International sales for exported trucks increased by 35.3% from $137.5 billion five years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the overall value of trucks exported in 2023 reflects a 19.6% acceleration versus $155.6 billion for 2022.
Trucks represent an essential means of transportation for people. As an economic entity, trucks also serve a critical role in the flow of international trade of goods around the globe.
The 5 leading exporters of trucks are Mexico, United States of America, Germany, mainland China and France. Collectively, that cohort of major competitors generated over half (51.3%) of the worldwide value of exported trucks during 2023.
From a continental perspective, the value of trucks exported from North America totaled $67.5 billion in 2023 or 36.3% of the world’s total. Suppliers in Europe accounted for 35.3% of globally exported trucks while another 21% came from Asia.
Smaller percentages originated from shippers in Latin America (3.7%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (3.6%), and Oceania (0.1%) mostly Australia.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 8704 for trucks. Technically, that code prefix encompasses transportation vehicles including chassis with engine and cab. Excluded are work trucks under HTS code 8709.
Trucks Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of trucks during 2023.
- Mexico: US$37.7 billion (20.3% of exported trucks)
- United States: $22.7 billion (12.2%)
- Germany: $13 billion (7%)
- mainland China: $11.6 billion (6.2%)
- France: $10.3 billion (5.6%)
- Japan: $9.4 billion (5.1%)
- Thailand: $8.2 billion (4.4%)
- Spain: $7.5 billion (4%)
- Canada: $7.1 billion (3.8%)
- Poland: $6.8 billion (3.7%)
- Italy: $6.5 billion (3.5%)
- South Africa: $6 billion (3.2%)
- Türkiye: $5.6 billion (3%)
- Netherlands: $4.2 billion (2.3%)
- Belgium: $4.16 billion (2.2%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 86.5% of trucks exported in 2022.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing trucks exporters since 2022 were: Canada (up 76%), Spain (up 52.8%), Poland (up 50.5%) and South Africa (up 47.9%).
Japan was the sole top exporters that posted a decline in exported trucks sales, down -5.7% from 2022.
Searchable List of Truck Exporting Countries
The 100 key exporters highlighted in the automated database below represent 99.99% of the overall value for globally exported trucks in 2023.
| Rank | Exporter | Truck Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mexico | $37,725,151,000 | +15% |
| 2. | United States | $22,724,864,000 | +21.7% |
| 3. | Germany | $12,985,793,000 | +33.7% |
| 4. | mainland China | $11,621,228,000 | +17.6% |
| 5. | France | $10,345,112,000 | +33.7% |
| 6. | Japan | $9,420,136,000 | -5.7% |
| 7. | Thailand | $8,205,188,000 | +10.9% |
| 8. | Spain | $7,484,967,000 | +52.8% |
| 9. | Canada | $7,092,619,000 | +76% |
| 10. | Poland | $6,805,605,000 | +50.5% |
| 11. | Italy | $6,530,971,000 | +36% |
| 12. | South Africa | $5,977,312,000 | +47.9% |
| 13. | Türkiye | $5,615,023,000 | +1.3% |
| 14. | Netherlands | $4,205,008,000 | +19.3% |
| 15. | Belgium | $4,162,476,000 | +18.8% |
| 16. | Argentina | $3,809,786,000 | +5.8% |
| 17. | United Kingdom | $3,542,055,000 | +35.2% |
| 18. | Brazil | $2,551,408,000 | +13.2% |
| 19. | Sweden | $2,347,743,000 | +17.6% |
| 20. | South Korea | $1,805,836,000 | +10.5% |
| 21. | Austria | $1,799,085,000 | -2% |
| 22. | India | $1,623,829,000 | -8.3% |
| 23. | Portugal | $1,226,675,000 | +14.5% |
| 24. | Finland | $1,023,254,000 | +20.6% |
| 25. | Slovakia | $552,021,000 | +14% |
| 26. | Czech Republic | $439,164,000 | +52.1% |
| 27. | Indonesia | $399,388,000 | +28.2% |
| 28. | Norway | $358,796,000 | +6.3% |
| 29. | Hungary | $328,340,000 | +14.5% |
| 30. | Djibouti | $322,322,000 | -1.3% |
| 31. | Uruguay | $284,409,000 | -8.1% |
| 32. | Denmark | $275,409,000 | +14.8% |
| 33. | Switzerland | $246,385,000 | +43.6% |
| 34. | Estonia | $220,518,000 | +59.2% |
| 35. | Australia | $170,802,000 | +30.8% |
| 36. | Slovenia | $165,403,000 | +25.6% |
| 37. | Lithuania | $161,831,000 | +24.8% |
| 38. | Zambia | $160,815,000 | +928.8% |
| 39. | United Arab Emirates | $156,905,000 | -91.2% |
| 40. | Romania | $94,992,000 | +41.4% |
| 41. | Ireland | $76,662,000 | +3% |
| 42. | Kazakhstan | $70,067,000 | +91.9% |
| 43. | Colombia | $69,817,000 | -26.4% |
| 44. | Luxembourg | $67,822,000 | +90.7% |
| 45. | Bahrain | $64,113,000 | +38% |
| 46. | Serbia | $61,128,000 | +24.7% |
| 47. | Bulgaria | $54,611,000 | +26.9% |
| 48. | Russia | $49,827,000 | -69.2% |
| 49. | Singapore | $48,389,000 | -17.7% |
| 50. | Croatia | $40,635,000 | +5.3% |
| 51. | Latvia | $38,701,000 | +1% |
| 52. | Ghana | $37,056,000 | +210.1% |
| 53. | Chile | $31,474,000 | +15.4% |
| 54. | Kenya | $27,498,000 | +6.7% |
| 55. | Namibia | $25,774,000 | -34.1% |
| 56. | Burkina Faso | $23,148,000 | +111.2% |
| 57. | Israel | $20,218,000 | +34.5% |
| 58. | Guatemala | $20,197,000 | -14.1% |
| 59. | Uzbekistan | $19,815,000 | +35.9% |
| 60. | Armenia | $17,448,000 | -44.5% |
| 61. | Uganda | $17,342,000 | -29.9% |
| 62. | Tanzania | $16,489,000 | +27.8% |
| 63. | Belarus | $12,316,000 | -75.7% |
| 64. | Botswana | $12,146,000 | -8.7% |
| 65. | Tunisia | $11,986,000 | +467.5% |
| 66. | Hong Kong | $11,923,000 | +30.7% |
| 67. | Panama | $11,832,000 | -28.6% |
| 68. | Greece | $10,660,000 | +95.3% |
| 69. | Morocco | $8,951,000 | +19.1% |
| 70. | Ivory Coast | $8,781,000 | -5.9% |
| 71. | Senegal | $7,536,000 | +4.5% |
| 72. | Jordan | $7,328,000 | +24.3% |
| 73. | Sri Lanka | $7,060,000 | -24.8% |
| 74. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $6,741,000 | +14.6% |
| 75. | Taiwan | $6,217,000 | -19.3% |
| 76. | Saudi Arabia | $6,080,000 | -96.8% |
| 77. | Malaysia | $5,687,000 | +9.2% |
| 78. | US Minor Outlying Is | $5,581,000 | +42831% |
| 79. | Dominican Republic | $5,034,000 | +631.7% |
| 80. | Peru | $4,821,000 | +804.5% |
| 81. | Democratic Rep. Congo | $4,681,000 | -39.5% |
| 82. | Ethiopia | $4,676,000 | +298.6% |
| 83. | Benin | $4,667,000 | +840.9% |
| 84. | Vietnam | $4,317,000 | -41.4% |
| 85. | Ukraine | $3,868,000 | -14.1% |
| 86. | Mongolia | $3,398,000 | +7623% |
| 87. | Oman | $3,061,000 | -97.3% |
| 88. | British Virgin Islands | $3,061,000 | +310.3% |
| 89. | Togo | $2,931,000 | -47.2% |
| 90. | Montenegro | $2,861,000 | -5.2% |
| 91. | Niger | $2,810,000 | -33.1% |
| 92. | Azerbaijan | $2,628,000 | +177.2% |
| 93. | Andorra | $2,588,000 | +21% |
| 94. | Cyprus | $2,402,000 | -24.2% |
| 95. | North Macedonia | $2,366,000 | -5.9% |
| 96. | Eswatini | $2,356,000 | +62.7% |
| 97. | Egypt | $2,333,000 | +436.3% |
| 98. | Mozambique | $2,282,000 | -46.9% |
| 99. | Iceland | $2,266,000 | +58.4% |
| 100. | El Salvador | $2,172,000 | +224.2% |
Focusing on the 100 leading truck exporters, the fastest growers from 2022 to 2023 are United States Minor Outlying Islands (up 42,831%), Mongolia (up 7,623%), Zambia (up 928.8%), Benin (up 840.9%) and Peru (up 804.5%).
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 above table’s right-most column means that 2022 data was unavailable.
Countries Generating Best Trade Surpluses from Trucks
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for truck during 2023. 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 truck and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Mexico: US$34.3 billion (net export surplus up 13.2% since 2022)
- mainland China: $10.7 billion (up 17%)
- Japan: $8.7 billion (down -7.1%)
- Thailand: $7.8 billion (up 9.7%)
- South Africa: $4.8 billion (up 59.7%)
- Poland: $4.5 billion (up 86.3%)
- Spain: $3.9 billion (up 54.4%)
- Argentina: $3.2 billion (up 9%)
- Germany: $3.1 billion (up 82.8%)
- Türkiye: $2.9 billion (down -33.2%)
- Italy: $2.5 billion (up 13.8%)
- France: $2.3 billion (up 102.7%)
- India: $1.6 billion (down -8.3%)
- South Korea: $1.2 billion (up 22.6%)
- Netherlands: $482.1 million (down -33.6%)
Continuing a historical trend, Mexico generated the highest surplus in the international trade of trucks. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms strong Mexican competitive advantages for this specific product category.
Countries Incurring Worst Trade Deficits from Trucks
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for trucks during 2023. 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 truck purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$21 billion (net export deficit up 27.1% since 2022)
- Canada: -$13.5 billion (down -7.8%)
- Australia: -$11.1 billion (up 20.6%)
- United Kingdom: -$7.6 billion (up 12.2%)
- Russia: -$3.2 billion (up 81%)
- Chile: -$2.74 billion (down -27.9%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$2.68 billion (up 66%)
- Indonesia: -$2.22 billion (up 5.5%)
- Philippines: -$2.2 billion (up 15.9%)
- Switzerland: -$1.7 billion (up 54%)
- Peru: -$1.45 billion (up 0.1%)
- Norway: -$1.45 billion (up 25.7%)
- New Zealand: -$1.27 billion (down -8.3%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$1.25 billion (up 5,701%)
- Malaysia: -$1.22 billion (up 17%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of trucks in 2023. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s competitive disadvantage producing this specific product category but also signals opportunities for competitive truck-supplying countries that can alternatively capture the powerful demand.
Truck Exporting Companies
According to Forbes Global 2000 rankings, the following car and truck producing companies are among the top 100 largest companies in the world.
- Toyota Motor (Japan)
- Volkswagen Group (Germany)
- Daimler (Germany)
- Ford Motor (United States)
- BMW Group (Germany)
- General Motors (United States)
- Honda Motor (Japan)
- Hyundai Motor (South Korea)
- Nissan Motor (Japan)
- SAIC Motor (China)
See also Car Exports by Country, Automotive Parts Exports by Country, Electric Cars Imports by Country, Cars Imports by Country and Best Global Consumer Markets for Selling Imported Cars
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 26, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 26, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 26, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 26, 2024