Year over year, the value of globally exported new rubber tires accelerated by 17.3% from $70.9 billion during 2020.
The 5 largest exporters of new rubber tires are mainland China, Thailand, Germany, Japan and the United States of America. Collectively, that powerful quintet of suppliers sold 44.1% of the total value for all new rubber tires exported during 2021.
Among continents, Asian countries were international sources for the highest dollar worth of new rubber tires exported during 2021. Shipments from Asia amounted to $39.4 billion or 47.6% of the worldwide total. European exporters shipped 40.1% of the world total, while another 9.4% worth originated from North America.
Smaller percentages came from Latin America (2.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (0.5%) then Oceania (0.05%) mainly Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for new pneumatic rubber tires is 4011.
Rubber Tires Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of new rubber tires during 2021.
- China: US$15.1 billion (18.2% of exported new rubber tires)
- Thailand: $6.3 billion (7.6%)
- Germany: $5.7 billion (6.8%)
- Japan: $5 billion (6.1%)
- United States: $4.5 billion (5.4%)
- South Korea: $2.9 billion (3.5%)
- India: $2.69 billion (3.2%)
- France: $2.64 billion (3.2%)
- Spain: $2.61 billion (3.1%)
- Netherlands: $2.57 billion (3.1%)
- Poland: $2.48 billion (3%)
- Czech Republic: $2.3 billion (2.8%)
- Hungary: $1.92 billion (2.3%)
- Romania: $1.9 billion (2.3%)
- Slovakia: $1.87 billion (2.3%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 72.9% of globally exported new rubber tires in 2021.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing rubber tires exporters since 2020 were: India (up 54.5%), Japan (up 24.1%), Hungary (up 23.7%) and Romania (up 22.6%).
The mildest year-over-year increases belong to South Korea (up 4.7%), the United States of America (up 12.5%) then mainland China (up 14%).
Countries Generating Highest Trade Surpluses from Rubber Tires
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for new rubber tires 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 rubber tires exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- China: US$14.2 billion (net export surplus up 14.5% since 2020)
- Thailand: $5.8 billion (up 21.2%)
- Japan: $3.8 billion (up 27.5%)
- India: $2.5 billion (up 60.3%)
- South Korea: $1.9 billion (up 2.3%)
- Czech Republic: $1.4 billion (up 16.4%)
- Vietnam: $1.25 billion (up 22.1%)
- Romania: $1.22 billion (up 22.4%)
- Hungary: $1.1 billion (up 30.9%)
- Indonesia: $1.08 billion (up 12.4%)
- Slovakia: $1.07 billion (up 15.7%)
- Turkey: $827.6 million (up 66.9%)
- Poland: $824.8 million (up 5%)
- Portugal: $770.8 million (up 56.4%)
- Serbia: $717.2 million (up 26.8%)
The People’s Republic of China generated the highest surplus in the international trade of new rubber tires. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms mainland China’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Causing Worst Trade Deficits from Rubber Tires
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for new rubber tires 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 rubber tires import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$12.7 billion (net export deficit up 26% since 2020)
- United Kingdom: -$2.6 billion (up 37.1%)
- Australia: -$2.3 billion (up 17.8%)
- Mexico: -$1.8 billion (up 39.3%)
- France: -$1.5 billion (up 73.8%)
- Canada: -$1.4 billion (up 28.6%)
- Germany: -$1.4 billion (up 34.2%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$1.3 billion (up 6.2%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$1 billion (reversing a -$17.9 million deficit)
- Sweden: -$858.6 million (up 26.6%)
- Italy: -$772.3 million (up 23.7%)
- Russia: -$768.5 million (up 44.5%)
- Switzerland: -$704.5 million (up 10.7%)
- Austria: -$697.6 million (up 13.9%)
- Colombia: -$544.4 million (up 40.4%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of new rubber tires. In turn, this negative cashflow confirms America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for rubber tires-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from American businesses and consumers.
Rubber Tires Exporting Companies
Rubber & Plastic News publishes an annual ranking of the world’s top tire makers. Below are the top 10 rubber tire companies. Shown within parenthesis is the country where the tire manufacturer is headquartered.
- Bridgestone Corp (Japan)
- Michelin (France)
- Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company (United States)
- Continental AG (Germany)
- Pirelli & C. SpA (Italy)
- Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd (Japan)
- Hankook Tire Group (South Korea)
- Yokohama Rubber Company, Ltd (Japan)
- Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co Ltd (Taiwan)
- Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co, Ltd (China)
Collectively, the above top 10 companies were responsible for two-thirds (67%) of global tire sales.
Searchable List of Rubber Tires Exporting Countries in 2021
By value, the 100 key exporters in the following database supplied 99.99% of the overall new rubber tires shipped around the globe in 2021.
| Rank | Exporter | Rubber Tire Exports (US$) | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $15,139,245,000 | +14% |
| 2. | Thailand | $6,285,975,000 | +19.9% |
| 3. | Germany | $5,691,667,000 | +15.2% |
| 4. | Japan | $5,032,559,000 | +24.1% |
| 5. | United States | $4,474,507,000 | +12.5% |
| 6. | South Korea | $2,938,133,000 | +4.7% |
| 7. | India | $2,691,776,000 | +54.5% |
| 8. | France | $2,639,734,000 | +17.4% |
| 9. | Spain | $2,608,691,000 | +18.1% |
| 10. | Netherlands | $2,566,479,000 | +21.1% |
| 11. | Poland | $2,476,267,000 | +21.2% |
| 12. | Czech Republic | $2,328,999,000 | +21.3% |
| 13. | Hungary | $1,920,944,000 | +23.7% |
| 14. | Romania | $1,901,372,000 | +22.6% |
| 15. | Slovakia | $1,870,073,000 | +20% |
| 16. | Canada | $1,757,067,000 | +29% |
| 17. | Italy | $1,730,291,000 | +20.7% |
| 18. | Vietnam | $1,729,878,000 | +25.4% |
| 19. | Indonesia | $1,715,924,000 | +15.5% |
| 20. | Turkey | $1,699,313,000 | +31.2% |
| 21. | Mexico | $1,586,706,000 | +33.7% |
| 22. | Russia | $1,352,617,000 | +21.8% |
| 23. | Belgium | $1,352,024,000 | +15% |
| 24. | Portugal | $1,286,345,000 | +34.6% |
| 25. | Brazil | $1,080,299,000 | +26.3% |
| 26. | Taiwan | $891,426,000 | -9.5% |
| 27. | Serbia | $853,195,000 | +26.9% |
| 28. | Luxembourg | $611,534,000 | +17.6% |
| 29. | Slovenia | $485,893,000 | +21.5% |
| 30. | United Kingdom | $420,300,000 | -10% |
| 31. | Malaysia | $412,887,000 | +33.5% |
| 32. | Finland | $395,002,000 | +30.4% |
| 33. | Chile | $309,151,000 | +28% |
| 34. | Philippines | $266,203,000 | +25.8% |
| 35. | South Africa | $265,050,000 | +22% |
| 36. | Sweden | $226,550,000 | +27% |
| 37. | Costa Rica | $216,977,000 | +42% |
| 38. | Sri Lanka | $211,772,000 | +42.2% |
| 39. | Singapore | $151,116,000 | -8.8% |
| 40. | Israel | $128,804,000 | +17.2% |
| 41. | Egypt | $118,919,000 | +15.9% |
| 42. | Austria | $112,302,000 | +27.7% |
| 43. | United Arab Emirates | $95,644,000 | -88.4% |
| 44. | Latvia | $91,364,000 | +17.1% |
| 45. | Lithuania | $90,269,000 | +53.3% |
| 46. | Peru | $76,219,000 | -13.3% |
| 47. | Ukraine | $65,353,000 | +67.7% |
| 48. | Ecuador | $61,818,000 | +51.3% |
| 49. | Hong Kong | $60,268,000 | +3.1% |
| 50. | Argentina | $59,916,000 | +34.1% |
| 51. | Ireland | $56,048,000 | +17.8% |
| 52. | Denmark | $54,042,000 | +30% |
| 53. | Croatia | $50,810,000 | +55.8% |
| 54. | Colombia | $48,690,000 | +1.2% |
| 55. | Panama | $46,970,000 | -67.3% |
| 56. | Estonia | $45,147,000 | +11.5% |
| 57. | Australia | $37,777,000 | +3.7% |
| 58. | Lebanon | $35,548,000 | +1483% |
| 59. | Switzerland | $23,975,000 | +23.1% |
| 60. | Pakistan | $20,932,000 | +60.3% |
| 61. | Norway | $19,396,000 | +296.4% |
| 62. | Jordan | $18,819,000 | +421.2% |
| 63. | Algeria | $17,338,000 | +180.1% |
| 64. | Greece | $16,863,000 | +26.6% |
| 65. | Bulgaria | $14,561,000 | +88.5% |
| 66. | Zambia | $6,592,000 | +41.2% |
| 67. | Uganda | $5,278,000 | -55.6% |
| 68. | Tunisia | $4,774,000 | +85.5% |
| 69. | Kazakhstan | $4,626,000 | +63.5% |
| 70. | Guatemala | $4,489,000 | +152.5% |
| 71. | Senegal | $2,846,000 | -50.5% |
| 72. | Iraq | $2,742,000 | -88.2% |
| 73. | Bangladesh | $2,556,000 | +134.7% |
| 74. | Paraguay | $1,927,000 | +104.1% |
| 75. | Bahrain | $1,736,000 | -74.5% |
| 76. | Ghana | $1,713,000 | -53.7% |
| 77. | Georgia | $1,516,000 | -85.8% |
| 78. | New Zealand | $1,152,000 | -4.4% |
| 79. | Moldova | $1,014,000 | -50.4% |
| 80. | Dominican Republic | $1,014,000 | -12.1% |
| 81. | Kenya | $901,000 | -25.1% |
| 82. | Oman | $850,000 | -14.5% |
| 83. | Myanmar | $838,000 | -53.9% |
| 84. | Malta | $739,000 | +1580% |
| 85. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $707,000 | +58.9% |
| 86. | Uzbekistan | $627,000 | +82.3% |
| 87. | Saudi Arabia | $624,000 | +754.8% |
| 88. | Togo | $585,000 | +45.9% |
| 89. | Iran | $550,000 | -94.7% |
| 90. | Uruguay | $464,000 | +592.5% |
| 91. | Morocco | $444,000 | -51.5% |
| 92. | Fiji | $435,000 | +521.4% |
| 93. | El Salvador | $413,000 | -60.4% |
| 94. | Kuwait | $406,000 | -85.2% |
| 95. | Mauritania | $390,000 | +473.5% |
| 96. | Brunei Darussalam | $381,000 | +486.2% |
| 97. | Tanzania | $380,000 | -55.2% |
| 98. | Sierra Leone | $302,000 | +21.3% |
| 99. | Andorra | $283,000 | +27.5% |
| 100. | Cameroon | $254,000 | -47.2% |
The fastest growers from 2020 to 2021 were Malta (up 1,580%), Lebanon (up 1,483%), Saudi Arabia (up 754.8%) and Uruguay (up 592.5%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns above. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2020 data was unavailable.
See also Natural Rubber Exports by Country, China’s Top Trading Partners, America’s Top Trading Partners and Car Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 1, 2022
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on July 1, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 1, 2022
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 1, 2022
Rubber & Plastic News, Bridgestone retains ranking as world’s top tire maker (September 8, 2015). Accessed on July 1, 2022
Wikipedia, List of tire companies. Accessed on July 1, 2022
