The overall value of exported onions grew by an average 15.3% for all exporting countries since 2016 when international sales of onions were valued at $3.4 billion.
From 2019 to 2020, the value of onions shipped worldwide depreciated by -6.9%.
The 5 biggest exporters of onions are Netherlands, China, Mexico, Indian and the United States sold 59.9% of all onions exported during 2020. That percentage indicates a concentrated international market of onion sellers.
Among continents, Europe sold the highest dollar worth of exported onions during 2020 with shipments valued at $1.34 billion or more than a third (34.5%) of the global total. Close behind in second place were exporters in Asia at 33.3%, while 18% of worldwide shipments of onions originated from North America.
Smaller percentages came from Africa (6.9%), Latin America (4.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (3.2%) comprised solely of exports from New Zealand and Australia.
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code is 070310 for onions and shallots. A shallot is a small bulb that resembles an onion. Shallots are used to make pickles or as an onion substitute.
Onions Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of onions during 2020.
- Netherlands: US$828.3 million (21.3% of total onions exports)
- China: $495.4 million (12.7%)
- Mexico: $408.1 million (10.5%)
- India: $346.6 million (8.9%)
- United States: $249.9 million (6.4%)
- Egypt: $175.1 million (4.5%)
- Spain: $153.9 million (4%)
- Pakistan: $124 million (3.2%)
- New Zealand: $100.3 million (2.6%)
- Peru: $94.9 million (2.4%)
- France: $90.1 million (2.3%)
- Poland: $87.4 million (2.2%)
- Myanmar: $58.4 million (1.5%)
- Turkey: $51.4 million (1.3%)
- Afghanistan: $49.9 million (1.3%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 85.2% of global onions exports in 2020.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing onions exporters since 2019 were: Myanmar (up 89.3%), Pakistan (up 83.8%), Afghanistan (up 43.4%) and Mexico (up 16.8%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported onions sales were led by: Egypt (down -28.2%), Spain (down -27.6%), China (down -18.0%), Poland (down -16.2%) and United States (down -13.1%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for onions 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 exported onions and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Netherlands: US$700.3 million (net export surplus up 17.1% since 2019)
- China: $495.4 million (down -18%)
- Mexico: $368 million (up 29.7%)
- India: $279 million (down -14.8%)
- Egypt: $175.1 million (down -28.2%)
- Spain: $105.6 million (down -36.9%)
- New Zealand: $100 million (down -11.4%)
- Pakistan: $95.1 million (up 83.6%)
- Peru: $94.9 million (up 10.9%)
- Myanmar: $58.4 million (up 89.3%)
- Turkey: $51.3 million (up 137.7%)
- Afghanistan: $46.1 million (up 40.5%)
- Poland: $44.3 million (up 16.6%)
- Uzbekistan: $34.3 million (down -47.2%)
- South Africa: $24.5 million (down -19.3%)
The Netherlands earned the highest surplus in the international trade of onions. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Netherlands’ strong competitive advantages for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for onions 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 imported onions purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Bangladesh: -US$169.1 million (net export deficit up 74.1% since 2019)
- United States: -$221.4 million (up 29.2%)
- Sri Lanka: -$109.9 million (up 25.1%)
- Singapore: -$47 million (up 23.5%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$76.6 million (up 18.1%)
- Malaysia: -$203.1 million (up 17.1%)
- Russia: -$78.4 million (up 15.4%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$96.4 million (up 15.2%)
- Indonesia: -$51.7 million (up 12.4%)
- Ivory Coast: -$37.9 million (up 9%)
- Canada: -$117.9 million (down -13.8%)
- Belgium: -$50.4 million (down -19.9%)
- Germany: -$135.3 million (down -28.8%)
- Japan: -$84.9 million (down -33.4%)
- United Kingdom: -$180.4 million (down -37.5%)
Bangladesh incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of onions. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Bangladesh’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for onions-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful consumer demand.
Companies
Onions Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following companies are examples of onions-trading exporters. Home-country location is shown within parentheses.
- Aalia Gmbh (Germany)
- Agricola Dece SL (Spain)
- BHK Krakow Joint Venture Sp ZOO (Poland)
- Camill Alimentos S/A (United States)
- JDGC (France)
- Jinxiang Luteng Trading Co, Ltd (China)
- Naqshbandi Enterprise (Pakistan)
- Silas Export (Netherlands)
- SMA Trading (Egypt)
- Sri Parvathi Exports (India)
Searchable List of Onions Exporting Countries in 2020
The 100 biggest exporters of onions in the automated database below represent 99.99% of the overall value of globally exported onions during 2020.
| Rank | Exporter | Onion Exports (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Netherlands | $828,307,000 | +4.2% |
| 2. | China | $495,414,000 | -18% |
| 3. | Mexico | $408,137,000 | +16.8% |
| 4. | India | $346,640,000 | -5.6% |
| 5. | United States | $249,935,000 | -13.1% |
| 6. | Egypt | $175,100,000 | -28.2% |
| 7. | Spain | $153,865,000 | -27.6% |
| 8. | Pakistan | $124,029,000 | +83.8% |
| 9. | New Zealand | $100,344,000 | -12% |
| 10. | Peru | $94,926,000 | +10.9% |
| 11. | France | $90,120,000 | -6.2% |
| 12. | Poland | $87,353,000 | -16.2% |
| 13. | Myanmar | $58,379,000 | +89.3% |
| 14. | Turkey | $51,430,000 | -5.9% |
| 15. | Afghanistan | $49,929,000 | +43.4% |
| 16. | Germany | $45,426,000 | -3.3% |
| 17. | Canada | $42,657,000 | +1.9% |
| 18. | Italy | $40,568,000 | -13% |
| 19. | Uzbekistan | $34,381,000 | -47.2% |
| 20. | Argentina | $28,597,000 | -10.9% |
| 21. | South Africa | $26,851,000 | -16.9% |
| 22. | Australia | $23,058,000 | -17.6% |
| 23. | Belgium | $20,436,000 | +22.3% |
| 24. | Austria | $19,293,000 | -23.9% |
| 25. | Chile | $18,983,000 | -7% |
| 26. | Yemen | $18,303,000 | -0.02 |
| 27. | Morocco | $15,652,000 | +50.5% |
| 28. | Thailand | $15,324,000 | +54% |
| 29. | Japan | $14,639,000 | +284.8% |
| 30. | Niger | $14,139,000 | -72.8% |
| 31. | Indonesia | $13,802,000 | +30.4% |
| 32. | Sudan | $12,488,000 | -34.4% |
| 33. | Iran | $10,753,000 | -51.5% |
| 34. | Senegal | $9,684,000 | +4.5% |
| 35. | United Arab Emirates | $9,344,000 | -61.4% |
| 36. | Malaysia | $8,156,000 | +31.1% |
| 37. | United Kingdom | $7,875,000 | +10.7% |
| 38. | Russia | $7,581,000 | -28.7% |
| 39. | Tajikistan | $7,471,000 | -2.5% |
| 40. | Kazakhstan | $7,344,000 | -53.6% |
| 41. | Brazil | $7,168,000 | +267.4% |
| 42. | Slovakia | $6,964,000 | -22.9% |
| 43. | Guatemala | $6,576,000 | +0.5% |
| 44. | Singapore | $6,376,000 | +29% |
| 45. | Hong Kong | $4,757,000 | +1342% |
| 46. | Ukraine | $4,605,000 | +20.9% |
| 47. | Azerbaijan | $4,577,000 | -42.1% |
| 48. | Czech Republic | $3,655,000 | -22.3% |
| 49. | Serbia | $3,604,000 | -45.7% |
| 50. | Tanzania | $3,470,000 | +19.8% |
| 51. | Vietnam | $3,309,000 | +10.5% |
| 52. | Lithuania | $2,940,000 | +17.4% |
| 53. | Denmark | $2,935,000 | -56.8% |
| 54. | Ethiopia | $2,904,000 | -3.1% |
| 55. | South Korea | $2,753,000 | -83.5% |
| 56. | Namibia | $2,518,000 | +38.7% |
| 57. | Portugal | $2,463,000 | -33% |
| 58. | Ireland | $2,419,000 | +4.3% |
| 59. | Colombia | $2,401,000 | -30.8% |
| 60. | Jordan | $2,291,000 | +301.2% |
| 61. | Sri Lanka | $1,853,000 | +42% |
| 62. | Kyrgyzstan | $1,722,000 | -43.1% |
| 63. | Lebanon | $1,720,000 | +83% |
| 64. | Kenya | $1,696,000 | -80.7% |
| 65. | Latvia | $1,628,000 | -34.2% |
| 66. | Algeria | $1,411,000 | +55.1% |
| 67. | Greece | $1,310,000 | -67.6% |
| 68. | North Macedonia | $1,241,000 | -44.5% |
| 69. | Hungary | $984,000 | -11.4% |
| 70. | Slovenia | $918,000 | -57.2% |
| 71. | Madagascar | $798,000 | -24.6% |
| 72. | Burkina Faso | $690,000 | +6% |
| 73. | Uganda | $639,000 | -15.1% |
| 74. | Albania | $579,000 | -52.9% |
| 75. | Belarus | $574,000 | -88.3% |
| 76. | Sweden | $567,000 | -6.4% |
| 77. | Romania | $489,000 | +70.4% |
| 78. | Bulgaria | $448,000 | -24.6% |
| 79. | Croatia | $434,000 | -32.2% |
| 80. | Luxembourg | $415,000 | -26% |
| 81. | Ecuador | $378,000 | +50% |
| 82. | Ghana | $374,000 | +214.3% |
| 83. | Oman | $373,000 | -27.6% |
| 84. | Honduras | $251,000 | +73.1% |
| 85. | Philippines | $227,000 | -55% |
| 86. | Jamaica | $216,000 | -6.5% |
| 87. | Estonia | $215,000 | -28.1% |
| 88. | Nicaragua | $194,000 | -68% |
| 89. | Cameroon | $192,000 | -37.7% |
| 90. | Trinidad/Tobago | $182,000 | -14.2% |
| 91. | Syrian Arab Republic | $138,000 | -79.6% |
| 92. | Moldova | $130,000 | -88.4% |
| 93. | Finland | $111,000 | +40.5% |
| 94. | Timor-Leste | $107,000 | 0% |
| 95. | Turks/Caicos Islands | $91,000 | -80.1% |
| 96. | Armenia | $84,000 | 0% |
| 97. | Laos | $75,000 | -95.9% |
| 98. | Switzerland | $71,000 | +29.1% |
| 99. | Norway | $65,000 | -60.6% |
| 100. | Taiwan | $55,000 | -44.4% |
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. Note that a 0% entry in the right-most column means no 2019 data was available.
See also Top Cucumbers Exporting Countries, Soya Beans Exports by Country, Asparagus Exports by Country and Top Sweet Pepper and Chili Pepper Exports
Research Sources:
Alibaba, supplier information for onions. Accessed on August 12, 2021
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on August 12, 2021
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 12, 2021
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 12, 2021
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 12, 2021
Wikipedia, Onion. Accessed on August 12, 2021
