Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of artificial joints during 2020.

1. Netherlands: US$2.2 billion (21.6% of exported artificial joints)
2. United States: $1.5 billion (14.7%)
3. Ireland: $1.3 billion (13%)
4. Switzerland: $1.1 billion (10.9%)
5. Belgium: $943.9 million (9.3%)
6. Germany: $846.1 million (8.3%)
7. France: $680 million (6.7%)
8. United Kingdom: $676.8 million (6.6%)
9. Italy: $265.5 million (2.6%)
10. China: $170.4 million (1.7%)
11. Singapore: $140 million (1.4%)
12. Iceland: $41 million (0.4%)
13. Sweden: $32 million (0.3%)
14. Austria: $32 million (0.3%)
15. Taiwan: $30.6 million (0.3%)

By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 98.1% of globally exported artificial joints in 2020.

Among the top exporters, none benefited from higher revenues from 2019 to 2020.

Those countries that posted declines in their international sales of artificial joints were led by: Singapore (down -40.1%), Sweden (down -33.7%), Iceland (down -28.9%), Ireland (down -21.7%) and the United States (down -21.4%).

The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for artificial joints 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 artificial joints and its import purchases for that same commodity.

1. Ireland: US$1.2 billion (net export surplus down -25% since 2019)
2. Netherlands: $1.1 billion (down -10.1%)
3. Switzerland: $642.2 million (up 10.4%)
4. Belgium: $506.5 million (down -13.2%)
5. United Kingdom: $282.1 million (up 29.9%)
6. Germany: $215.7 million (down -29.8%)
7. Singapore: $50.4 million (down -21.2%)
8. Iceland: $38.9 million (down -28.8%)
9. Belarus: $2.6 million (reversing a -$1.7 million deficit)
10. Costa Rica: $1.3 million (up 1369.8%)
11. Georgia: $873,000 (down -2.1%)
12. France: $263,000 (down -99.6%)
13. North Korea: $4,000 (no 2019 data available)

Ireland generated the highest surplus in the international trade of artificial joints. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Ireland’s strong competitive advantages for this specific product category.

The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for artificial joints 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 artificial joints purchases and its exports for that same commodity.

1. United States: -US$992.2 million (net export deficit down -2% since 2019)
2. Japan: -$449.1 million (down -1.1%)
3. China: -$349 million (up 1.4%)
4. Australia: -$251.2 million (down -8.7%)
5. Spain: -$141.1 million (down -24.5%)
6. Canada: -$132.9 million (down -19.3%)
7. Norway: -$76.8 million (up 105.1%)
8. Russia: -$74.2 million (down -20.6%)
9. South Korea: -$70.9 million (down -24.6%)
10. Poland: -$66.1 million (down -13.4%)
11. Austria: -$60.2 million (down -3.6%)
12. Italy: -$48.6 million (down -54.9%)
13. New Zealand: -$46 million (down -1.3%)
14. South Africa: -$43.1 million (down -6.4%)
15. Denmark: -$41 million (down -9.1%)

The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of artificial joints. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for artificial joints-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful consumer demand.

Artificial Joints Exporting Companies

Below are artificial joints-manufacturing conglomerates headquartered in the United States. They are presented in order of greatest market capitalization, according to Morningstar’s analysis of industry peers.

• Stryker Corp
• Abbott Laboratories
• Boston Scientific
• Intuitive Surgical Inc
• Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc
• Edwards Lifesciences Corp
• St Jude Medical Inc
• Smith & Nephew PLC
• Varian Medical Systems Inc
• Sonova Holding AG

According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following are examples of exporters that supply artificial joints. The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.

• Shijiazhuang City Huirong Stainless Steel Products (China)
• Daiya Industry Co Ltd (Japan)
• Standard Steel (India)
• Medimsa Medical Production Industry (Turkey)
• DOO Ortopedija Nis (Serbia)
• Biomecanica Orthopedic Industry Ltd (Brazil)