The overall value of pork exports increased by an average 18.4% for all exporting countries since 2018 when pork shipments were valued at $28.5 billion.
Year over year, revenues from pork exports dropped via an -8.4% reduction from $36.8 billion during 2021.
As was the case in 2021, the 5 major exporters of pork in 2022 were Spain, United States of America, Germany, Canada and Denmark. Collectively, that handful of suppliers provided over three-fifths (61.8%) of globally exported pork.
From a continental perspective, $21 billion or 62.4% worth of all pork exports originated from suppliers in Europe. In second place were North American exporters accounting for 27.3%.
Smaller percentages came from Latin America (9.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Asia (0.9%), Oceania mostly Australia (0.2%), then Africa (0.1%).
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 0203 for fresh, chilled or frozen swine meat.
Pork Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of pork during 2022.
- Spain: US$5.9 billion (17.6% of total pork exports)
- United States of America: $5.4 billion (16.1%)
- Germany: $3.8 billion (11.3%)
- Canada: $2.9 billion (8.7%)
- Denmark: $2.8 billion (8.2%)
- Netherlands: $2.7 billion (8.1%)
- Brazil: $2.4 billion (7.1%)
- Belgium: $1.4 billion (4.2%)
- France: $1 billion (3.1%)
- Poland: $856.4 million (2.5%)
- Mexico: $830.1 million (2.5%)
- Chile: $650.6 million (1.9%)
- Ireland: $483.7 million (1.4%)
- Hungary: $421.6 million (1.2%)
- Austria: $412.5 million (1.2%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 95.2% of global pork exported in 2022.
Two of the top pork exporters grew their international sales from 2021 to 2022, namely Hungary (up 4.9%) and Belgium (up 0.8%).
Major suppliers that posted declines in their exported pork sales were led by: Austria (down -14.4% from 2021), Denmark (down -11.7%), Mexico (down -11.4%), Canada (down -9.8%) and Spain (down -9%).
Countries Collecting Largest Trade Surpluses from Pork
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for pork during 2022. 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 pork exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Spain: US$5.7 billion (net export surplus down -9.3% since 2021)
- United States: $3.6 billion (down -17.7%)
- Denmark: $2.6 billion (down -11.9%)
- Brazil: $2.4 billion (down -2.7%)
- Canada: $2.4 billion (down -8.9%)
- Germany: $2.3 billion (down -7.3%)
- Netherlands: $2 billion (down -15.2%)
- Belgium: $1.2 billion (up 2%)
- Chile: $411.2 million (up 46.3%)
- Ireland: $342.3 million (down -4.3%)
- France: $247 million (down -27.9%)
- Austria: $77.8 million (down -56.9%)
- Hungary: $54.2 million (down -42.3%)
- Finland: $46.9 million (down -27.8%)
- Russia: $26.4 million (down -91.2%)
World leader Spain generated the highest surplus in the international trade of pork. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Spain’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Causing Worst Trade Deficits from Pork
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for pork during 2022. 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 pork import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Japan: -US$4.2 billion (net export deficit down -4.7% since 2020)
- mainland China: -$3.7 billion (down -62.2%)
- Italy: -$2.2 billion (up 21.8%)
- South Korea: -$2 billion (up 18.6%)
- Mexico: -$1.8 billion (up 75.1%)
- Romania: -$866.9 million (up 21.3%)
- Poland: -$820.3 million (up 37.7%)
- Czech Republic: -$705.8 million (up 15.2%)
- Philippines: -$629.5 million (up 32%)
- Hong Kong: -$561.9 million (down -25%)
- Greece: -$532.9 million (up 17.2%)
- United Kingdom: -$494.7 million (up 11.5%)
- Australia: -$441 million (up 6.2%)
- Slovakia: -$356.9 million (up 10.2%)
- Colombia: -$315.6 million (up 4.4%)
Highly populated Japan and China incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of pork. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights both Asian nations’ competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for pork-supplying countries that help satisfy their powerful consumer demand for that specific commodity.
Top Global Pork Processing Companies
According to the Meat Atlas report (Der Fleischatlas), the following companies lead in worldwide meat sales including pork.
- JBS SA (Brazil)
- Tyson Food (United States)
- Cargill (Argentina)
- BRF (Brazil)
- Vion Food Group (Netherlands)
- Nippon Meat Packers (Japan)
- Smithfield Foods (United States, America’s largest pork producer)
- Marfrig Alimentos SA (Brazil)
- Danish Crown AmbA (Denmark, world’s biggest pork exporter)
- Hormel Foods (United States)
Searchable List of Pork Exporting Countries
All 98 countries that exported pork in 2022 are showcased in the following database.
| Rank | Exporter | Pork Exports | 2021-2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Spain | $5,922,708,000 | -0.09 |
| 2. | United States | $5,440,242,000 | -8.6% |
| 3. | Germany | $3,811,606,000 | -3.4% |
| 4. | Canada | $2,925,714,000 | -9.8% |
| 5. | Denmark | $2,754,818,000 | -11.7% |
| 6. | Netherlands | $2,725,920,000 | -8.9% |
| 7. | Brazil | $2,407,030,000 | -2.7% |
| 8. | Belgium | $1,429,179,000 | +0.8% |
| 9. | France | $1,043,633,000 | -7.5% |
| 10. | Poland | $856,428,000 | -4.4% |
| 11. | Mexico | $830,117,000 | -11.4% |
| 12. | Chile | $650,558,000 | -3% |
| 13. | Ireland | $483,654,000 | -7.7% |
| 14. | Hungary | $421,610,000 | +4.9% |
| 15. | Austria | $412,514,000 | -14.4% |
| 16. | United Kingdom | $405,873,000 | -12.9% |
| 17. | Italy | $158,360,000 | -37.8% |
| 18. | China | $150,501,000 | +25% |
| 19. | Finland | $97,598,000 | -9.9% |
| 20. | Portugal | $83,480,000 | -30.4% |
| 21. | Czech Republic | $82,997,000 | +11.5% |
| 22. | Australia | $81,764,000 | -26.4% |
| 23. | Russia | $55,694,000 | -82.6% |
| 24. | Hong Kong | $55,132,000 | -9.2% |
| 25. | Sweden | $52,340,000 | -2.9% |
| 26. | Vietnam | $46,504,000 | +7.5% |
| 27. | Slovakia | $38,220,000 | -7.9% |
| 28. | Croatia | $37,877,000 | +76.9% |
| 29. | Estonia | $33,107,000 | +24% |
| 30. | Singapore | $32,375,000 | +6% |
| 31. | South Africa | $22,115,000 | -17.7% |
| 32. | Latvia | $20,070,000 | +21.1% |
| 33. | Lithuania | $19,676,000 | +19.2% |
| 34. | Bulgaria | $19,129,000 | +48.8% |
| 35. | Slovenia | $15,817,000 | +12.5% |
| 36. | Japan | $14,398,000 | -18.5% |
| 37. | Greece | $13,005,000 | +2.7% |
| 38. | Luxembourg | $12,221,000 | +20.1% |
| 39. | Norway | $9,997,000 | -34% |
| 40. | Cyprus | $8,771,000 | +59.1% |
| 41. | Switzerland | $6,599,000 | +1.1% |
| 42. | Thailand | $5,395,000 | -90% |
| 43. | Paraguay | $5,221,000 | +4011% |
| 44. | India | $3,748,000 | -36.7% |
| 45. | Türkiye | $3,260,000 | +10.3% |
| 46. | Romania | $2,977,000 | +22.7% |
| 47. | Serbia | $2,916,000 | -11.6% |
| 48. | South Korea | $2,182,000 | -56.6% |
| 49. | Malaysia | $2,180,000 | -44.7% |
| 50. | New Zealand | $2,021,000 | +147.7% |
| 51. | Montenegro | $1,616,000 | +708% |
| 52. | Namibia | $1,575,000 | -3.6% |
| 53. | Zambia | $1,520,000 | +78% |
| 54. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $1,068,000 | +524.6% |
| 55. | Costa Rica | $1,067,000 | -15.3% |
| 56. | Iran | $884,000 | 0% |
| 57. | Kenya | $817,000 | +9.8% |
| 58. | Ukraine | $536,000 | -92.5% |
| 59. | Panama | $401,000 | -5.6% |
| 60. | Barbados | $329,000 | 0% |
| 61. | United Arab Emirates | $299,000 | -75.4% |
| 62. | Trinidad/Tobago | $287,000 | +5.9% |
| 63. | Armenia | $281,000 | +1071% |
| 64. | Suriname | $269,000 | +18% |
| 65. | Congo | $268,000 | 0% |
| 66. | Taiwan | $262,000 | -14.1% |
| 67. | Nicaragua | $194,000 | +65.8% |
| 68. | Sudan | $187,000 | 0% |
| 69. | Pitcairn | $172,000 | 0% |
| 70. | Sri Lanka | $150,000 | +53.1% |
| 71. | Botswana | $136,000 | -37.9% |
| 72. | El Salvador | $128,000 | 0% |
| 73. | Jamaica | $96,000 | 0% |
| 74. | Tanzania | $95,000 | -85.4% |
| 75. | Fiji | $79,000 | +11.3% |
| 76. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $69,000 | 0% |
| 77. | Bahrain | $67,000 | -37.4% |
| 78. | Belarus | $63,000 | -98.7% |
| 79. | Mali | $54,000 | 0% |
| 80. | Argentina | $53,000 | -99.9% |
| 81. | Uganda | $47,000 | -63% |
| 82. | Morocco | $45,000 | -40.8% |
| 83. | Equatorial Guinea | $39,000 | 0% |
| 84. | Guatemala | $34,000 | +325% |
| 85. | Ivory Coast | $25,000 | -26.5% |
| 86. | Oman | $25,000 | -94.1% |
| 87. | Mozambique | $24,000 | -20% |
| 88. | Lebanon | $17,000 | 0% |
| 89. | Colombia | $14,000 | 0% |
| 90. | Tunisia | $8,000 | 0% |
| 91. | Senegal | $7,000 | +40% |
| 92. | Dominican Republic | $7,000 | +250% |
| 93. | Peru | $6,000 | 0% |
| 94. | Moldova | $4,000 | +100% |
| 95. | US Minor Outlying Is | $3,000 | -62.5% |
| 96. | Bermuda | $3,000 | 0% |
| 97. | Malta | $3,000 | 0% |
| 98. | Iceland | $2,000 | -50% |
Widening the scope to all pork suppliers, the greatest percentage increases belong to exporters in Paraguay (up 4,011%), Armenia (up 1,071%), Montenegro (up 708%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (up 524.6%), Guatemala (up 325%), New Zealand (up 147.7%) and Moldova (up 100%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the above columns.
The right-most column highlights the percentage change in the overall value of globally exported pork from 2021 to 2022.
An entry of 0% in that column means that 2021 data was unavailable.
See also Pork Imports by Country, Big Export Sales for Frozen Shrimps, Top Beef Exporting Countries, Chicken Exports by Country and Top Goat Meat Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 31, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 31, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 31, 2023
2018 Meat Atlas, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin, Germany, and Friends of the Earth Europe, Brussels, Belgium. Accessed on July 31, 2023
