That dollar amount reflects a 16.2% increase for all refrigerator and freezer shippers over the five-year period starting in 2016. From 2019 to 2020, the value of refrigerators and freezers exported worldwide flatlined via a 1.7% gain.
The 5 biggest exporters of major kitchen appliances are China, Mexico, Italy, South Korea and Germany. Combined, that quintet of leading suppliers generated over half (54.5%) of overall international sales for refrigerators and freezers during 2020.
Among continents, suppliers in Asia furnished the highest dollar worth of exported refrigerators and freezers during 2020 with shipments valued at $21.8 billion or 46.7% of the worldwide total. In second place were European exporters at 36.6% while another 15.6% of international sales for refrigerators and freezers originated from North America.
Tinier percentages came from Latin America (0.7%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (0.4%) and Oceania (0.1%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 8418 for refrigerators, freezers and other refrigerating or freezing equipment.
Refrigerator and Freezer Exports by Country
Countries
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of refrigerators and freezers during 2020.
- China: US$12.4 billion (26.7% of exported refrigerators/freezers)
- Mexico: $4.8 billion (10.3%)
- Italy: $3.1 billion (6.6%)
- South Korea: $2.6 billion (5.6%)
- Germany: $2.5 billion (5.4%)
- United States: $2.14 billion (4.6%)
- Thailand: $2.08 billion (4.5%)
- Turkey: $1.9 billion (4.1%)
- Poland: $1.6 billion (3.4%)
- France: $1.4 billion (3%)
- Czech Republic: $950 million (2.0%)
- Netherlands: $878.8 million (1.9%)
- Austria: $845.8 million (1.8%)
- Sweden: $838.9 million (1.8%)
- Singapore: $714.6 million (1.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 83.2% of globally exported refrigerators and freezers in 2020.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of refrigerators and freezers since 2019 were: South Korea (up 19.6%), China (up 19.5%), Sweden (up 12.6%) and Poland (up 7.2%).
Those countries that posted declines in their international sales of refrigerators and freezers were led by: United States (down -20.8%), Italy (down -6.6%), France (down -5.4%), Mexico (down -4.1%) and Turkey (down -2.8%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for refrigerators and freezers 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 refrigerators and freezers and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- China: US$11.3 billion (net export surplus up 21.4% since 2019)
- Mexico: $4 billion (down -0.6%)
- Italy: $2 billion (down -5.5%)
- South Korea: $1.84 billion (up 21.1%)
- Thailand: $1.70 billion (up 4.7%)
- Turkey: $1.6 billion (down -4.1%)
- Poland: $746.1 million (up 2.9%)
- Czech Republic: $485.3 million (down -6.8%)
- Singapore: $325.4 million (up 22.5%)
- Ireland: $247.9 million (down -29.4%)
- Austria: $206.3 million (down -12.8%)
- Bulgaria: $183.5 million (up 30.9%)
- Hungary: $130.9 million (down -31.8%)
- Romania: $103.1 million (down -38.9%)
- Sweden: $96.8 million (up 114.2%)
The People’s Republic of China generated the highest surplus in the international trade of refrigerators and freezers. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms China’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for refrigerators and freezers 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 refrigerators and freezers purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$8.7 billion (net export deficit up 27.7% since 2019)
- Kazakhstan: -$1.9 billion (up 656.3%)
- United Kingdom: -$1.5 billion (up 5.2%)
- Canada: -$1.14 billion (down -2.7%)
- Australia: -$1.05 billion (up 8%)
- France: -$902.5 million (up 13.3%)
- Japan: -$834.7 million (up 7.7%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$576.2 million (up 14.9%)
- Germany: -$569.2 million (down -0.4%)
- Switzerland: -$526.3 million (up 7%)
- Russia: -$521.6 million (up 1.5%)
- Spain: -$519.2 million (down -7.1%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$428.8 million (up 334.7%)
- Israel: -$362.4 million (up 12.4%)
- Philippines: -$349.9 million (down -13.3%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of refrigerators and freezers. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for refrigerators and freezers-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Companies
Top Refrigerators and Freezers Brands
Below are the leading global brands for refrigerators and freezers according to Ranker. The home country for each top brand is shown within parenthesis.
- Whirlpool Corporation (United States)
- KitchenAid (United States)
- LG Electronics Inc (South Korea)
- General Electric (United States)
- Walton Group (Bangladesh)
- Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany)
- Sub-Zero Freezer Company (United States)
- Kenmore (United States)
- Viking Range Corporation (United States)
- Frigidaire (United States)
Searchable List of Refrigerator and Freezer Exporting Countries in 2020
The 100 key countries that shipped refrigerators and freezers in the following automated database sold 99.98% of globally exported refrigerators and freezers during 2020.
| Rank | Exporter | Refrigerator/Freezer Exports (US$) | 2019-20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $12,424,125,000 | +19.5% |
| 2. | Mexico | $4,794,579,000 | -4.1% |
| 3. | Italy | $3,070,153,000 | -6.6% |
| 4. | South Korea | $2,599,364,000 | +19.6% |
| 5. | Germany | $2,506,982,000 | +0.8% |
| 6. | United States | $2,136,454,000 | -20.8% |
| 7. | Thailand | $2,081,493,000 | +5.3% |
| 8. | Turkey | $1,912,152,000 | -2.8% |
| 9. | Poland | $1,595,515,000 | +7.2% |
| 10. | France | $1,416,977,000 | -5.4% |
| 11. | Czech Republic | $949,989,000 | -2.2% |
| 12. | Netherlands | $878,844,000 | +0.6% |
| 13. | Austria | $845,797,000 | +0.6% |
| 14. | Sweden | $838,870,000 | +12.6% |
| 15. | Singapore | $714,555,000 | +4.3% |
| 16. | Japan | $610,363,000 | +6.4% |
| 17. | Denmark | $503,314,000 | +1.4% |
| 18. | Spain | $458,128,000 | -7.1% |
| 19. | Ireland | $419,048,000 | -19.9% |
| 20. | Indonesia | $401,942,000 | -6.2% |
| 21. | Romania | $397,836,000 | -15.8% |
| 22. | Hungary | $385,068,000 | -19.1% |
| 23. | Russia | $368,410,000 | +8.8% |
| 24. | Canada | $347,868,000 | -1.2% |
| 25. | United Kingdom | $338,255,000 | -13.3% |
| 26. | Vietnam | $303,909,000 | +20% |
| 27. | Bulgaria | $301,155,000 | +15.4% |
| 28. | Belgium | $276,802,000 | -9.5% |
| 29. | Serbia | $197,659,000 | +16.3% |
| 30. | Portugal | $187,590,000 | -1% |
| 31. | Slovakia | $187,190,000 | +16.1% |
| 32. | Belarus | $173,042,000 | +0.1% |
| 33. | Malaysia | $170,184,000 | -8.8% |
| 34. | India | $169,097,000 | -23.6% |
| 35. | Switzerland | $146,321,000 | +4.9% |
| 36. | Lithuania | $115,671,000 | -5% |
| 37. | Brazil | $114,805,000 | -22.2% |
| 38. | Hong Kong | $112,856,000 | -20.1% |
| 39. | South Africa | $112,499,000 | -23.1% |
| 40. | Slovenia | $106,591,000 | -14.5% |
| 41. | Taiwan | $99,976,000 | -20.9% |
| 42. | Colombia | $95,728,000 | -4% |
| 43. | Luxembourg | $74,846,000 | -1% |
| 44. | Finland | $71,644,000 | -20.9% |
| 45. | United Arab Emirates | $50,601,000 | -89% |
| 46. | Ukraine | $45,098,000 | -0.8% |
| 47. | Greece | $42,679,000 | -19.3% |
| 48. | Guatemala | $39,448,000 | -16.3% |
| 49. | Croatia | $35,916,000 | -15.7% |
| 50. | Latvia | $32,537,000 | +58.2% |
| 51. | Australia | $30,837,000 | -16.4% |
| 52. | Norway | $28,534,000 | +30.8% |
| 53. | New Zealand | $23,921,000 | -21.8% |
| 54. | Egypt | $22,882,000 | -20.2% |
| 55. | Israel | $22,472,000 | +2.2% |
| 56. | Estonia | $22,011,000 | +21.8% |
| 57. | Lebanon | $21,228,000 | -9.7% |
| 58. | Argentina | $18,667,000 | -43.6% |
| 59. | Jordan | $17,968,000 | +76.5% |
| 60. | Uzbekistan | $16,091,000 | +214.2% |
| 61. | Eswatini | $13,151,000 | +7.3% |
| 62. | Chile | $12,083,000 | -63.7% |
| 63. | Philippines | $9,284,000 | -18.8% |
| 64. | Iceland | $7,365,000 | +50.2% |
| 65. | Falkland Is (Malvinas) | $6,616,000 | 0% |
| 66. | Panama | $5,672,000 | +6.9% |
| 67. | Bahrain | $3,564,000 | -15.7% |
| 68. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $3,407,000 | -13.2% |
| 69. | Ecuador | $3,309,000 | -24.3% |
| 70. | Morocco | $3,025,000 | -22.5% |
| 71. | Costa Rica | $2,509,000 | +57.6% |
| 72. | Haiti | $2,437,000 | +1131% |
| 73. | Algeria | $2,248,000 | -82.7% |
| 74. | North Macedonia | $2,225,000 | +20.3% |
| 75. | Pakistan | $2,055,000 | -31.5% |
| 76. | Kazakhstan | $1,982,000 | -6.1% |
| 77. | Saudi Arabia | $1,981,000 | -15.1% |
| 78. | Dominican Republic | $1,972,000 | -25.4% |
| 79. | Iran | $1,805,000 | -50.7% |
| 80. | Montenegro | $1,572,000 | +9.9% |
| 81. | Kuwait | $1,535,000 | -56.7% |
| 82. | Papua New Guinea | $1,382,000 | -15. |
| 83. | Sierra Leone | $1,276,000 | +150.2% |
| 84. | Kenya | $1,219,000 | -3.7% |
| 85. | Tunisia | $1,101,000 | -77.6% |
| 86. | Zimbabwe | $1,013,000 | -43.3% |
| 87. | Senegal | $881,000 | +237.5% |
| 88. | Azerbaijan | $827,000 | +24.7% |
| 89. | Peru | $823,000 | -58.8% |
| 90. | Macao | $788,000 | +86.7% |
| 91. | Mauritius | $768,000 | +218.7% |
| 92. | Kyrgyzstan | $751,000 | -6.1% |
| 93. | Georgia | $745,000 | -45.6% |
| 94. | Zambia | $601,000 | +758.6% |
| 95. | Honduras | $598,000 | -9.4% |
| 96. | Moldova | $514,000 | -24.4% |
| 97. | Andorra | $513,000 | +1121% |
| 98. | Sri Lanka | $497,000 | -74.7% |
| 99. | Uganda | $492,000 | +412.5% |
| 100. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $439,000 | +2644% |
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2019 data was unavailable.
See also Computer Device Exports by Country, Antiques Exporters and China’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 15, 2021
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 15, 2021
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 15, 2021
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 15, 2021
Ranker, The Best Refrigerator Brands. Accessed on September 15, 2021
Wikipedia, Category:Home applicance manufacturers. Accessed on June 14, 2020
