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

1. United States: US$139.8 million (25.1% of total spinach exports)
2. China: $130.4 million (23.4%)
3. Italy: $74.8 million (13.5%)
4. Mexico: $66.7 million (12%)
5. Spain: $66 million (11.9%)
6. Netherlands: $38.3 million (6.9%)
7. Canada: $6.5 million (1.2%)
8. France: $4.8 million (0.9%)
9. Malaysia: $4.6 million (0.8%)
10. Belgium: $3.8 million (0.7%)
11. Germany: $3.6 million (0.6%)
12. Denmark: $3 million (0.5%)
13. Portugal: $2 million (0.4%)
14. United Kingdom: $1.9 million (0.3%)
15. Australia: $1.8 million (0.3%)

By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 98.5% of globally exported spinach in 2020.

Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of spinach since 2019 were: China (up 1,676%), Mexico (up 36.7%), Canada (up 21.5%) and Italy (up 15.8%).

Three major suppliers posted declines in their international sales of spinach, namely the United Kingdom (down -37%), France (down -25.3%) and Spain (down -0.4%).

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

1. China: US$130.4 million (net export surplus up 1,676% since 2019)
2. Italy: $73.7 million (up 17.9%)
3. Spain: $64.7 million (down -0.4%)
4. United States: $62.7 million (down -26.2%)
5. Mexico: $40.9 million (up 63.8%)
6. Netherlands: $15.1 million (up 21.5%)
7. Malaysia: $2.3 million (down -0.1%)
8. Australia: $1.8 million (up 1.5%)
9. Portugal: $700,000 (up 67.5%)
10. North Macedonia: $400,000 (up 260.4%)
11. Azerbaijan: $361,000 (down -7%)
12. Serbia: $333,000 (down -37.3%)
13. Guatemala: $291,000 (up 15.5%)
14. South Africa: $239,000 (down -28%)
15. Turkey: $194,000 (down -59.5%)

Overtaking the United States of America in 2020, mainland China generated the highest surplus in the international trade of spinach. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms China’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.

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

1. Canada: -US$106 million (net export deficit up 1.8% since 2019)
2. United Kingdom: -$42.3 million (up 24.7%)
3. Germany: -$31.8 million (up 3.9%)
4. Singapore: -$16.3 million (up 18.1%)
5. Belgium: -$13.7 million (up 7.5%)
6. Poland: -$7.7 million (up 37.1%)
7. Switzerland: -$7 million (up 25.3%)
8. France: -$5.3 million (up 38.4%)
9. Sweden: -$4.9 million (down -8.8%)
10. United Arab Emirates: -$4.4 million (up 6.3%)
11. Denmark: -$3.65 million (down -3.9%)
12. Ireland: -$3.65 million (up 7.6%)
13. Czech Republic: -$3.6 million (down -4%)
14. Russia: -$3.14 million (down -3.9%)
15. Norway: -$3.11 million (down -22.1%)

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

Spinach Exporting Companies

According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following firms are examples of spinach-trading exporters including suppliers of fresh spinach, frozen chopped spinach and even organic spinach powder in the case of NutriBoost.

• Qingdao Yokid Foods Co. (China)
• American Top Foods, LLC (United States)
• NutriBoost (Netherlands)
• OXL Resources Sdn. BHD (Malaysia)
• UK Frozen Food Ltd (United Kingdom)

The home-country location for each of the above businesses is shown within parentheses.