That dollar amount results from an average 67% acceleration over the five-year period starting in 2020 when globally exported sand was worth $1.51 billion.
Year over year, the value of exported natural sands grew by 12.7% compared to $2.24 billion during 2023.
Finer than gravel but coarser than silt, sand is material comprised of finely granulated rock and mineral particles. Sand is also defined as a textural class of soil that contains more than 85% sand-sized particles by mass.
Sand has a high variety of uses. Sandy soils are ideal for agricultural crops such as watermelons, peaches and peanuts. Sand is also added to clay in the manufacture of bricks, while silica from sand is a key component of glass. Mixing sand with cement and lime is often used in masonry construction, and sand can be mixed with paint to create a textured finish for walls, ceilings and non-slip floor surfaces.
In 2024, the world’s top 5 sand exporters are the United States of America, Netherlands, Cambodia, Germany and Belgium. Together, these 5 main exporters of sand were responsible for nearly two-thirds (65.7%) of the total value of natural sand shipped onto international markets.
Among continents, suppliers in North America sold the highest dollar amount of exported sands during 2024 with shipments valued at $933 million or 36.9% of the global total. In second place were exporters located in Europe generating 33.7% worth of sales. Another 20.6% of worldwide sand shipments originated from sellers in Asia.
Smaller percentages came from Africa (7.7%), Latin America (0.7%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.4%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 2505 for natural sands of all kinds except gold- and platinum-bearing sands.
Top Sand Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of sand during 2024.
- United States: US$908.4 million (35.9% of total sand exports)
- Netherlands: $261.5 million (10.3%)
- Cambodia: $218 million (8.6%)
- Germany: $160.1 million (6.3%)
- Belgium: $112 million (4.4%)
- Mozambique: $104.1 million (4.1%)
- Malaysia: $63.9 million (2.5%)
- France: $61.9 million (2.4%)
- Egypt: $59.5 million (2.4%)
- Saudi Arabia: $54 million (2.1%)
- Indonesia: $52.5 million (2.1%)
- Vietnam: $39.8 million (1.6%)
- Taiwan: $39.8 million (1.6%)
- Portugal: $39 million (1.5%)
- Spain: $27 million (1.1%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 87.1% of the world’s sand exported in 2024.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing sand exporters year over year were: Cambodia (up 124.5%), Vietnam (up 81.9%), Egypt (up 32.2%) and Mozambique (up 27.2%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported sand sales were: Malaysia (down -28.5% from 2023), Indonesia (down -10.5%), Germany (down -6.1%) and the Netherlands (down -4.2%).
Searchable List of Sand Exporting Countries in 2024
Below is an automated listing of the 100 key suppliers of sand on international markets. Collectively, they represent 99.99% of the value of exported sand in 2024.
| Rank | Exporter | Sand Exports | 2023-4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | United States | $908,408,000 | +19.4% |
| 2. | Netherlands | $261,523,000 | -4.2% |
| 3. | Cambodia | $217,964,000 | +124.5% |
| 4. | Germany | $160,092,000 | -6.1% |
| 5. | Belgium | $112,049,000 | +7.9% |
| 6. | Mozambique | $104,141,000 | +27.2% |
| 7. | Malaysia | $63,930,000 | -28.5% |
| 8. | France | $61,875,000 | +0.7% |
| 9. | Egypt | $59,536,000 | +32.2% |
| 10. | Saudi Arabia | $54,038,000 | +25.5% |
| 11. | Indonesia | $52,476,000 | -10.5% |
| 12. | Vietnam | $39,772,000 | +81.9% |
| 13. | Taiwan | $39,765,000 | +24.7% |
| 14. | Portugal | $39,045,000 | +15.2% |
| 15. | Spain | $27,030,000 | +17.6% |
| 16. | Denmark | $25,603,000 | +19.1% |
| 17. | Poland | $23,372,000 | -2.2% |
| 18. | Canada | $22,211,000 | -13.8% |
| 19. | United Kingdom | $16,254,000 | +52% |
| 20. | mainland China | $15,883,000 | +35.2% |
| 21. | Bulgaria | $15,526,000 | -13.7% |
| 22. | Hungary | $14,902,000 | +27.5% |
| 23. | Czech Republic | $14,462,000 | +2.9% |
| 24. | Russia | $12,787,000 | -10.5% |
| 25. | Mauritania | $12,760,000 | 0% |
| 26. | Italy | $12,090,000 | +6% |
| 27. | Australia | $10,837,000 | +9.3% |
| 28. | Sweden | $10,014,000 | +7.2% |
| 29. | South Africa | $9,880,000 | +177.4% |
| 30. | Guyana | $7,576,000 | +8.4% |
| 31. | Türkiye | $7,153,000 | -3.1% |
| 32. | Austria | $7,142,000 | -15% |
| 33. | Pakistan | $6,850,000 | -16.1% |
| 34. | Ireland | $6,720,000 | +3.6% |
| 35. | Serbia | $6,659,000 | +40% |
| 36. | Slovakia | $6,468,000 | +5.8% |
| 37. | Norway | $5,085,000 | +43.6% |
| 38. | Hong Kong | $3,593,000 | +5428% |
| 39. | Kazakhstan | $3,013,000 | +14.4% |
| 40. | Morocco | $3,008,000 | +311.5% |
| 41. | South Korea | $2,886,000 | +34.3% |
| 42. | Jordan | $2,517,000 | -76.6% |
| 43. | Mexico | $2,425,000 | -88.1% |
| 44. | Tunisia | $2,356,000 | -18.6% |
| 45. | Philippines | $2,302,000 | -79.6% |
| 46. | Slovenia | $2,179,000 | -14.4% |
| 47. | Lithuania | $2,155,000 | +17.3% |
| 48. | Laos | $1,749,000 | -13.4% |
| 49. | Colombia | $1,691,000 | +1.2% |
| 50. | Japan | $1,603,000 | -24.5% |
| 51. | Brazil | $1,585,000 | -4.6% |
| 52. | Bahamas | $1,150,000 | +656.6% |
| 53. | Guatemala | $1,129,000 | +27.9% |
| 54. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $1,102,000 | +77.2% |
| 55. | Romania | $1,087,000 | -9.3% |
| 56. | Greece | $1,078,000 | +55.6% |
| 57. | Gambia | $1,022,000 | -30.3% |
| 58. | United Arab Emirates | $881,000 | -90% |
| 59. | Georgia | $843,000 | +51.3% |
| 60. | Chile | $837,000 | +27.6% |
| 61. | Peru | $783,000 | -49.8% |
| 62. | Luxembourg | $777,000 | +62.2% |
| 63. | Finland | $777,000 | -19.8% |
| 64. | Dominican Republic | $773,000 | -7.5% |
| 65. | Singapore | $755,000 | +40.6% |
| 66. | Costa Rica | $717,000 | -44.9% |
| 67. | Montserrat | $676,000 | -86.6% |
| 68. | Latvia | $670,000 | -3.5% |
| 69. | Switzerland | $662,000 | +8.5% |
| 70. | Albania | $634,000 | -39.8% |
| 71. | Israel | $593,000 | +78.6% |
| 72. | Iran | $573,000 | -59.2% |
| 73. | Kenya | $500,000 | +18.8% |
| 74. | Faroe Islands | $494,000 | -21.5% |
| 75. | Suriname | $488,000 | +495.1% |
| 76. | Ukraine | $477,000 | +63.9% |
| 77. | Angola | $420,000 | +611.9% |
| 78. | Croatia | $278,000 | -30.5% |
| 79. | Estonia | $265,000 | +55.9% |
| 80. | New Zealand | $264,000 | -76.9% |
| 81. | Tajikistan | $257,000 | -5.5% |
| 82. | Argentina | $246,000 | +77% |
| 83. | Uzbekistan | $219,000 | +88.8% |
| 84. | Iceland | $207,000 | +1194% |
| 85. | North Macedonia | $152,000 | +7.8% |
| 86. | Zambia | $146,000 | -63.4% |
| 87. | Kyrgyzstan | $141,000 | +10.2% |
| 88. | Thailand | $102,000 | -64.7% |
| 89. | India | $85,000 | -91.1% |
| 90. | Dominica | $82,000 | +1950% |
| 91. | Antigua/Barbuda | $60,000 | 0% |
| 92. | Ivory Coast | $59,000 | -62.9% |
| 93. | Barbados | $50,000 | +163.2% |
| 94. | Namibia | $48,000 | +380% |
| 95. | Uruguay | $47,000 | +104.3% |
| 96. | Belarus | $42,000 | +4100% |
| 97. | Kuwait | $40,000 | -57.9% |
| 98. | Panama | $37,000 | -72.6% |
| 99. | Democratic Republic Congo | $22,000 | +633.3% |
| 100. | Algeria | $21,000 | -32.3% |
Expanding the scope of our analysis to focus on the top 100 sand exporters by dollar value, the fastest gainers were relatively smaller suppliers in: Hong Kong (up 5,428% from 2023), Belarus (up 4,100%), Dominica (up 1,950%), Iceland (up 1,194%) and the Bahamas (up 656.6%).
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 2023 was not available.
Countries Generating Largest Trade Surpluses from Sand
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for sand 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 sand and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- United States: US$830.4 million (net export surplus up 23.5% since 2023)
- Cambodia: $215.6 million (up 123.2%)
- Netherlands: $117.1 million (down -8.2%)
- Mozambique: $103.1 million (up 27%)
- Germany: $70 million (down -10.7%)
- Egypt: $58.5 million (up 32.5%)
- Indonesia: $48.2 million (down -11.2%)
- Saudi Arabia: $43.3 million (up 18.1%)
- Portugal: $30.2 million (up 20.4%)
- Malaysia: $28.4 million (down -50.3%)
- Denmark: $20.7 million (up 49.1%)
- France: $18.4 million (up 17.2%)
- Bulgaria: $13.3 million (down -13.4%)
- Mauritania: $11.9 million (reversing a -$773,000 deficit)
- Russia: $11.3 million (down -15.1%)
The United States of America earned the highest surplus in the international trade of sand. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms America’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Causing Largest Trade Deficits from Sand
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for sand 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 sand purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Singapore: -US$311.1 million (net export surplus up 37.9% since 2023)
- mainland China: -$274.7 million (down -20.5%)
- Canada: -$268.7 million (up 8.2%)
- Vietnam: -$185.7 million (up 210.2%)
- Japan: -$70.6 million (up 0.4%)
- Italy: -$66.6 million (down -15.2%)
- Türkiye: -$53.2 million (up 30%)
- Taiwan: -$50.9 million (up 3%)
- Switzerland: -$49.7 million (up 9.4%)
- South Korea: -$46 million (down -17%)
- Belgium: -$45.5 million (down -7.2%)
- Mexico: -$38.2 million (down -40.5%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$30.9 million (down -61.2%)
- United Kingdom: -$25.3 million (down -14.9%)
- Thailand: -$22.7 million (down -35.3%)
Overtaking mainland China, Singaore incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of sand during 2024. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights its competitive disadvantage for this specific product category. Leading deficits also signal opportunities for sand-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand for sands notably from Singapore but also mainland China and Canada.
Sand Exporting Companies
Below are sand stock companies located in the United States that represent established players engaged in the international trade of sand. The home country for each is shown within parenthesis.
- Emerge Energy
- Fairmount Santrol
- Hi-Crush
- US Silica
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following suppliers are also examples of sand-trading exporters. The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.
- BMS Factories (Saudi Arabia)
- Cairo Fresh for Import/Export (Egypt)
- Franzavian Import/Export (Philippines)
- Lingshou County Zhongrun Minerals (China)
- Noebel Ventures LLC (United States)
- Ploma Enterprise Co (Taiwan)
- Qaim Rasoul Import/Expor Co (Cambodia)
- UNELO (France)
- VietGo Company (Vietnam)
- Wamenya Trading (Netherlands)
See also Top Gravel Exporters by Country, Cement Exports by Country, Iron Ore Exports by Country and Top Nickel Exporters by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier showroom for Sand. Accessed on June 1, 2025
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on June 1, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 1, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 1, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 1, 2025
Wikipedia, Sand. Accessed on June 1, 2025