Over a 5-year timespan, the value of globally exported rice flatlined via a modest 0.5% upturn from the $25.6 billion worth of rice shipped during 2017.
The top 5 rice exporting countries (India, Thailand, Pakistan, Vietnam and the United States of America) generated almost three-quarters (74.2%) of the global value for rice exports during 2021.
From a continental perspective, over three-quarters (76.4%) of worldwide rice exports originated from Asian countries with shipments amounting to $19.6 billion during 2021. Exporters in Europe supplied 8.6% of the overall total, trailed by North American suppliers at 7.6% ahead of Latin America (5.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
Tinier percentages came from Africa (1.7%) and Oceania (0.4%) mostly Australia.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for rice is 1006.
Rice Exports by Country
The 15 countries listed below exported the highest dollar value worth of rice during 2021.
- India: US$9.6 billion (37.5% of total rice exports)
- Thailand: $3.4 billion (13%)
- Pakistan: $2.2 billion (8.4%)
- Vietnam: $2 billion (7.7%)
- United States: $1.9 billion (7.5%)
- China: $933 million (3.6%)
- Italy: $721.3 million (2.8%)
- Myanmar: $535.8 million (2.1%)
- Cambodia: $423.2 million (1.6%)
- Belgium: $397.8 million (1.5%)
- Brazil: $359.1 million (1.4%)
- Netherlands: $318.2 million (1.2%)
- Tanzania: $302 million (1.2%)
- Uruguay: $283.9 million (1.1%)
- Paraguay: $273.6 million (1.1%)
By value, the above 15 countries were responsible for 91.9% of globally exported rice in 2021.
Among the above countries, growing rice exporters since 2020 were: Tanzania (up 112.7%), India (up 20.6%), Belgium (up 11.4%), Netherlands (up 5.6%), Pakistan (up 2.7%), United States of America (up 2.6%) and mainland China (up 1.8%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported rice sales were led by: Uruguay (down -39.5%), Myanmar (down -30.7%), Vietnam (down -28.7%), Brazil (also down -28.7%) and Cambodia (down -10.1%).
Countries Generating Highest Surpluses Trading Rice
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for rice 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 rice exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- India: US$9.6 billion (net export surplus up 20.6% since 2020)
- Thailand: $3.3 billion (down -9%)
- Pakistan: $2.1 billion (up 2.4%)
- Vietnam: $1.7 billion (down -36.3%)
- United States of America: $910.8 million (up 53.1%)
- Myanmar: $534.7 million (down -30.7%)
- Italy: $527.5 million (down -1.5%)
- Cambodia: $418.1 million (down -9.8%)
- Tanzania: $302 million (up 112.9%)
- Uruguay: $282.8 million (down -39.5%)
- Paraguay: $273.3 million (down -7.2%)
- Guyana: $207.5 million (down -19.7%)
- Argentina: $193.2 million (up 32.1%)
- Greece: $54.8 million (up 23%)
- Brazil: $42.3 million (down -66.7%)
In 2021, India continued to be the leading exporter generating the highest surplus in the international trade of rice. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms India’s strong competitive advantage in selling rice on global markets.
Countries Incurring Greatest Deficits Trading Rice
The following countries posted the biggest negative net exports for rice 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 rice import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Philippines: -US$1.2 billion (net export deficit up 38.9% since 2020)
- Saudi Arabia: -$1.1 billion (down -22.6%)
- Mainland China: -$994.9 million (up 83.3%)
- Bangladesh: -$925 million (up 14891.9%)
- Iraq: -$716.4 million (up 3.4%)
- Ethiopia: -$686.5 million (up 116.2%)
- Iran: -$664.7 million (down -28.3%)
- Benin: -$640.8 million (up 63.2%)
- Malaysia: -$536.5 million (down -5.3%)
- United Kingdom: -$530.7 million (down -1.9%)
- France: -$525.4 million (down -3%)
- Ivory Coast: -$514 million (down -4.1%)
- Japan: -$457 million (up 2.8%)
- Nepal: -$429.4 million (up 21.2%)
- Senegal: -$426.5 million (up 5.7%)
The Philippines and Saudi Arabia incurred the greatest amounts of red ink trading rice on global markets during 2021. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights both countries’ strong competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for rice-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful consumer demand.
Major Rice Exporting Companies
Below are bulk rice-supplying conglomerates that dominate the worldwide grain trade (73% of the global market in 2003, according to OXFAM researchers). Shown within parenthesis is the country where the company is headquartered.
- Cargill (United States)
- Archer Daniels Midland (United States)
- Bunge (United States)
- Louis Dreyfus (France)
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following companies are also examples of rice-trading companies located in the country shown within parentheses.
- AEDI’ S.R.L. (Italy)
- Nakornton Rice Co., Ltd. (Thailand)
- Navdurga Rice Mill (India)
- PAK Rice Village (Pakistan)
- Sichuan Deyi Green Foods Group Co., Ltd. (China)
- Sunrise Foodstuff Joint Stock Company (Vietnam)
- Trade BEVAR S.A. (Brazil)
Searchable List of Rice Exporting Countries in 2021
Below, you will find a searchable table listing the value of rice exported by individual countries during 2021. Also presented is the annual percentage change in export revenues for each exporting nation.
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below.
| Rank | Exporter | 2021 Rice Exports | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | India | $9,623,557,000 | +20.6% |
| 2. | Thailand | $3,352,222,000 | -9.1% |
| 3. | Pakistan | $2,158,844,000 | +2.7% |
| 4. | Vietnam | $1,989,722,000 | -28.7% |
| 5. | United States | $1,928,548,000 | +2.6% |
| 6. | China | $932,961,000 | +1.8% |
| 7. | Italy | $721,339,000 | -0.2% |
| 8. | Myanmar | $535,771,000 | -30.7% |
| 9. | Cambodia | $423,207,000 | -10.1% |
| 10. | Belgium | $397,841,000 | +11.4% |
| 11. | Brazil | $359,090,000 | -28.7% |
| 12. | Netherlands | $318,180,000 | +5.6% |
| 13. | Tanzania | $301,987,000 | +112.7% |
| 14. | Uruguay | $283,907,000 | -39.5% |
| 15. | Paraguay | $273,643,000 | -7.2% |
| 16. | Guyana | $207,806,000 | -19.6% |
| 17. | Argentina | $194,633,000 | +28.8% |
| 18. | Spain | $189,330,000 | -14.1% |
| 19. | Turkey | $129,402,000 | +6.6% |
| 20. | Taiwan | $103,529,000 | -9.4% |
| 21. | Australia | $93,680,000 | +75.4% |
| 22. | United Arab Emirates | $90,178,000 | +65.5% |
| 23. | South Africa | $82,225,000 | +16.1% |
| 24. | Greece | $73,512,000 | +4.9% |
| 25. | Portugal | $71,953,000 | +20.2% |
| 26. | Russia | $71,467,000 | +6.4% |
| 27. | Germany | $67,278,000 | -20.4% |
| 28. | Singapore | $66,370,000 | +43.7% |
| 29. | Japan | $63,383,000 | +7.6% |
| 30. | France | $48,148,000 | +1% |
| 31. | Bulgaria | $47,338,000 | -6.8% |
| 32. | Poland | $45,649,000 | -4% |
| 33. | United Kingdom | $44,041,000 | -47.3% |
| 34. | Senegal | $42,783,000 | +75.1% |
| 35. | Kazakhstan | $40,683,000 | +48.2% |
| 36. | Malaysia | $39,107,000 | +69.2% |
| 37. | Czech Republic | $26,434,000 | +12.4% |
| 38. | Canada | $22,806,000 | +23.4% |
| 39. | South Korea | $22,553,000 | -17.6% |
| 40. | Laos | $20,047,000 | -38.1% |
| 41. | Romania | $17,297,000 | -15.1% |
| 42. | Bangladesh | $13,966,000 | -15% |
| 43. | Suriname | $12,196,000 | -55.5% |
| 44. | Hong Kong | $11,964,000 | -11.7% |
| 45. | Ecuador | $11,191,000 | -66% |
| 46. | Denmark | $10,812,000 | +3.6% |
| 47. | Lithuania | $7,724,000 | -27% |
| 48. | Hungary | $7,685,000 | +22.8% |
| 49. | Costa Rica | $7,395,000 | +66.7% |
| 50. | Austria | $6,867,000 | +19.8% |
| 51. | Sri Lanka | $6,279,000 | -27.6% |
| 52. | Ukraine | $6,183,000 | +54.4% |
| 53. | Switzerland | $5,620,000 | -31.6% |
| 54. | Slovakia | $5,370,000 | +74.2% |
| 55. | Lebanon | $4,369,000 | -70.6% |
| 56. | Slovenia | $3,206,000 | +6.9% |
| 57. | Sweden | $3,098,000 | +8.2% |
| 58. | El Salvador | $2,806,000 | +98.2% |
| 59. | Iran | $2,796,000 | -41% |
| 60. | US Minor Outlying Is | $2,729,000 | -59.4% |
| 61. | Indonesia | $2,606,000 | +157.5% |
| 62. | Morocco | $2,443,000 | +588.2% |
| 63. | Latvia | $2,358,000 | +9.4% |
| 64. | Mexico | $2,332,000 | -72.9% |
| 65. | North Macedonia | $2,112,000 | -37.2% |
| 66. | Nicaragua | $2,103,000 | +17.2% |
| 67. | Honduras | $1,940,000 | -13.7% |
| 68. | Antigua/Barbuda | $1,681,000 | 0% |
| 69. | Fiji | $1,507,000 | +200.2% |
| 70. | Egypt | $1,113,000 | +27725% |
| 71. | Mozambique | $1,024,000 | +1.1% |
| 72. | Colombia | $1,001,000 | -43.9% |
| 73. | Djibouti | $909,000 | 0% |
| 74. | Burkina Faso | $717,000 | -64.9% |
| 75. | Peru | $702,000 | -97.7% |
| 76. | Estonia | $657,000 | +52.8% |
| 77. | Serbia | $623,000 | +42.9% |
| 78. | Philippines | $608,000 | +9.2% |
| 79. | Dominican Republic | $562,000 | -72.3% |
| 80. | Kyrgyzstan | $557,000 | -26.8% |
| 81. | Guatemala | $556,000 | -13.8% |
| 82. | Oman | $551,000 | +65.5% |
| 83. | Ireland | $549,000 | -23.1% |
| 84. | Georgia | $531,000 | +32.4% |
| 85. | Mongolia | $524,000 | 0% |
| 86. | Nepal | $489,000 | 0% |
| 87. | Norway | $454,000 | +52.9% |
| 88. | Togo | $390,000 | -2.5% |
| 89. | Jordan | $332,000 | -85.5% |
| 90. | Ivory Coast | $316,000 | -97.8% |
| 91. | Tunisia | $305,000 | +1505% |
| 92. | Zambia | $252,000 | -74.8% |
| 93. | Pitcairn | $239,000 | +111.5% |
| 94. | Ghana | $235,000 | +0.9% |
| 95. | Luxembourg | $198,000 | +10.6% |
| 96. | Israel | $197,000 | -60.2% |
| 97. | Kenya | $191,000 | -40.3% |
| 98. | Finland | $173,000 | +11.6% |
| 99. | Iraq | $168,000 | +25.4% |
| 100. | Malawi | $163,000 | -8.9% |
Expanding the scope to the 100 main exporters, the fastest-growing rice suppliers were Egypt (up 27,725%), Tunisia (up 1,505%), Morocco (up 588.2%), Fiji (up 200.2%), Indonesia (up 157.5%), Tanzania (up 112.7%), Pitcairn (up 111.5%), El Salvador (up 98.2%) and Australia (up 75.4%).
Related Read: Average Rice Prices Compared for Major Rice Export Countries
See also Rice Imports by Country, Best Tofu Exports by Sales, Average Unit Prices & Weight, Corn Exports by Country, Onions Exports by Country and Barley Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba’s supplier information for rice. Accessed on May 21, 2022
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Agriculture – Products. Accessed on May 21, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 21, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 21, 2022
OXFAM Research Reports, Cereal Secrets, pp 9-10. Accessed on May 21, 2022
