Globally imported natural rubber for all buyer countries flatlined, up by an average 1.2% since 2017 when natural rubber import purchases totaled $17.7 billion.
Year over year, money spent on imported natural rubber accelerated by 42.5% compared to $12.4 billion during 2020.
The 5 biggest importers of natural rubber are mainland China, United States of America, Malaysia, Japan and India. That cohort of highly populous countries spent over half (56.1%) of total worldwide purchases of globally imported natural rubber. Such a high percentage indicates an intensely concentrated cohort of natural rubber buyers.
From a continental perspective, buyers in Asian countries purchased the highest dollar worth of imported natural rubber during 2021 with purchases amounting to $10.64 billion or 59.5% of the global total. In second place were European importers at 21.4% while another 14.5% of overall natural rubber imports were delivered to North America.
Smaller percentages went to importers in Latin America (3.5%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (0.9%), then Oceania (0.1%) mostly Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 4001 for natural rubber, balata, gutta-percha, guayule, chicle and similar natural gums in primary form.
Natural Rubber Imports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of natural rubber during 2021.
- China: US$3.9 billion (21.6% of total natural rubber imports)
- United States: $2.1 billion (11.8%)
- Malaysia: $1.8 billion (9.9%)
- Japan: $1.3 billion (7.4%)
- India: $973.1 million (5.4%)
- South Korea: $618.7 million (3.5%)
- Vietnam: $565.5 million (3.2%)
- Germany: $554.2 million (3.1%)
- Turkey: $532.4 million (3%)
- Brazil: $420 million (2.3%)
- Spain: $409.1 million (2.3%)
- Italy: $316.3 million (1.8%)
- France: $303.5 million (1.7%)
- Belgium: $299.4 million (1.7%)
- Russia: $269.6 million (1.5%)
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for natural rubber since 2020 were: Belgium (up 87%), India (up 78.7%), Turkey (up 73%) and Brazil (up 70.6%).
Vietnam was the lone major supplier to post a decline in its imported natural rubber purchases via a -12.2% reduction.
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased about four-fifths (80.1%) of all natural rubber imported in 2021.
Natural Rubber Imports into China
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which China imported the highest dollar value worth of natural rubber during 2021. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country since 2017.
- Thailand: US$2 billion (up 57.9% from 2020)
- Malaysia: $553.6 million (up 42%)
- Ivory Coast: $313.4 million (up 34.4%)
- Indonesia: $304.2 million (down -26.3%)
- Vietnam: $257.6 million (up 1.1%)
- Laos: $193.6 million (down -28%)
- Myanmar: $177.5 million (down -15.5%)
- Cambodia: $24.9 million (up 76.5%)
- Philippines: $18.2 million (up 203.9%)
- Nigeria: $5.4 million (up 38.5%)
- Ghana: $3.7 million (down -72.1%)
- Sri Lanka: $3.4 million (up 146.4%)
- India: $2.7 million (up 39.4%)
- Papua New Guinea: $1.9 million (up 438%)
- Cameroon: $851,000 (up 768.4%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.94% of natural rubber imported by China in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of natural rubber to China since 2020 were: Cameroon (up 768.4%), Papua New Guinea (up 438%), Philippines (up 203.9%) and Sri Lanka (up 146.4%).
Four top suppliers experienced declines in the value of their natural rubber furnished to Chinese importers namely Ghana (down -72.1%), Laos (down -28%), Indonesia (down -26.3%) and Myanmar (down -15.5%).
Overall, the value of China’s imported natural rubber rose by an average 25.4% from all supplying countries since 2020 when natural rubber purchased cost $3.1 billion.
Natural Rubber Imports into the United States
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which United States imported the highest dollar value worth of natural rubber during 2021. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2020 to 2021.
- Indonesia: US$1.1 billion (up 38.4% from 2020)
- Thailand: $511 million (up 62.8%)
- Ivory Coast: $177 million (up 109%)
- Vietnam: $83.9 million (up 115.2%)
- Liberia: $77.9 million (up 67.2%)
- Malaysia: $67.8 million (up 100.6%)
- Ghana: $29.9 million (up 76.9%)
- Guatemala: $26.4 million (up 44.8%)
- Cameroon: $19.9 million (up 44.1%)
- Singapore: $17.1 million (up 1305.2%)
- Sri Lanka: $7.4 million (up 63.5%)
- Laos: $3.1 million (up 122.7%)
- India: $2.9 million (up 36.4%)
- Gabon: $1.9 million (up 4.3%)
- Taiwan: $1.7 million (down -5.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.5% of natural rubber imported by the United States of America in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of natural rubber to United States since 2020 were: Singapore (up 1,305%), Laos (up 122.7%), Vietnam (up 115.2%) and Ivory Coast (up 109%).
Taiwan was the lone major provider to post a decline in the value of natural rubber supplied to American importers dragged down by a -5.7% reduction.
Overall, the value of America’s imported natural rubber accelerated by an average 55.4% from all supplying countries since 2020 when natural rubber purchased cost $1.4 billion.
Natural Rubber Imports into Malaysia
Below are the top 15 suppliers from which Malaysia imported the highest dollar value worth of natural rubber during 2021. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2020 to 2021.
- Thailand: US$952.7 million (up 27.5% from 2020)
- Ivory Coast: $395.2 million (down -9.6%)
- Philippines: $155 million (up 49.4%)
- Myanmar: $122.6 million (up 236.6%)
- Liberia: $38 million (up 184%)
- Ghana: $26 million (down -15.3%)
- Vietnam: $16.2 million (down -15.3%)
- South Africa: $10.5 million (up 157.3%)
- India: $9.8 million (up 159.4%)
- Indonesia: $9.1 million (down -62.1%)
- Sri Lanka: $7.4 million (up 20.5%)
- Papua New Guinea: $7.2 million (up 18.1%)
- Guatemala: $3.3 million (up 48.5%)
- Nigeria: $3.1 million (up 8.7%)
- Cambodia: $2.1 million (down -18.1%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.2% of natural rubber imported by Malaysia in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of natural rubber to Malaysia since 2020 were: Myanmar (up 236.6%), Liberia (up 184%), India (up 159.4%) and South Africa (up 157.3%).
Countries that experienced declines in the value of their natural rubber supplied to Malaysian importers included: Indonesia (down -62.1%), Cambodia (down -18.1%), Ghana (down -15.3%) and Vietnam (down -15.3%).
Overall, the value of Malaysia’s imported natural rubber increased by an average 21.9% from all supplying countries since 2020 when natural rubber purchased cost $1.5 billion.
Natural Rubber Imports into Japan
Below are the top suppliers from which Japan imported the highest dollar value worth of natural rubber during 2021. Within parenthesis is the percentage change in value for each supplying country from 2020 to 2021.
- Indonesia: US$845 million (up 53.4% from 2020)
- Thailand: $427.1 million (up 66.1%)
- Vietnam: $22.4 million (up 47%)
- Malaysia: $10.7 million (up 105%)
- Myanmar: $10.2 million (up 13.5%)
- Sri Lanka: $5.6 million (up 80.7%)
- Cambodia: $233,000 (up 51.3%)
- Mexico: $152,000 (up 67%)
- China: $141,000 (up 31.8%)
- Belgium: $88,000 (up 266.7%)
- Denmark: $7,000 (2020 data unavailable)
- United States: $5,000 (down -54.5%)
- United Kingdom: $4,000 (2020 data unavailable)
- Ivory Coast: $3,000 (2020 data unavailable)
- Liberia: $3,000 (2020 data unavailable)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.9996% of natural rubber imported by Japan in 2021.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers of natural rubber to Japan since 2020 were: Belgium (up 266.7%), Malaysia (up 105%), Sri Lanka (up 80.7%) and Mexico (up 67%).
The United States of America was the lone major provider to experience a decline in the value of natural rubber supplied to Japanese importers weighed down by a -54.5% reduction.
Overall, the value of Japan’s imported natural rubber spiked by an average 57.2% from all supplying countries since 2020 when natural rubber purchased cost $840.7 million.
Searchable List of Natural Rubber Importing Countries in 2021
The 100 key buyers of natural rubber in the automated database below accounted for 99.98% of the value of imported natural rubber bought during 2021.
| Rank | Importer | Natural Rubber Imports | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $3,858,197,000 | +25.4% |
| 2. | United States | $2,106,991,000 | +55.4% |
| 3. | Malaysia | $1,771,718,000 | +21.9% |
| 4. | Japan | $1,321,657,000 | +57.2% |
| 5. | India | $973,093,000 | +78.7% |
| 6. | South Korea | $618,701,000 | +43.6% |
| 7. | Vietnam | $565,450,000 | -12.2% |
| 8. | Germany | $554,243,000 | +58.3% |
| 9. | Turkey | $532,356,000 | +73% |
| 10. | Brazil | $420,048,000 | +70.6% |
| 11. | Spain | $409,099,000 | +52.6% |
| 12. | Italy | $316,268,000 | +65.3% |
| 13. | France | $303,482,000 | +69.9% |
| 14. | Belgium | $299,444,000 | +87% |
| 15. | Russia | $269,613,000 | +51.5% |
| 16. | Canada | $260,409,000 | +50.9% |
| 17. | Poland | $254,213,000 | +57.9% |
| 18. | Mexico | $228,494,000 | +93.9% |
| 19. | Luxembourg | $227,246,000 | +113.7% |
| 20. | Romania | $195,908,000 | +70.4% |
| 21. | Czech Republic | $190,921,000 | +67.3% |
| 22. | Slovakia | $187,317,000 | +63.9% |
| 23. | Taiwan | $183,974,000 | +19.5% |
| 24. | Sri Lanka | $148,066,000 | +123.7% |
| 25. | Iran | $145,064,000 | -7% |
| 26. | Singapore | $132,563,000 | +12% |
| 27. | Hungary | $125,785,000 | +59.1% |
| 28. | Indonesia | $110,987,000 | +106.4% |
| 29. | Pakistan | $104,953,000 | +39.7% |
| 30. | Netherlands | $101,829,000 | -6.7% |
| 31. | South Africa | $88,898,000 | +70.2% |
| 32. | United Arab Emirates | $77,831,000 | +1917% |
| 33. | Argentina | $73,491,000 | +75.5% |
| 34. | Portugal | $72,958,000 | +62.9% |
| 35. | Serbia | $72,022,000 | +57.9% |
| 36. | United Kingdom | $52,426,000 | +51.3% |
| 37. | Denmark | $50,938,000 | +26.5% |
| 38. | Egypt | $45,746,000 | +22.3% |
| 39. | Chile | $40,473,000 | +88% |
| 40. | Belarus | $36,607,000 | +47.7% |
| 41. | Slovenia | $33,308,000 | +28.5% |
| 42. | Colombia | $30,805,000 | +41.9% |
| 43. | Philippines | $25,948,000 | +88.3% |
| 44. | Costa Rica | $25,743,000 | +114.7% |
| 45. | Finland | $25,481,000 | +64.6% |
| 46. | Peru | $20,277,000 | +85.4% |
| 47. | Israel | $15,599,000 | +26.5% |
| 48. | Austria | $14,422,000 | +45.7% |
| 49. | Greece | $12,900,000 | +39.5% |
| 50. | Australia | $10,711,000 | +10.4% |
| 51. | North Korea | $10,158,000 | +168.4% |
| 52. | Ecuador | $10,061,000 | +154.7% |
| 53. | Uzbekistan | $6,923,000 | +18% |
| 54. | Algeria | $6,781,000 | -14.1% |
| 55. | Tunisia | $6,770,000 | +59.3% |
| 56. | Hong Kong | $5,437,000 | +165.1% |
| 57. | Saudi Arabia | $5,348,000 | +86.7% |
| 58. | Sweden | $5,210,000 | -50.7% |
| 59. | Nigeria | $4,903,000 | -24.6% |
| 60. | New Zealand | $4,448,000 | +85.3% |
| 61. | Thailand | $4,286,000 | +41.9% |
| 62. | Lithuania | $3,791,000 | +3511% |
| 63. | Croatia | $3,753,000 | +128.1% |
| 64. | Laos | $3,750,000 | +18.4% |
| 65. | Ukraine | $3,522,000 | -10.4% |
| 66. | Bulgaria | $3,417,000 | +50.2% |
| 67. | Ethiopia | $2,885,000 | -44.6% |
| 68. | Mozambique | $2,808,000 | -3.6% |
| 69. | Kenya | $2,610,000 | +14.7% |
| 70. | Cambodia | $2,495,000 | -13.2% |
| 71. | Armenia | $2,178,000 | +135.7% |
| 72. | Ireland | $2,074,000 | +107.2% |
| 73. | Switzerland | $1,920,000 | +69% |
| 74. | Venezuela | $1,832,000 | -5.3% |
| 75. | Nepal | $1,735,000 | +39.9% |
| 76. | Bangladesh | $1,727,000 | -83.4% |
| 77. | Morocco | $1,390,000 | +34.4% |
| 78. | Syria | $1,371,000 | +45.7% |
| 79. | Senegal | $1,104,000 | +30.8% |
| 80. | Togo | $1,017,000 | +114.1% |
| 81. | Oman | $916,000 | +106.3% |
| 82. | Burkina Faso | $909,000 | +55.9% |
| 83. | Cameroon | $894,000 | +102.7% |
| 84. | Dominican Republic | $787,000 | -7% |
| 85. | Guatemala | $761,000 | -51.8% |
| 86. | Myanmar | $759,000 | +46.2% |
| 87. | Norway | $675,000 | +49% |
| 88. | Jamaica | $652,000 | +206.1% |
| 89. | Panama | $542,000 | -73.5% |
| 90. | Uruguay | $499,000 | +1% |
| 91. | Yemen | $454,000 | +8.4% |
| 92. | US Minor Outlying Is | $401,000 | 0% |
| 93. | Tanzania | $400,000 | +830.2% |
| 94. | Albania | $382,000 | +7540% |
| 95. | Angola | $368,000 | +155.6% |
| 96. | Ivory Coast | $311,000 | +196.2% |
| 97. | Zambia | $301,000 | +30.9% |
| 98. | Zimbabwe | $265,000 | -45.4% |
| 99. | Jordan | $262,000 | -3% |
| 100. | Mali | $261,000 | +69.5% |
Focusing on the top 100 main buyers of natural rubber from international markets, the fastest growers were Albania (up 7,540% from 2020), Lithuania (up 3,511%), United Arab Emirates (up 1,917%), Tanzania (up 830.2%), Jamaica (up 206.1%), Ivory Coast (up 196.2%) then North Korea (up 168.4%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the above table’s columns. A 0% entry in the right-most column means that 2020 data was unavailable.
See also Natural Rubber Exports by Country, Rubber Tires Exports by Country, China’s Top Trading Partners, Malaysia’s Top Trading Partners and America’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Imports – Commodities. Accessed on August 7, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 7, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 7, 2022
Wikipedia, Natural rubber. Accessed on August 7, 2022
