That dollar amount results from an average 22.5% gain for all lettuce shippers over a five-year period starting from $2.95 billion in 2020.
Year over year, worldwide sales of exported lettuce fell to a -0.1% slowdown compared to revenues for 2023.
The 5 most lucrative suppliers of lettuce on international markets are Spain, United States of America, Mexico, Netherlands and mainland China. Combined, that quintet of leading exporters generated over three-quarters (77.5%) of globally exported lettuce during 2024.
Among continents, suppliers in European countries sold the highest dollar worth of exported lettuce during 2024 with shipments valued at $2 billion or over half (55.1%) of the worldwide total. In second place were exporters located in North America at 33% with another 10.6% of international lettuce shipments originating from Asia.
Smaller percentages came from sellers in Africa (0.8%), Latin America (0.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.1%) mostly Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 0705 for fresh or chilled lettuce.
Top Lettuce Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of lettuce during 2024.
- Spain: US$1.1 billion (29.1% of total lettuce exports)
- United States: $638.3 million (17.7%)
- Mexico: $487.8 million (13.5%)
- Netherlands: $324 million (9%)
- mainland China: $300.2 million (8.3%)
- Italy: $250.3 million (6.9%)
- France: $89.6 million (2.5%)
- Belgium: $72.4 million (2%)
- Canada: $66.2 million (1.8%)
- Germany: $56.3 million (1.6%)
- Poland: $36.6 million (1%)
- Egypt: $24 million (0.7%)
- Malaysia: $21.3 million (0.6%)
- Jordan: $18.5 million (0.5%)
- Hungary: $18.3 million (0.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 95.6% of globally exported lettuce in 2024.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing lettuce exporters since 2023 were: Jordan (up 63%), Hungary (up 41.2%), Netherlands (up 10.7%) and the United States of America (up 9.8%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported lettuce sales were led by: Egypt (down -20% from 2023), Belgium (down -14%), Germany (down -9.4%), Spain (down -2.9%) and Canada (down -2%).
Countries Generating Best Trade Surpluses from Lettuce
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for lettuce during 2024. 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 lettuce and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Spain: US$1 billion (net export surplus down -3.7% since 2023)
- Mexico: $430.4 million (down -0.6%)
- mainland China: $300.2 million (down -1.7%)
- Netherlands: $197.3 million (up 21.2%)
- Italy: $85.7 million (down -10.5%)
- United States: $48.8 million (reversing a -$14.7 million deficit)
- Egypt: $24 million (down -20%)
- Jordan: $18.4 million (up 66.3%)
- Malaysia: $15.4 million (down -1.4%)
- Iran: $9.4 million (down -79.4%)
- Guatemala: $9.3 million (up 17.7%)
- Portugal: $4.9 million (reversing a -$3.3 million deficit)
- Uzbekistan: $3.8 million (up 57.4%)
- Australia: $3.4 million (down -7.9%)
- Tunisia: $2.3 million (down -25.2%)
World-leading lettuce supplier Spain generated the highest surplus in the international trade of lettuce. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms strong Spanish competitive advantages for this specific product category.
Countries Experiencing Worst Trade Deficits from Lettuce
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for lettuce during 2024. 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 lettuce purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Canada: -US$468.8 million (net export deficit up 11.4% since 2023)
- Germany: -$446.6 million (down -4.6%)
- United Kingdom: -$232.8 million (up 5.3%)
- France: -$94.4 million (up 10.4%)
- Switzerland: -$72.9 million (up 1.1%)
- Austria: -$72.3 million (up 1.5%)
- Poland: -$70.3 million (down -6.9%)
- Sweden: -$44.1 million (up 4.2%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$43 million (down -22.8%)
- Denmark: -$34.4 million (up 10.4%)
- Czech Republic: -$31.8 million (up 5.6%)
- Finland: -$30.4 million (down -13%)
- Singapore: -$29.2 million (up 0.2%)
- Slovakia: -$28.1 million (up 11.7%)
- Ireland: -$27.7 million (up 14.9%)
Canada and Germany incurred the highest deficits in the international trade of lettuce. In turn, those negative cashflows highlight both countries’ competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for supplier countries that help satisfy the powerful consumer demand for lettuce particularly in those two nations.
Lettuce Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following suppliers are examples of lettuce-trading exporters. The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.
- AA Group, S. Coop (Spain)
- Algo Imports & Exports (United States)
- Bhuvani Exports (India)
- Javema Holdings Pty Ltd (South Africa)
- Partners for Import Export Trading Agencies & General Supplies (Egypt)
- PC Suppliers Company Ltd (Thailand)
- Tunisia Trade Partners (Tunisia)
- Yunnan Chuntian Agricultural Products (China)
See also Tomatoes Exports by Country, Potatoes Exports by Country and Corn Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier showroom for lettuce. Accessed on November 30, 2025
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on November 30, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on November 30, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on November 30, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on November 30, 2025
Wikipedia, Lettuce. Accessed on November 30, 2025