Overall, the value of flower bouquet exports increased by an average 2.6% for all exporting countries since 2016 when flower bouquet shipments were valued at $8.2 billion. Year over year, the value of globally exported flower bouquets fell by -6.6% from 2019 to 2020.
The 5 biggest exporters (Netherlands, Colombia, Ecuador, Kenya, Ethiopia) generated 84% of overall international sales for flower bouquet-related products.
Among continents, European countries sold the highest dollar value worth of exported cut flowers during 2020 with shipments amounting to $4.8 billion or 56.9% of the worldwide total. Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean represent 25% worth, trailed by African exporters at 10.9%.
Smaller percentages came from sources in Asia (5.9%), North America (1.2%) and Oceania (0.1%) led by New Zealand and Australia.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 0603 for cut flowers and flower buds suitable for bouquets or for ornamental purposes.
Flower Bouquet Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of flower bouquets during 2020.
- Netherlands: US$4.2 billion (49.9% of exported flower bouquets)
- Colombia: $1.4 billion (16.7%)
- Ecuador: $643.6 million (7.6%)
- Kenya: $635.4 million (7.5%)
- Ethiopia: $190.2 million (2.3%)
- China: $125.8 million (1.5%)
- Belarus: $123.9 million (1.5%)
- Italy: $96.7 million (1.1%)
- Malaysia: $87.4 million (1%)
- Belgium: $81.4 million (1%)
- Spain: $66.5 million (0.8%)
- Canada: $58.5 million (0.7%)
- Israel: $58.3 million (0.7%)
- Germany: $52.2 million (0.6%)
- Thailand: $47.4 million (0.6%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 93.5% of global flower bouquets exported in 2020.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of flower bouquet-related goods from 2019 to 2020 were: Belarus (up 44.8%), Israel (up 41.1%), Spain (up 14.5%) and Kenya (up 8.8%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported flower bouquets sales were led by: Belgium (down -46.1%), Thailand (down -37.8%), Ecuador (down -26.8%), Malaysia (down -22.7%) and Germany (down -21.7%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for cut flowers suitable for bouquets during 2020. 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 flower bouquet exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Netherlands: US$3.1 billion (net export surplus up 3.3% since 2019)
- Colombia: $1.4 billion (up 7.6%)
- Ecuador: $643.1 million (down -19.9%)
- Kenya: $635.2 million (up 24.6%)
- Ethiopia: $190.2 million (down -0.4%)
- Belarus: $95.3 million (reversing a -$281.7 million deficit)
- Malaysia: $82 million (down -17.6%)
- China: $80.7 million (up 21%)
- Israel: $57.1 million (down -29%)
- South Africa: $43.6 million (up 32%)
- Taiwan: $35.7 million (up 44.1%)
- Turkey: $33.9 million (up 43.7%)
- Mexico: $24.5 million (down -33.3%)
- Costa Rica: $24.5 million (down -35.7%)
- Vietnam: $24.5 million (down -14%)
True to its stereotypical image as a tulip producer, the Netherlands serves as the home country with the highest surplus in the international trade of cut flowers suitable for bouquets. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms the strong competitive advantage that Netherlands has for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for cut flowers suitable for bouquets during 2020. 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 flower bouquet import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$1.5 billion (net export deficit up 11.1% since 2019)
- Germany: -$1.1 billion (up 0.7%)
- United Kingdom: -$755.1 million (down -22.3%)
- France: -$322.2 million (down -13.6%)
- Japan: -$317.1 million (down -6.9%)
- Russia: -$270.6 million (down -24.0%)
- Switzerland: -$163.2 million (down -5.9%)
- Belgium: -$139.0 million (up 120.5%)
- Denmark: -$115.2 million (up 31.9%)
- Poland: -$112.6 million (up 83.2%)
- Austria: -$92.7 million (down -3.9%)
- Czech Republic: -$90.9 million (up 29.0%)
- Sweden: -$86.8 million (up 10.1%)
- Norway: -$78.4 million (down -3.7%)
- Ireland: -$62.6 million (up 39.1%)
America and Germany incurred billion dollar+ deficits when it comes to the international trade of cut flowers suitable for bouquets. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights both countries’ strong competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for flower bouquet-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from American and German consumers.
Companies
Flower Bouquet Importing Companies
According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following companies are examples of multinational cut flower buyers.
- Almacenes Vaca (Mexico)
- Hosley International (United States)
- San Antonio Imports (Mexico)
- Viveres El Triunfo (Mexico)
- WalMart (United States)
Searchable List of Flower Bouquet Exporting Countries in 2020
The top 100 exporting nations generated 99.9996% of flower bouquet-related goods exported in 2020.
| Rank | Exporter | Flower Exports (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Netherlands | $4,206,327,000 | -3.1% |
| 2. | Colombia | $1,410,712,000 | -4.3% |
| 3. | Ecuador | $643,596,000 | -26.8% |
| 4. | Kenya | $635,435,000 | +8.8% |
| 5. | Ethiopia | $190,206,000 | -4.9% |
| 6. | China | $125,809,000 | +4.9% |
| 7. | Belarus | $123,937,000 | +44.8% |
| 8. | Italy | $96,748,000 | -6.2% |
| 9. | Malaysia | $87,433,000 | -22.7% |
| 10. | Belgium | $81,409,000 | -46.1% |
| 11. | Spain | $66,505,000 | +14.5% |
| 12. | Canada | $58,499,000 | -8.9% |
| 13. | Israel | $58,262,000 | +41.1% |
| 14. | Germany | $52,160,000 | -21.7% |
| 15. | Thailand | $47,445,000 | -37.8% |
| 16. | Vietnam | $46,187,000 | -7.7% |
| 17. | South Africa | $45,511,000 | -18.4% |
| 18. | Taiwan | $39,074,000 | -14.8% |
| 19. | Poland | $38,947,000 | -18.1% |
| 20. | Turkey | $36,780,000 | +2.3% |
| 21. | United Kingdom | $30,455,000 | -26.8% |
| 22. | Mexico | $24,692,000 | -36.6% |
| 23. | Costa Rica | $24,689,000 | -16.7% |
| 24. | Lithuania | $23,798,000 | -27.9% |
| 25. | France | $18,599,000 | -5.2% |
| 26. | Guatemala | $17,404,000 | -15.1% |
| 27. | United States | $16,368,000 | -25.6% |
| 28. | Denmark | $14,339,000 | +26.2% |
| 29. | India | $13,700,000 | -29.2% |
| 30. | Portugal | $10,268,000 | +1.2% |
| 31. | Czech Republic | $9,064,000 | +46.5% |
| 32. | South Korea | $8,586,000 | -14.8% |
| 33. | New Zealand | $8,515,000 | -31.4% |
| 34. | Morocco | $8,165,000 | +2.8% |
| 35. | Japan | $7,602,000 | -6.3% |
| 36. | Peru | $7,165,000 | -12.8% |
| 37. | Austria | $7,147,000 | +27.1% |
| 38. | Zambia | $7,051,000 | -12.3% |
| 39. | Armenia | $6,992,000 | -3.8% |
| 40. | Tanzania | $6,917,000 | -60.7% |
| 41. | Singapore | $6,340,000 | -34.7% |
| 42. | Chile | $5,810,000 | +3.1% |
| 43. | Rwanda | $5,774,000 | +53.1% |
| 44. | Nigeria | $5,245,000 | +0.3% |
| 45. | Indonesia | $4,548,000 | -10.8% |
| 46. | Hungary | $4,044,000 | -44% |
| 47. | Uganda | $3,632,000 | -7.9% |
| 48. | Slovakia | $3,553,000 | +1.7% |
| 49. | Latvia | $3,476,000 | -37.8% |
| 50. | Australia | $3,048,000 | -30.2% |
| 51. | Kazakhstan | $2,953,000 | -72.8% |
| 52. | Zimbabwe | $2,842,000 | -7.2% |
| 53. | Luxembourg | $2,130,000 | +510.3% |
| 54. | Egypt | $1,787,000 | -40.4% |
| 55. | Pakistan | $1,677,000 | -10.3% |
| 56. | Bulgaria | $1,605,000 | -28.6% |
| 57. | Ukraine | $1,521,000 | +23.7% |
| 58. | Sweden | $1,517,000 | +30.8% |
| 59. | Ivory Coast | $947,000 | -1.4% |
| 60. | Finland | $840,000 | -34.6% |
| 61. | Tunisia | $820,000 | +16,300% |
| 62. | Brazil | $767,000 | +376.4% |
| 63. | Hong Kong | $739,000 | +170.7% |
| 64. | Russia | $623,000 | -12.3% |
| 65. | Sri Lanka | $611,000 | -65.6% |
| 66. | Ghana | $610,000 | -73.3% |
| 67. | Croatia | $495,000 | -46% |
| 68. | Slovenia | $472,000 | -1.3% |
| 69. | Ireland | $441,000 | +60.4% |
| 70. | Philippines | $369,000 | +17.9% |
| 71. | Uzbekistan | $357,000 | +125.9% |
| 72. | Senegal | $339,000 | +3.7% |
| 73. | Greece | $303,000 | -36.3% |
| 74. | Cameroon | $291,000 | -34.8% |
| 75. | Iran | $234,000 | -46.9% |
| 76. | Serbia | $232,000 | -20.8% |
| 77. | Switzerland | $232,000 | +17.8% |
| 78. | Togo | $222,000 | +1,380% |
| 79. | Mauritius | $209,000 | -71.3% |
| 80. | Lebanon | $189,000 | -26.7% |
| 81. | Albania | $164,000 | +241.7% |
| 82. | Estonia | $150,000 | +80.7% |
| 83. | Dominican Republic | $143,000 | -66.9% |
| 84. | Nicaragua | $123,000 | +232.4% |
| 85. | Laos | $84,000 | -87.4% |
| 86. | Suriname | $63,000 | +600% |
| 87. | Burkina Faso | $52,000 | -20% |
| 88. | Georgia | $35,000 | +20.7% |
| 89. | Azerbaijan | $34,000 | +142.9% |
| 90. | Romania | $33,000 | -5.7% |
| 91. | Moldova | $27,000 | 0% |
| 92. | Syrian Arab Republic | $22,000 | -15.4% |
| 93. | Jordan | $21,000 | +40% |
| 94. | Sudan | $20,000 | +233.3% |
| 95. | Norway | $16,000 | 0% |
| 96. | Sierra Leone | $14,000 | 0% |
| 97. | Madagascar | $14,000 | +600% |
| 98. | Afghanistan | $10,000 | -98.3% |
| 99. | Myanmar | $7,000 | -30% |
| 100. | French Polynesia | $5,000 | -86.8% |
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that no 2019 data was available.
See also Netherlands Top 10 Exports and Netherlands Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on June 13, 2021
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 13, 2021
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 13, 2021
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 13, 2021
Wikipedia, Cut flowers. Accessed on June 13, 2021
Zepol’s company summary highlights by HTS code. Accessed on June 13, 2021
