -$21 million (up 7.2%)
- Malaysia: -$18.2 million (up 262.5%)
- India: -$17.6 million (reversing a $41.1 million surplus)
Global trade hub Hong Kong incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of paintings and drawings. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Hong Kong’s strong competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for paintings and drawings-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand among Hong Kong traders.
Companies
Paintings and Drawings Export Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following suppliers are examples of international companies engaged in international sales of paintings and drawings. The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.
- Art Sender (Canada)
- Fuzhou Baodeyou Trading Co, Ltd (China)
- Global Star Trading (HK) Limited (Hong Kong)
- Goldbrush Inc (United States)
- Quang Thanh Company Limited (Vietnam)
- Ravi Exports (India)
- Tokyo Fujishokai Co, Ltd (Japan)
- Tumadi Traditional Batik Painting (Singapore)
- YH-Arts Limited (United Kingdom)
- Yuen Young Plastics Co, Ltd (Taiwan)
Searchable List of Paintings/Drawings Exporting Countries in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that data for 2018 was unavailable.
| Rank | Exporter | Painting/Drawing Exports (US$) | 2018-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | United States | $9,232,337,000 | -15.2% |
| 2. | United Kingdom | $8,612,922,000 | +87.2% |
| 3. | Hong Kong | $1,980,494,000 | +76.1% |
| 4. | Switzerland | $1,172,482,000 | -40.4% |
| 5. | France | $863,040,000 | +6.2% |
| 6. | China | $542,200,000 | +272.2% |
| 7. | Argentina | $483,492,000 | +1,203% |
| 8. | Germany | $417,711,000 | -19% |
| 9. | Singapore | $272,555,000 | -6% |
| 10. | Canada | $264,845,000 | +122.7% |
| 11. | Japan | $257,067,000 | -12.5% |
| 12. | Brazil | $242,072,000 | +7.7% |
| 13. | Italy | $193,866,000 | +0.7% |
| 14. | Austria | $85,892,000 | -46.5% |
| 15. | Belgium | $77,024,000 | -32.2% |
| 16. | India | $60,345,000 | -11.7% |
| 17. | South Korea | $58,128,000 | -31% |
| 18. | Spain | $53,392,000 | -12.6% |
| 19. | Netherlands | $51,228,000 | -27.2% |
| 20. | Israel | $41,220,000 | +6.4% |
| 21. | Australia | $37,342,000 | -18.7% |
| 22. | Indonesia | $30,778,000 | +1,058% |
| 23. | Denmark | $30,123,000 | -24% |
| 24. | South Africa | $22,573,000 | +25.6% |
| 25. | Colombia | $20,589,000 | +720.9% |
| 26. | Luxembourg | $20,422,000 | +164.8% |
| 27. | United Arab Emirates | $15,974,000 | -97.5% |
| 28. | Sweden | $14,145,000 | -21.4% |
| 29. | Greece | $12,337,000 | +490.6% |
| 30. | Ireland | $10,173,000 | +2.8% |
| 31. | Norway | $10,103,000 | -70.6% |
| 32. | Turkey | $9,595,000 | -29.4% |
| 33. | British Virgin Islands | $9,149,000 | -24.6% |
| 34. | Bahamas | $8,914,000 | +2,038% |
| 35. | Trinidad/Tobago | $8,756,000 | +291.8% |
| 36. | New Zealand | $6,499,000 | +28.8% |
| 37. | Taiwan | $5,986,000 | -3.3% |
| 38. | Czech Republic | $5,962,000 | +47.6% |
| 39. | Poland | $5,911,000 | -55.9% |
| 40. | Cuba | $4,382,000 | +139.1% |
| 41. | Lebanon | $4,302,000 | +160.6% |
| 42. | Vietnam | $4,037,000 | +520.1% |
| 43. | Mauritius | $4,023,000 | +1,297% |
| 44. | Portugal | $4,018,000 | -31% |
| 45. | Venezuela | $3,526,000 | -42.4% |
| 46. | Finland | $3,491,000 | +58% |
| 47. | Slovakia | $3,247,000 | +104.2% |
| 48. | Philippines | $2,946,000 | +250.7% |
| 49. | Cyprus | $2,371,000 | +5,289% |
| 50. | Uganda | $2,260,000 | +112,900% |
| 51. | Ukraine | $2,177,000 | +1,158% |
| 52. | Iran | $2,065,000 | +1,122% |
| 53. | Hungary | $1,981,000 | +41.1% |
| 54. | Estonia | $1,968,000 | +13.9% |
| 55. | Saudi Arabia | $1,967,000 | +202.2% |
| 56. | Panama | $1,806,000 | -72% |
| 57. | Malaysia | $1,759,000 | +57.8% |
| 58. | Pakistan | $1,696,000 | +3,938% |
| 59. | Jordan | $1,688,000 | +748.2% |
| 60. | Egypt | $1,553,000 | +9,035% |
| 61. | Thailand | $1,440,000 | -26.2% |
| 62. | Ivory Coast | $1,395,000 | +254.1% |
| 63. | Morocco | $1,326,000 | -8.8% |
| 64. | Uruguay | $1,304,000 | +41.4% |
| 65. | Iceland | $1,302,000 | +27.3% |
| 66. | Oman | $1,192,000 | +1,428% |
| 67. | Kenya | $1,115,000 | +423.5% |
| 68. | Qatar | $837,000 | 0% |
| 69. | Ethiopia | $813,000 | -62.7% |
| 70. | Belarus | $780,000 | +786.4% |
| 71. | Liberia | $765,000 | -44.6% |
| 72. | Bulgaria | $691,000 | +28.7% |
| 73. | Congo | $621,000 | +417.5% |
| 74. | Haiti | $606,000 | +413.6% |
| 75. | Serbia | $588,000 | -65.9% |
| 76. | Russia | $578,000 | -88.7% |
| 77. | Montenegro | $578,000 | +2,790% |
| 78. | Mali | $540,000 | +365.5% |
| 79. | Iraq | $508,000 | -61.8% |
| 80. | Gibraltar | $490,000 | +76.9% |
| 81. | Afghanistan | $455,000 | 0% |
| 82. | Mexico | $447,000 | -69.6% |
| 83. | Dominican Republic | $429,000 | +51.1% |
| 84. | Cameroon | $371,000 | -61.9% |
| 85. | Peru | $356,000 | -15.4% |
| 86. | Lithuania | $336,000 | -49.8% |
| 87. | Saint Lucia | $333,000 | +90.3% |
| 88. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $331,000 | +212.3% |
| 89. | Namibia | $292,000 | +4.7% |
| 90. | Ghana | $277,000 | +648.6% |
| 91. | Slovenia | $267,000 | -11.3% |
| 92. | Chile | $252,000 | +384.6% |
| 93. | Jamaica | $212,000 | -36.1% |
| 94. | Sri Lanka | $196,000 | -52.7% |
| 95. | Albania | $189,000 | 0% |
| 96. | Cambodia | $187,000 | 0% |
| 97. | French Polynesia | $186,000 | -13.9% |
| 98. | St Maarten (Dutch) | $174,000 | +1,640% |
| 99. | Costa Rica | $164,000 | -16.8% |
| 100. | Bahrain | $161,000 | +111.8% |
| 101. | Barbados | $156,000 | -38.6% |
| 102. | Croatia | $154,000 | -30.3% |
| 103. | Nepal | $144,000 | -7.7% |
| 104. | Curaçao | $142,000 | +10.1% |
| 105. | Bhutan | $119,000 | -7.8% |
| 106. | Andorra | $110,000 | +103.7% |
| 107. | Kuwait | $108,000 | -64.4% |
| 108. | Tanzania | $105,000 | +377.3% |
| 109. | Nicaragua | $104,000 | +166.7% |
| 110. | Latvia | $92,000 | -33.3% |
| 111. | Sierra Leone | $84,000 | 0% |
| 112. | Mozambique | $83,000 | +207.4% |
| 113. | Azerbaijan | $83,000 | -38.5% |
| 114. | Cayman Islands | $82,000 | -94.7% |
| 115. | Malta | $77,000 | -95.6% |
| 116. | North Macedonia | $77,000 | +79.1% |
| 117. | Bolivia | $76,000 | +1,420% |
| 118. | Tunisia | $71,000 | -94.8% |
| 119. | Fiji | $64,000 | +6,300% |
| 120. | Guatemala | $55,000 | -1.8% |
| 121. | Libya | $49,000 | 0% |
| 122. | Moldova | $49,000 | -61.4% |
| 123. | Bangladesh | $46,000 | -29.2% |
| 124. | Romania | $46,000 | +283.3% |
| 125. | Mongolia | $45,000 | -52.6% |
| 126. | Niger | $45,000 | 0% |
| 127. | Myanmar (Burma) | $44,000 | +1,000% |
| 128. | Dominica | $41,000 | 0% |
| 129. | Cook Islands | $40,000 | +29% |
| 130. | Kyrgyzstan | $40,000 | +566.7% |
| 131. | Rwanda | $40,000 | +3,900% |
| 132. | Honduras | $39,000 | +116.7% |
| 133. | Anguilla | $36,000 | +157.1% |
| 134. | Senegal | $35,000 | +150.0% |
| 135. | Georgia | $34,000 | -12.8% |
| 136. | New Caledonia | $32,000 | +68.4% |
| 137. | Aruba | $31,000 | +3,000% |
| 138. | Zimbabwe | $28,000 | -77.2% |
| 139. | Central African Rep | $26,000 | 0% |
| 140. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $23,000 | -8% |
| 141. | Faroe Islands | $22,000 | 0% |
| 142. | Greenland | $20,000 | +81.8% |
| 143. | Laos | $19,000 | 0% |
| 144. | Zambia | $18,000 | +350% |
| 145. | Turks/Caicos Islands | $14,000 | +100% |
| 146. | Botswana | $14,000 | +180% |
| 147. | Algeria | $12,000 | -88.9% |
| 148. | Papua New Guinea | $12,000 | -91.9% |
| 149. | Kazakhstan | $11,000 | -35.3% |
| 150. | Syria | $11,000 | -99.2% |
| 151. | Sudan | $11,000 | -86.1% |
| 152. | Macao | $10,000 | 0% |
| 153. | Angola | $9,000 | -66.7% |
| 154. | Gabon | $9,000 | -75% |
| 155. | St Vincent/Grenadines | $9,000 | +350% |
| 156. | Uzbekistan | $8,000 | 0% |
| 157. | Guinea | $8,000 | +100% |
| 158. | Norfolk Island | $8,000 | 0% |
| 159. | Seychelles | $7,000 | +250% |
| 160. | Suriname | $7,000 | 0% |
| 161. | Somalia | $7,000 | 0% |
| 162. | Eswatini | $6,000 | +200% |
| 163. | Ecuador | $6,000 | -80.6% |
| 164. | Pitcairn | $4,000 | -98.4% |
| 165. | Palau | $3,000 | 0% |
| 166. | Grenada | $3,000 | 0% |
| 167. | Madagascar | $3,000 | +50% |
| 168. | North Korea | $2,000 | 0% |
| 169. | El Salvador | $2,000 | -88.9% |
| 170. | Benin | $2,000 | -33.3% |
| 171. | Armenia | $2,000 | -60% |
| 172. | Belize | $2,000 | 0% |
| 173. | Togo | $2,000 | -50% |
| 174. | Tonga | $2,000 | 0% |
| 175. | Burkina Faso | $2,000 | +100% |
| 176. | Free Zones | $2,000 | -33.3% |
| 177. | Tajikistan | $1,000 | 0% |
| 178. | Guinea-Bissau | $1,000 | 0% |
| 179. | Brunei Darussalam | $1,000 | -83.3% |
| 180. | Antigua/Barbuda | $1,000 | -88.9% |
| 181. | Eritrea | $1,000 | 0% |
| 182. | Maldives | $1,000 | 0% |
| 183. | Bonaire/St Eustatius/Saba | $1,000 | 0% |
See also Diamond Exports by Country, Top Sculptures Exporters by Country and Wine Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier showroom for paintings and drawings. Accessed on June 8, 2020
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on June 8, 2020
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 8, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 8, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 8, 2020
Wikipedia, Fine art. Accessed on June 8, 2020
