That dollar amount results from an average 17.3% increase for all shippers of sunglasses over the five-year period starting from $7.15 billion in 2018.
Year over year, the overall value of exported sunglasses grew by 13.9% compared to $7.36 billion for 2021.
The 5 biggest exporters of the consumer-discretionary eyeglasses product are Italy, mainland China, Hong Kong, United States of America, and France. Collectively, those leading suppliers shipped over four-fifths (82.1%) of the world’s value for exported sunglasses during 2022. Such a high percentage indicates a concentrated cohort of major sunglass exporters.
Among continents, suppliers in Europe sold the highest dollar worth of exported sunglasses during 2022 with shipments valued at $4.7 billion or over half (55.9%) of sunglass exports. In second place were sunglasses suppliers in Asia at 38.2% while another 5.1% of worldwide sunglass shipments originated from North America.
Tinier percentages were sold on international markets from providers located in Latin America (0.5%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Oceania (0.2%) mostly Australia, and Africa (0.1%).
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for sunglasses is 900410.
Top Sunglasses Exporters by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of sunglasses during 2022.
- Italy: US$3.4 billion (40.5% of exported sunglasses)
- China: $2.1 billion (25.1%)
- Hong Kong: $677.5 million (8.1%)
- United States: $412.2 million (4.9%)
- France: $292.3 million (3.5%)
- Germany: $287.5 million (3.4%)
- Japan: $145.4 million (1.7%)
- Netherlands: $142.8 million (1.7%)
- Spain: $117.7 million (1.4%)
- Taiwan: $104.7 million (1.2%)
- Switzerland: $70.8 million (0.8%)
- South Korea: $70.2 million (0.8%)
- Poland: $54.2 million (0.6%)
- United Kingdom: $45.3 million (0.5%)
- Belgium: $43 million (0.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 95% of globally exported sunglasses in 2022.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of sunglasses since 2021 were: France (up 34.4%), Japan (up 21.1%), mainland China (up 20.5%) and Switzerland (up 16.8%).
A pair of countries posted declines in their international sales of sunglasses, namely the United Kingdom (down -11% from 2021) and South Korea (down -8.3%).
Countries Enjoying Best Trade Surpluses from Sunglasses
Listed below are the countries that posted positive net exports in the international trade of sunglasses 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 sunglasses and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Italy: US$2.8 billion (net export surplus up 12.6% since 2021)
- mainland China: $1.7 billion (up 27.3%)
- Taiwan: $83.4 million (up 1.8%)
- Japan: $1.9 million (reversing a -$17.9 million deficit)
- Estonia: $524,000 (down -75.1%)
- Barbados: $179,000 (up 244.2%)
- Suriname: $58,000 (down -48.2%)
- Nauru: $46,000 (2021 data unavailable)
- Paraguay: $33,000 (2021 data unavailable)
- Vanuatu: $26,000 (down -262.5%)
- Cocos (Keeling) Is: $10,000 (2021 data unavailable)
- French Southern/Antarctic Terr: $1,000 (down -50)
- Pitcairn: $1,000 (down 0)
- Eritrea: -$1,000 (down -66.7%)
Exported sunglasses leader Italy reaped the highest surplus in the international trade of sunglasses. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Italy’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Experiencing Worst Trade Deficits from Sunglasses
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for sunglasses 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 sunglasses purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$1.7 billion (net export deficit up 9.7% since 2021)
- United Kingdom: -$239.8 million (up 16.4%)
- France: -$195.5 million (down -4.8%)
- Canada: -$182.3 million (up 15.1%)
- Australia: -$152.4 million (up 18.9%)
- Spain: -$149.7 million (up 25.9%)
- Mexico: -$119.5 million (up 36.9%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$106.2 million (up 27%)
- Germany: -$99.8 million (down -9.9%)
- Türkiye: -$96.9 million (up 49.3%)
- Switzerland: -$81.7 million (up 3.1%)
- India: -$77.6 million (up 62.5%)
- Russia: -$65.8 million (down -3.5%)
- Israel: -$54.3 million (up 0.04%)
- Norway: -$45.9 million (down -10.8%)
By far, the United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of sunglasses. This billion-dollar negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for sunglasses-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful US consumer demand.
Sunglasses Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following suppliers are examples of sunglasses-trading exporters.
- Celeb Eyewear (United States)
- ISP Professional Limited (Hong Kong)
- Jie Hao Enterprise Ltd (Taiwan)
- Kachi Global Pte Ltd (Singapore)
- Kost International BV (Netherlands)
- La Giardiniera-SRL (Italy)
- Linhai Tangtian Trade Co, Ltd (China)
- Seiko Industry Co, Ltd (Japan)
The home-country location for the headquarters of each business is shown within parentheses.
See also Top Exporters of Wigs, Beards and Eyelashes, Beauty Cosmetics and Skincare Exports by Country and Perfumes Exporters by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier showroom for sunglasses. Accessed on September 27, 2023
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 27, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 27, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 27, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 27, 2023
Wikipedia, Sunglasses. Accessed on September 27, 2023
