Top Exported Hats by Country

Worldwide sales for exported hats and similar headgear totaled US$12.4 billion during 2021. That dollar amount reflects a 38.2% acceleration since 2017 when hat exports were worth $8.9 billion.

Year over year, the overall value of exported hats grew by 32.5% compared to $9.3 billion during 2020.

The world’s top 3 exporters of hats are China, Italy and Vietnam. Combined, that trio of major suppliers accounted for well over half (55.1%) of total international sales for hats during 2021.

Below, we look at the main exporting countries for different types of hats.

Exported Hats Made From Different Types of Materials

Hats are worn for diverse reasons, encompassing protection against the weather, religious purposes, ceremonial celebrations such as graduation, as well as for safety, status symbols and fashion accessories.

Exported hats are made from a wide range of materials. The following percentages provide a gauge of international demand for the materials which the most popular hats are made from.

More than half (54.6%) of globally exported hats in 2021 was knitted or crocheted headgear made from textile fabric including lace and felt. Trailing that at 42.3% was miscellaneous headgear, well ahead of headgear constructed by assembling strips from any material, the later representing another 3.1%. Other miscellaneous headgear, excluding hairnets, account for a miniscule 0.0001% of global exports.

From a continental perspective, $7.7 billion or over three-fifths (62.1%) worth of globally exported hats during 2021 originated from Asia, outpacing suppliers in Europe (32%) and North America (4.8%).

Latin America plus the Caribbean was responsible for another 0.7% in international hat sales, ahead of 0.3% for exporters in Africa, and 0.2% for shippers in Oceania led by Australia and New Zealand.

For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 650500 for knitted or crocheted headgear or made from lace, felt or other textile fabric. The 6 HTS digits are 650610 for safety headgear, 650699 for the catchall category and 650691 for bathing caps. For headgear constructed by assembling strip of any material, the 4-digit HTS prefix is 6504.

Exported Hats by Country: Overall

Below are the 25 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of hats shipped during 2021.

1. China: US$5.4 billion (43.8% of total exported hats)
2. Italy: $705.7 million (5.7%)
3. Vietnam: $694.7 million (5.6%)
4. Germany: $652.8 million (5.3%)
5. Netherlands: $497.5 million (4%)
6. France: $474.5 million (3.8%)
7. Bangladesh: $468.1 million (3.8%)
8. United States: $325 million (2.6%)
9. Poland: $287 million (2.3%)
10. Belgium: $280.8 million (2.3%)
11. Japan: $214.2 million (1.7%)
12. Spain: $192.5 million (1.6%)
13. Mexico: $185.2 million (1.5%)
14. South Korea: $150.5 million (1.2%)
15. United Kingdom: $136.6 million (1.1%)
16. Sweden: $113.6 million (0.9%)
17. Taiwan: $109.9 million (0.9%)
18. Czech Republic: $98.7 million (0.8%)
19. Austria: $98.1 million (0.8%)
20. India: $84.1 million (0.7%)
21. Canada: $79.5 million (0.6%)
22. Hong Kong: $79.3 million (0.6%)
23. Indonesia: $76.3 million (0.6%)
24. Denmark: $68.1 million (0.6%)
25. Turkey: $65 million (0.5%)

By value, the above countries produced 90.5% of overall exports for hats in 2021.

The greatest increases in the overall sales of hats since 2017 belonged to Poland (up 175.4%), India (up 127%), Vietnam (up 114.1%), Denmark (up 91.3%), Indonesia (up 79.8%), Sweden (up 78.5%), then Turkey (up 77.7%).

There was a pair of decliners over the 5-year period namely Hong Kong (down -43%) and the United Kingdom (down -36.8%).

Hats Exports by Country: Knitted/Crocheted, Lace, Felt, Other Textile

Below are the 25 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of hats made from knitted or crocheted fabric, lace, felt or other textile material and that was shipped during 2021.

1. China: US$2.8 billion (41.5% of exported textile fabric headgear)
2. Vietnam: $554 million (8.2%)
3. Bangladesh: $459.8 million (6.8%)
4. Italy: $378.8 million (5.6%)
5. Germany: $329 million (4.9%)
6. Netherlands: $308.2 million (4.6%)
7. France: $186.1 million (2.8%)
8. Belgium: $180.4 million (2.7%)
9. Poland: $160.5 million (2.4%)
10. United States: $113.7 million (1.7%)
11. Mexico: $106.2 million (1.6%)
12. Spain: $92 million (1.4%)
13. South Korea: $75.3 million (1.1%)
14. Hong Kong: $68.9 million (1%)
15. United Kingdom: $68.7 million (1%)
16. Denmark: $56.3 million (0.8%)
17. Turkey: $51.8 million (0.8%)
18. Taiwan: $48.8 million (0.7%)
19. Czech Republic: $47.6 million (0.7%)
20. Indonesia: $46.4 million (0.7%)
21. Canada: $45.4 million (0.7%)
22. Sweden: $45.2 million (0.7%)
23. Cambodia: $44.3 million (0.7%)
24. Greece: $36.7 million (0.5%)
25. Austria: $33.3 million (0.5%)

By value, the above countries produced 90.8% of textile fabric hats in 2021 including knitted or crocheted headgear.

Leading the gainers since 2017 were: Greece (up 949.6%), Cambodia (up 210.3%), Italy (up 133%), South Korea (up 123.5%), Vietnam (up 117.7%), Poland (up 112.5%), then Denmark (up 100.7%).

A trio of top suppliers posted declines over the 5-year period, namely Hong Kong (down -42%), United Kingdom (down -38.6%), and Taiwan (down -10.7%).

Hats Exports by Country: Plaited or Strip-Assembled

Below are the 25 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of hats plaited or assembled from strips regardless of material and that was shipped during 2021.

1. China: US$202.7 million (53.7% of exported hats assembled from strips)
2. Mexico: $28.3 million (7.5%)
3. Italy: $18.8 million (5%)
4. United States: $12.7 million (3.4%)
5. Germany: $11.4 million (3%)
6. France: $8.8 million (2.3%)
7. Netherlands: $7.3 million (1.9%)
8. Spain: $7.2 million (1.9%)
9. Belgium: $7.1 million (1.9%)
10. Sweden: $6.9 million (1.8%)
11. Poland: $6.2 million (1.6%)
12. Turkey: $5.6 million (1.5%)
13. Vietnam: $5.1 million (1.3%)
14. Ecuador: $4.9 million (1.3%)
15. Panama: $4.2 million (1.1%)
16. United Kingdom: $3.8 million (1%)
17. Bangladesh: $3.1 million (0.8%)
18. Indonesia: $3 million (0.8%)
19. Sri Lanka: $2.9 million (0.8%)
20. Slovakia: $2.4 million (0.6%)
21. South Africa: $2 million (0.5%)
22. Bulgaria: $1.4 million (0.4%)
23. Hong Kong: $1.3 million (0.3%)
24. Australia: $1.2 million (0.3%)
25. Taiwan: $994,000 (0.3%)

By value, the above countries produced 93.5% of hats plaited or assembled from strips in 2021.

Leading the gainers since 2017 were: Sweden (up 605.6%), Panama (up 376.8%), Poland (up 310%), Turkey (up 280.8%), Belgium (up 130.4%), Indonesia (up 122.3%), then Bulgaria (up 105.7%).

The value of exports for plaited or strip-assembled headgear declined at the fastest pace for: Vietnam (down -69.2%), Hong Kong (down -65.5%), United Kingdom (down -58.9%), Ecuador (down -32.1%), then the United States of America (down -25.5%).

Hats Exports by Country: Miscellaneous Headgear

Below are the 25 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of miscellaneous headgear that was shipped during 2021. These include safety hats and bathing caps but specifically exclude hair nets.

1. China: US$2.4 billion (46.1% of exported miscellaneous headgear)
2. Germany: $312.3 million (6%)
3. Italy: $308.1 million (5.9%)
4. France: $279.6 million (5.3%)
5. Japan: $203.6 million (3.9%)
6. United States: $198.6 million (3.8%)
7. Netherlands: $182 million (3.5%)
8. Vietnam: $135.6 million (2.6%)
9. Poland: $120.3 million (2.3%)
10. Spain: $93.3 million (1.8%)
11. Belgium: $93.2 million (1.8%)
12. South Korea: $74.4 million (1.4%)
13. Austria: $64.1 million (1.2%)
14. United Kingdom: $64.1 million (1.2%)
15. Sweden: $61.5 million (1.2%)
16. Taiwan: $60.1 million (1.1%)
17. India: $51.6 million (1%)
18. Mexico: $50.6 million (1%)
19. Czech Republic: $50.6 million (1%)
20. Portugal: $42.9 million (0.8%)
21. Malaysia: $40.1 million (0.8%)
22. Thailand: $36.5 million (0.7%)
23. Canada: $33.8 million (0.6%)
24. Indonesia: $26.8 million (0.5%)
25. Singapore: $18.1 million (0.3%)

By value, the above countries supplied 92.8% of miscellaneous headgear exported during 2021.

Leading the gainers since 2017 were: Poland (up 343%), India (up 162.6%), Vietnam (up 153.4%), Indonesia (up 118%), then the Netherlands (up 93.2%).

The severest decliners over the 5-year period were: United Kingdom (down -32.5%), Thailand (down -13.3%), and Belgium (down -9.5%).
 

See also T-shirt Exports by Country, Top Exported Baby Clothing Sales and Top Sewing Threads Exports by Country

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on August 31, 2022

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 31, 2022

Wikipedia, Hat. Accessed on August 31, 2022