That dollar amount reflects a 2.5% increase compared to the $2.13 billion in exported cork five years earlier during 2018.
Year over year, global sales of exported cork flatlined via a -1.7% slowdown from $2.23 billion for 2021.
An impermeable, buoyant, elastic and fire-retardant material, cork is made from bark tissue. Commercial uses of cork include wine stoppers, bulletin boards, wall or floor tiles and even spacecraft heat shields.
The world’s 3 biggest cork sellers are Portugal, Spain and France. Collectively, this trio of major suppliers generated 83.2% of the overall value of cork-related exports during 2022. Such a high percentage indicates a concentrated cohort of product exporters.
From a continental perspective, suppliers in European countries furnished the highest dollar worth of exported cork during 2022 with shipments valued at $2 billion or 91.9% of the global total. Asian exporters placed a distant second at 2.9% ahead of shippers in Africa (2.4%).
Even tinier percentages originated North America (1.7%), Latin America (1.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.1%) mostly Australia.
For research purposes, the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 45. That code prefix encompasses both cork as a material and items made from cork.
Top Cork Exporting Countries by Revenue
Below are the 15 countries that sold the highest dollar value worth of exported cork during 2022.
- Portugal: US$1.3 billion (58.3% of total cork exports)
- Spain: $432.1 million (19.8%)
- France: $113.7 million (5.2%)
- Italy: $71.2 million (3.3%)
- China: $39. million (1.8%)
- Germany: $29.5 million (1.3%)
- United States: $26.4 million (1.2%)
- Chile: $22.4 million (1.%)
- Morocco: $21.4 million (1.%)
- Poland: $18.5 million (.8%)
- Tunisia: $14.3 million (.7%)
- Denmark: $13.5 million (.6%)
- Algeria: $13. million (.6%)
- United Kingdom: $1.4 million (.5%)
- Netherlands: $8.1 million (.4%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 96.4% of all cork exported in 2022.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of cork since 2021 were: Tunisia (up 75.2%), Morocco (up 64.3%), United Kingdom (up 45.4%) and the United States of America (up 25.3%).
Five major suppliers posted declines in their international sales of cork, namely: Chile (down -16.4% from 2021), Germany (down -13.2%), France (down -6.1%), Portugal (down -4.3%) and mainland China (down -3%).
Countries Generating Best Trade Surpluses from Cork
The following countries posted positive net exports for cork 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 exported cork and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Portugal: US$1 billion (net export surplus down -8.6% since 2021)
- Spain: $216 million (up 6.4%)
- Morocco: $20.1 million (up 78.4%)
- Tunisia: $14 million (up 82.6%)
- Algeria: $12.7 million (up 4.6%)
- Poland: $7.2 million (up 859.7%)
- Zambia: $2.1 million (reversing a -$13,000 deficit)
- Denmark: $1.5 million (down -25.7%)
- Trinidad/Tobago: $165,000 (reversing a -$13,000 deficit)
- Tanzania: $142,000 (up 305.7%)
- Palestine: $22,000 (reversing a -$451,000 deficit)
- Ghana: $4,000 (reversing a -$115,000 deficit)
- Tonga: $2,000 (2021 data unavailable)
Portugal generated the highest surplus in the international trade of cork. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Portgual’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Causing Worst Trade Deficits from Cork
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for cork 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 imported cork purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$293.5 million (net export deficit down -1.7% since 2021)
- France: -$211.7 million (down -6.4%)
- Italy: -$202.6 million (up 37.2%)
- Germany: -$82.6 million (down -15.9%)
- United Kingdom: -$64.8 million (up 100.7%)
- Mexico: -$55.2 million (up 7%)
- Argentina: -$45.4 million (up 2.6%)
- Chile: -$23 million (down -8.7%)
- Switzerland: -$22.6 million (down -3.6%)
- Russia: -$20.4 million (down -46.5%)
- Canada: -$19.1 million (down -8.1%)
- Australia: -$19.1 million (up 18.1%)
- Japan: -$15.7 million (up 13.8%)
- South Africa: -$13.5 million (up 0.2%)
- Indonesia: -$11.1 million (up 46%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of cork. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for cork-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Cork Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following cork export companies are examples of suppliers for either cork materials or commercial items made from cork like wine stoppers or beverage coasters. The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.
- Bleile Bodenbelage Handel Und Dienstleistungen (Germany)
- Bunkado Printing Co, Ltd (Japan)
- Changzhou Huakang Cork Co, Ltd (China)
- dollaritemdirect.com Inc (United States)
- Eurotrading Collection SL (Spain)
- Fukutomi Technologies Pte Ltd (Singapore)
- Hanipole FH (Poland)
- ISO Cork (Algeria)
- Portugalia Cork SA (Portugal)
- Studio Assoiciato Miraglia & Mattia (Italy)
Searchable List of Cork Exporting Countries in 2022
The 100 exporters showcased in the following automated database were responsible 99.996% of globally exported cork during 2022.
| Rank | Exporter | Cork Exports | 2021-2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Portugal | $1,275,447,000 | -4.3% |
| 2. | Spain | $432,134,000 | +6.2% |
| 3. | France | $113,703,000 | -6.1% |
| 4. | Italy | $71,157,000 | +19.4% |
| 5. | China | $39,043,000 | -3% |
| 6. | Germany | $29,477,000 | -13.2% |
| 7. | United States | $26,438,000 | +25.3% |
| 8. | Chile | $22,360,000 | -16.4% |
| 9. | Morocco | $21,403,000 | +64.3% |
| 10. | Poland | $18,469,000 | +19.8% |
| 11. | Tunisia | $14,329,000 | +75.2% |
| 12. | Denmark | $13,517,000 | +15.7% |
| 13. | Algeria | $13,027,000 | +1% |
| 14. | United Kingdom | $10,406,000 | +45.4% |
| 15. | Netherlands | $8,134,000 | +23.3% |
| 16. | Belgium | $7,733,000 | +2.5% |
| 17. | Austria | $7,703,000 | +9.1% |
| 18. | Switzerland | $6,708,000 | -7% |
| 19. | Türkiye | $5,536,000 | +588.6% |
| 20. | Canada | $5,480,000 | +19.5% |
| 21. | India | $4,610,000 | +2.5% |
| 22. | Mexico | $4,355,000 | +48.8% |
| 23. | Taiwan | $3,739,000 | +25.8% |
| 24. | Bulgaria | $3,096,000 | +45.5% |
| 25. | Vietnam | $2,923,000 | +89.2% |
| 26. | Australia | $2,271,000 | -27.1% |
| 27. | Ukraine | $2,221,000 | -8.1% |
| 28. | Czech Republic | $2,146,000 | +35.5% |
| 29. | Zambia | $2,142,000 | 0% |
| 30. | Japan | $1,888,000 | -19.3% |
| 31. | Hungary | $1,735,000 | -64.8% |
| 32. | Sweden | $1,481,000 | -4% |
| 33. | Russia | $1,307,000 | -29.4% |
| 34. | Lithuania | $1,200,000 | -26.8% |
| 35. | Singapore | $933,000 | +84.8% |
| 36. | Armenia | $900,000 | 0% |
| 37. | Slovakia | $565,000 | +21% |
| 38. | Panama | $550,000 | +9.1% |
| 39. | Romania | $506,000 | -5.8% |
| 40. | Philippines | $485,000 | -24% |
| 41. | South Korea | $476,000 | -45% |
| 42. | Greece | $391,000 | -36.1% |
| 43. | Saudi Arabia | $350,000 | -88.8% |
| 44. | Serbia | $332,000 | +20.7% |
| 45. | Georgia | $329,000 | +63.7% |
| 46. | South Africa | $326,000 | -43.8% |
| 47. | Slovenia | $321,000 | +25.9% |
| 48. | Malaysia | $299,000 | +64.3% |
| 49. | Hong Kong | $251,000 | -53.5% |
| 50. | Moldova | $233,000 | +67.6% |
| 51. | Brazil | $216,000 | -16.9% |
| 52. | Thailand | $203,000 | -45.4% |
| 53. | Trinidad/Tobago | $193,000 | +915.8% |
| 54. | Tanzania | $183,000 | +165.2% |
| 55. | Indonesia | $180,000 | +373.7% |
| 56. | United Arab Emirates | $179,000 | -99.5% |
| 57. | Croatia | $148,000 | +13.8% |
| 58. | Colombia | $146,000 | +35.2% |
| 59. | Lebanon | $130,000 | -44.4% |
| 60. | Norway | $129,000 | -36.8% |
| 61. | Qatar | $123,000 | 0% |
| 62. | Iran | $120,000 | +3900% |
| 63. | Latvia | $119,000 | -13.8% |
| 64. | Peru | $119,000 | +10.2% |
| 65. | Finland | $114,000 | -3.4% |
| 66. | Guatemala | $111,000 | +5450% |
| 67. | Bahrain | $109,000 | -31.4% |
| 68. | Cambodia | $97,000 | 0% |
| 69. | Argentina | $74,000 | -79.5% |
| 70. | Israel | $66,000 | -52.5% |
| 71. | Luxembourg | $55,000 | +103.7% |
| 72. | Belarus | $53,000 | -86.7% |
| 73. | Estonia | $51,000 | -7.3% |
| 74. | Egypt | $50,000 | +78.6% |
| 75. | Ireland | $34,000 | -12.8% |
| 76. | New Zealand | $24,000 | -55.6% |
| 77. | Palestine | $22,000 | -55.1% |
| 78. | Ghana | $15,000 | +200% |
| 79. | Dominican Republic | $14,000 | +600% |
| 80. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $13,000 | +8.3% |
| 81. | Seychelles | $13,000 | 0% |
| 82. | Oman | $9,000 | -99.5% |
| 83. | Equatorial Guinea | $9,000 | 0% |
| 84. | Venezuela | $8,000 | 0% |
| 85. | Kenya | $7,000 | 0% |
| 86. | Jordan | $6,000 | +20% |
| 87. | Syria | $5,000 | -73.7% |
| 88. | Namibia | $4,000 | -50% |
| 89. | Gibraltar | $4,000 | 0% |
| 90. | Ivory Coast | $3,000 | -88.9% |
| 91. | Bangladesh | $3,000 | +200% |
| 92 | Sierra Leone | $3,000 | 0% |
| 93. | Eswatini | $2,000 | 0% |
| 94. | Tonga | $2,000 | 0% |
| 95. | Uruguay | $2,000 | 0% |
| 96. | Costa Rica | $2,000 | +100% |
| 97. | Sri Lanka | $1,000 | 0% |
| 98. | Belize | $1,000 | 0% |
| 99. | Kazakhstan | $1,000 | 0% |
| 100. | French Polynesia | $1,000 | 0% |
The fastest-growing exporters of cork were Guatemala (up 5,450% from 2021), Trinidad and Tobago (up 915.8%), Dominican Republic (up 700%), Türkiye (up 588.6%), Indonesia (up 373.7%) and Ghana (up 200%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the above table’s columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2022 data was unavailable.
See also Plastic Item Exports by Country, Sawn Wood Exports by Country, Top Stainless Steel Exporters by Country, Top Glass and Glassware Exports by Country and Portugal’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier information for cork. Accessed on September 14, 2023
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 14, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 14, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 14, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 14, 2023
Wikipedia, Cork (material). Accessed on September 14, 2023