The value of exported perfumes increased by an average 5.5% since 2017 when overall shipments of perfumes amounted to $19 billion.
From 2020 to 2021, international perfume sales accelerated by 19.4%.
The 5 biggest international suppliers of exported perfumes are France, Spain, Germany, United States of America and Italy. Collectively, that cohort of perfume exporters accounted for 63.7% of globally exported perfumes during 2021.
Among continents, European countries sold the highest dollar worth of exported perfumes during 2021 with shipments from Europe valued at $15.4 billion or more than three-quarters (76.5%) of the global total. In second place were Asian exporters at 13.6%, while another 8.1% of worldwide shipments originated from North America.
Tinier percentages came from Latin America (1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Oceania (0.4%) mostly Australia, and Africa (also 0.4%).
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for perfumes and toilet waters is 3303. That code prefix specifically excludes aftershave lotions, personal deodorants and hair lotions.
Perfumes Exporters by Country
Below are the 15 countries that sold the highest dollar value worth of exported perfumes during 2021.
- France: US$5.9 billion (29.2% of total exported perfumes)
- Spain: $2.3 billion (11.3%)
- Germany: $1.9 billion (9.2%)
- United States: $1.43 billion (7.1%)
- Italy: $1.38 billion (6.9%)
- Singapore: $1.2 billion (6%)
- United Kingdom: $742.1 million (3.7%)
- Netherlands: $669.2 million (3.3%)
- Czech Republic: $637.9 million (3.2%)
- Poland: $615.2 million (3.1%)
- Hong Kong: $439.8 million (2.2%)
- Belgium: $324.6 million (1.6%)
- United Arab Emirates: $303.2 million (1.5%)
- Switzerland: $218.1 million (1.1%)
- China: $156.5 million (0.8%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 90.1% of global perfumes exported in 2021.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing perfumes exporters from 2020 to 2021 were: Switzerland (up 53.3%), Hong Kong (up 52.9%), Spain (up 45.8%) and France (up 40.5%).
Two top suppliers posted declines in their exported perfumes sales namely the United Arab Emirates (down -76%) and Belgium (down -14.2%).
Countries Generating Top Surpluses Trading Perfumes
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for perfumes during 2021. 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 perfumes and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- France: US$5.4 billion (net export surplus up 43.3% since 2020)
- Spain: $1.4 billion (up 50.8%)
- Italy: $775.7 million (up 30.3%)
- Singapore: $338.7 million (up 11.1%)
- Germany: $273 million (up 190.8%)
- Poland: $113.5 million (down -31.9%)
- India: $64.5 million (down -7.9%)
- Colombia: $55.2 million (down -2.4%)
- Oman: $3.9 million (down -106.1%)
- Tunisia: $3.2 million (up 209%)
- Guyana: $2.9 million (down -73.4%)
- Barbados: $1.5 million (up 156.3%)
- Senegal: $1.1 million (down -20%)
- Bahrain: $1 million (down -137.7%)
- Tokelau: $445,000 (up 293.8%)
World leader France earned the highest surplus in the international trade of perfumes. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms France’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Incurring Worst Deficits Trading Perfumes
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for perfumes during 2021. 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 perfumes purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$1.7 billion (net export deficit up 80.4% since 2020)
- mainland China: -$818 million (up 36%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$502 million (down -180.3%)
- Macao: -$474.7 million (up 72.1%)
- Russia: -$468.4 million (up 80.7%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$364.5 million (up 11%)
- Australia: -$286.5 million (up 10.2%)
- United Kingdom: -$269.5 million (down -40.5%)
- Hong Kong: -$268.7 million (down -13.1%)
- South Korea: -$234.6 million (up 22%)
- Chile: -$226.3 million (up 72.8%)
- Israel: -$203.2 million (up 42.4%)
- Canada: -$197.5 million (up 43%)
- Netherlands: -$197.3 million (down -29.6%)
- Japan: -$185.6 million (down -01%)
The United States of America and People’s Republic of China incurred the highest deficits in the international trade of perfumes. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for perfumes-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Perfumes Exporting Companies
According to Wikipedia, the following suppliers are the 20 biggest companies participating in the cosmetics industry. These firms sell perfumes on international markets.
- Procter & Gamble (United States)
- L’Oréal (France)
- Unilever (United Kingdom)
- Avon (United States)
- Beiersdorf (Germany)
- Estee Lauder (United States)
- Shiseido (Japan)
- Kao (Japan)
- Johnson & Johnson (United States)
- Henkel (Germany)
- LVMH (France)
- Coty (France)
- Chanel (France)
- Limited Brands (United States)
- Mary Kay (United States)
- Yves Roche (France)
- Natur (Brazil)
- Altico (United States)
- Kose (Japan)
- Oriflame (Sweden)
Searchable List of Perfumes Exporting Countries in 2021
The top 100 countries selling perfumes on international markets accounted for 99.98% of exported perfumes by value in 2021.
| Rank | Exporter | Exported Perfumes (US$) | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | France | $5,851,259,000 | +40.5% |
| 2. | Spain | $2,260,750,000 | +45.8% |
| 3. | Germany | $1,851,210,000 | +30.1% |
| 4. | United States | $1,430,062,000 | +17.4% |
| 5. | Italy | $1,383,624,000 | +27.4% |
| 6. | Singapore | $1,197,949,000 | +25.4% |
| 7. | United Kingdom | $742,069,000 | +33.4% |
| 8. | Netherlands | $669,161,000 | +37.2% |
| 9. | Czech Republic | $637,932,000 | +15.5% |
| 10. | Poland | $615,171,000 | +3.8% |
| 11. | Hong Kong | $439,750,000 | +52.9% |
| 12. | Belgium | $324,613,000 | -14.2% |
| 13. | United Arab Emirates | $303,158,000 | -76% |
| 14. | Switzerland | $218,116,000 | +53.3% |
| 15. | China | $156,531,000 | +7.4% |
| 16. | Indonesia | $154,167,000 | +26.2% |
| 17. | India | $134,285,000 | +17.7% |
| 18. | Turkey | $125,145,000 | +6.8% |
| 19. | Lithuania | $107,244,000 | +18.8% |
| 20. | Mexico | $106,725,000 | +15.3% |
| 21. | Colombia | $85,977,000 | +11.7% |
| 22. | Canada | $84,926,000 | +47.1% |
| 23. | Austria | $84,698,000 | +3.6% |
| 24. | Russia | $80,668,000 | -12.1% |
| 25. | Hungary | $76,462,000 | -5.1% |
| 26. | Australia | $76,233,000 | +62.4% |
| 27. | Denmark | $64,863,000 | +64.9% |
| 28. | Sweden | $54,700,000 | +108.9% |
| 29. | Croatia | $49,032,000 | +24.3% |
| 30. | Bulgaria | $43,594,000 | +11.9% |
| 31. | Israel | $36,722,000 | +8.2% |
| 32. | Saudi Arabia | $36,105,000 | +82.2% |
| 33. | Romania | $32,835,000 | -7% |
| 34. | Portugal | $31,358,000 | +5.3% |
| 35. | Brazil | $29,458,000 | +64.3% |
| 36. | Ukraine | $29,083,000 | +73.9% |
| 37. | Guatemala | $28,174,000 | +22.1% |
| 38. | Taiwan | $25,300,000 | +35.4% |
| 39. | Slovakia | $24,507,000 | +107.1% |
| 40. | Greece | $23,748,000 | -2.3% |
| 41. | Tunisia | $21,429,000 | +28.5% |
| 42. | Morocco | $20,955,000 | +40.9% |
| 43. | Belarus | $20,546,000 | +23% |
| 44. | Oman | $19,688,000 | +5.2% |
| 45. | South Africa | $19,663,000 | +26.9% |
| 46. | Estonia | $18,955,000 | -18.5% |
| 47. | Malaysia | $18,220,000 | -7.9% |
| 48. | Panama | $16,479,000 | -92.9% |
| 49. | Thailand | $15,582,000 | -19.1% |
| 50. | Norway | $13,045,000 | +125.7% |
| 51. | South Korea | $11,096,000 | +11.8% |
| 52. | Slovenia | $10,432,000 | +38% |
| 53. | Ireland | $9,776,000 | +40.1% |
| 54. | Latvia | $9,449,000 | +78.3% |
| 55. | Bahrain | $9,321,000 | -61.9% |
| 56. | Peru | $9,161,000 | +2.5% |
| 57. | Argentina | $8,830,000 | +17.8% |
| 58. | Macao | $8,507,000 | +32.8% |
| 59. | Chile | $7,642,000 | -30.9% |
| 60. | Japan | $7,255,000 | +21.1% |
| 61. | Kazakhstan | $6,331,000 | +133.4% |
| 62. | Cyprus | $5,759,000 | +133.7% |
| 63. | Luxembourg | $5,640,000 | -22.2% |
| 64. | Uruguay | $4,514,000 | +40936% |
| 65. | Serbia | $4,207,000 | +27.6% |
| 66. | Moldova | $4,074,000 | +59.8% |
| 67. | Guyana | $4,021,000 | -65.7% |
| 68. | Senegal | $3,937,000 | -5.3% |
| 69. | Kuwait | $3,619,000 | -85.4% |
| 70. | Sri Lanka | $3,413,000 | +63.1% |
| 71. | Viet Nam | $3,136,000 | -38.4% |
| 72. | Barbados | $2,700,000 | +172.5% |
| 73. | Philippines | $2,537,000 | -1.8% |
| 74. | Kenya | $2,090,000 | +3.8% |
| 75. | Ivory Coast | $2,006,000 | -95% |
| 76. | Dominican Republic | $1,986,000 | -0.7% |
| 77. | Mauritius | $1,954,000 | -15.2% |
| 78. | Georgia | $1,923,000 | +10.5% |
| 79. | Lebanon | $1,912,000 | -92.1% |
| 80. | Paraguay | $1,745,000 | +38.7% |
| 81. | Malta | $1,548,000 | +27.1% |
| 82. | Nigeria | $1,434,000 | +113.4% |
| 83. | Pakistan | $1,330,000 | +83.4% |
| 84. | Togo | $1,045,000 | +23.8% |
| 85. | Congo | $1,042,000 | -23% |
| 86. | Qatar | $1,007,000 | -56.3% |
| 87. | Costa Rica | $995,000 | +215.9% |
| 88. | Albania | $939,000 | +606% |
| 89. | Azerbaijan | $902,000 | +122.7% |
| 90. | Finland | $780,000 | -44.9% |
| 91. | New Zealand | $737,000 | +519.3% |
| 92. | El Salvador | $611,000 | +315.6% |
| 93. | Ecuador | $561,000 | -16.4% |
| 94. | Jordan | $543,000 | -81.5% |
| 95. | Iran | $540,000 | +280.3% |
| 96. | Burkina Faso | $522,000 | +8.8% |
| 97. | Aruba | $495,000 | -8.3% |
| 98. | Tokelau | $457,000 | +280.8% |
| 99. | Armenia | $446,000 | +187.7% |
| 100. | Eswatini | $419,000 | +5138% |
Expanding the scope to include the top 100 perfume exporters, the fastest growers from 2020 to 2021 were Uruguay (up 40,936%), Eswatini (up 5,138%), Albania (up 606%), New Zealand (up 606%), El Salvador (up 315.6%), Tokelau (up 280.8%), Iran (up 280.3%) and Costa Rica (up 215.9%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. The right-most column highlights the percentage change in the value of exported perfumes from 2020 to 2021. An entry of 0% in that column means that no 2020 value was available.
Average Prices by Shipment Weight for Top Perfumes Exporters
The following 15 countries are among the leading exporters ranked by dollar value of perfumes shipped during 2021.
- France: US$43,171 per ton of exported perfume (up 14.4% from 2021)
- Spain: $30,660 per ton (up 23.7%)
- Germany: $48,053 per ton (up 20%)
- United States of America: $27,489 per ton (up 5.8%)
- Italy: $34,210 per ton (up 3.4%)
- United Kingdom: $34,484 per ton (up 6.7%)
- Netherlands: $49,334 per ton (up 9.1%)
- Czech Republic: $61,517 per ton (up 1.4%)
- Poland: $19,281 per ton (up 2.5%)
- Belgium: $53,033 per ton (down -0.7%)
- United Arab Emirates: $14,913 per ton (down -100%)
- Switzerland: $47,478 per ton (up 11.5%)
- China: $7,354 per ton (up 9%)
- Indonesia: $17,235 per ton (up 25.5%)
- India: $7,540 per ton (down -21.1%)
Among the listed exporters, the lowest average prices per ton of perfume shipped belong to mainland China, India, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Poland.
The most expensive perfumes as ranked by highest dollar charge per ton are the Czech Republic, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and the world’s biggest exporter of perfumes–France.
See also Ice Cream Exporters by Country, Hearing Aids Importers by Country and Beauty Cosmetics and Skincare Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on June 4, 2022
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 4, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 4, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 4, 2022
Wikipedia, Cosmetic industry. Accessed on June 4, 2022
