International sales of exported sweet peppers (also called bell peppers) and chili peppers totaled US$6.58 billion during 2021. That dollar amount reflects an average 28.5% increase in value compared to $5.12 billion in 2017.

Year over year, global sales of sweet or chili peppers appreciated by 5.7% compared to $6.23 billion for 2020.

The 5 largest exporters of sweet or chili peppers by dollar value are Spain, Mexico, Netherlands, Canada, and the United States of America. Collectively, that powerful cohort of pepper suppliers generated over three-quarters (76.6%) of total sweet or chili peppers exported during 2021. Such a high percentage suggests a relatively concentrated set of global suppliers.

From a continental perspective, exporters in Europe shipped the highest dollar worth of peppers during 2021 with shipments valued at $3.24 billion or virtually half (49.3%) of the world’s total. In second place was North America at 35.1% while another 10.9% of globally exported peppers originated from Asian exporters.

Tinier percentages came from Africa (3%), Latin America (1.5%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.2%) specifically New Zealand, Australia and Fiji.

For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 070960 for fresh or chilled peppers. That code prefix encompasses both sweet peppers and chili peppers.

Peppers Exports by Country

Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of peppers during 2021.

1. Spain: US$1.6 billion (24.1% of total exported peppers)
2. Mexico: $1.5 billion (23.2%)
3. Netherlands: $1.1 billion (17.5%)
4. Canada: $493.5 million (7.5%)
5. United States: $283.8 million (4.3%)
6. Turkey: $197.8 million (3%)
7. Morocco: $166.7 million (2.5%)
8. Israel: $95 million (1.4%)
9. France: $89.1 million (1.4%)
10. South Korea: $84.9 million (1.3%)
11. China: $84.6 million (1.3%)
12. Belgium: $78.5 million (1.2%)
13. Thailand: $68.5 million (1%)
14. Iran: $61.7 million (0.9%)
15. Austria: $58.8 million (0.9%)

By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 91.6% of global peppers exported in 2021.

Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of peppers since 2020 were: Austria (up 439.4%), Thailand (up 228.1%), Turkey (up 26.6%) and France (up 22.7%).

A handful of major suppliers posted declines in their international sales of peppers namely mainland China (down -28.1%), Israel (down -10.8%), South Korea (down -4.8%), Canada (down -2.2%) and the Netherlands (down -1.4%).

Countries Earning Best Trade Surpluses from Peppers

The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for sweet or chili peppers during 2021. 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 peppers and its import purchases for that same commodity.

1. Mexico: US$1.53 billion (net export surplus up 3.7% since 2020)
2. Spain: $1.5 billion (up 15.1%)
3. Netherlands: $918 million (down -3.8%)
4. Turkey: $196.5 million (up 26%)
5. Canada: $176.1 million (down -17.4%)
6. Morocco: $166.7 million (up 16.2%)
7. Israel: $92.2 million (down -12.2%)
8. South Korea: $84.9 million (down -4.8%)
9. Iran: $61.7 million (up 22.4%)
10. Honduras: $53.9 million (up 48.2%)
11. India: $40.9 million (down -25.4%)
12. China: $29.5 million (down -59.5%)
13. Dominican Republic: $27.8 million (up 9.9%)
14. Greece: $24.4 million (up 16.5%)
15. Vietnam: $17.5 million (down -66.7%)

Mexico achieved the world’s highest surplus in the international trade of sweet or chili peppers. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms strong Mexican competitive advantage for this specific product category.

Countries Experiencing Worst Trade Deficits from Peppers

The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for peppers during 2021. 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 peppers purchases and its exports for that same commodity.

1. United States: -US$1.7 billion (net export deficit up 7.3% since 2020)
2. Germany: -$965.7 million (up 6.8%)
3. United Kingdom: -$494.4 million (down -4.5%)
4. France: -$225.2 million (up 2.3%)
5. Russia: -$150.9 million (down -13.3%)
6. Poland: -$116.7 million (up 1.9%)
7. Japan: -$115 million (down -7.6%)
8. Switzerland: -$102.6 million (up 6.4%)
9. Italy: -$96.6 million (down -12.6%)
10. Sweden: -$91.6 million (up 19.3%)
11. Czech Republic: -$81.9 million (up 7%)
12. Romania: -$75 million (up 15.7%)
13. Austria: -$69.8 million (up 9.7%)
14. Norway: -$69.6 million (up 8.8%)
15. Denmark: -$64.4 million (up 11.3%)

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

Peppers Exporting Companies

According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following companies are also examples of companies that trade sweet and/or chili peppers including seeds. The home-country location is shown within parentheses.

• Alfafood GmbH (Germany)
• American Top Foods LLC (United States)
• Boumamar Trading (Netherlands)
• Cannery Row SL (Spain)
• Henan Alchemy Food Co, Ltd (China)
• Mave Enterprises Inc (United States)
• Shanxi Qinghe Trading Co, Ltd (China)
• TMEM (France)
• Vast Exporters (India)
• Viet Star Import Export Company Limited (Vietnam)

 

Searchable List of Sweet/Chili Pepper Exporting Countries in 2021

The following 100 key exporters of sweet or chili peppers accounted for 99.997% of all shipments of those commodities by value during 2021.

Rank	Exporter	Exported Peppers	2020-1
1.	Spain	$1,584,851,000	+14.1%
2.	Mexico	$1,529,259,000	+3.7%
3.	Netherlands	$1,148,990,000	-1.4%
4.	Canada	$493,523,000	-2.2%
5.	United States	$283,815,000	+6.2%
6.	Turkey	$197,789,000	+26.6%
7.	Morocco	$166,673,000	+16.2%
8.	Israel	$95,043,000	-10.8%
9.	France	$89,108,000	+22.7%
10.	South Korea	$84,913,000	-4.8%
11.	China	$84,572,000	-28.1%
12.	Belgium	$78,500,000	+5.3%
13.	Thailand	$68,465,000	+228.1%
14.	Iran	$61,669,000	+22.4%
15.	Austria	$58,806,000	+439.4%
16.	Honduras	$53,929,000	+48.2%
17.	Germany	$50,042,000	+22.8%
18.	India	$40,852,000	-25.4%
19.	Hungary	$37,314,000	+26.3%
20.	Greece	$33,473,000	+6.1%
21.	Italy	$31,541,000	+9.5%
22.	Dominican Republic	$28,049,000	+10.7%
23.	Poland	$25,068,000	-20.9%
24.	Vietnam	$24,323,000	-54.5%
25.	Jordan	$15,880,000	-55.5%
26.	Albania	$15,871,000	-4.2%
27.	North Macedonia	$15,791,000	-13.2%
28.	Myanmar	$15,761,000	-20.2%
29.	Bulgaria	$14,256,000	+38.2%
30.	New Zealand	$13,228,000	-23.1%
31.	Guatemala	$10,489,000	-0.3%
32.	Czech Republic	$10,100,000	-7.7%
33.	Belarus	$8,274,000	+1603%
34.	Malaysia	$7,764,000	+19%
35.	Uzbekistan	$7,382,000	-6.8%
36.	Serbia	$6,520,000	-1.8%
37.	Uganda	$5,363,000	+23217%
38.	Egypt	$5,105,000	+2.9%
39.	Armenia	$4,717,000	+345%
40.	Lithuania	$4,217,000	-33.8%
41.	Portugal	$4,152,000	+49.5%
42.	Tunisia	$4,129,000	+132.4%
43.	Latvia	$4,037,000	+26%
44.	Rwanda	$3,812,000	+13.8%
45.	El Salvador	$3,607,000	+41%
46.	Croatia	$3,359,000	+60.8%
47.	Denmark	$3,217,000	+1.1%
48.	South Africa	$3,014,000	+13.2%
49.	Slovenia	$2,968,000	+2.7%
50.	Syria	$2,567,000	+10.6%
51.	Senegal	$2,392,000	-1.2%
52.	Namibia	$2,358,000	+235700%
53.	United Kingdom	$1,984,000	-46.4%
54.	Saudi Arabia	$1,838,000	-18.6%
55.	Russia	$1,812,000	-12%
56.	Ireland	$1,586,000	+55.5%
57.	Slovakia	$1,525,000	-40.6%
58.	Australia	$1,384,000	-12%
59.	United Arab Emirates	$1,313,000	-92%
60.	Nicaragua	$1,303,000	+118.6%
61.	Kenya	$1,270,000	-23.6%
62.	Peru	$1,230,000	-22.8%
63.	Kyrgyzstan	$1,182,000	+334.6%
64.	Sweden	$1,041,000	+45.2%
65.	Bosnia/Herzegovina	$737,000	-17%
66.	Romania	$654,000	+66.4%
67.	Jamaica	$650,000	-7.4%
68.	Cuba	$622,000	+83.5%
69.	Luxembourg	$620,000	+14.6%
70.	Bangladesh	$596,000	-12.9%
71.	Trinidad/Tobago	$577,000	+9.3%
72.	Indonesia	$560,000	-16.4%
73.	Singapore	$539,000	-12.8%
74.	Brazil	$505,000	+3.3%
75.	Argentina	$484,000	+144.4%
76.	Kazakhstan	$475,000	-39.2%
77.	Oman	$359,000	-85.5%
78.	Ecuador	$289,000	+1276%
79.	Laos	$259,000	+0.8%
80.	Sri Lanka	$256,000	+43%
81.	Pakistan	$247,000	-76%
82.	Finland	$223,000	-0.4%
83.	Madagascar	$192,000	+88.2%
84.	Fiji	$183,000	-2.7%
85.	Georgia	$155,000	+24%
86.	Ukraine	$150,000	-15.7%
87.	Lebanon	$148,000	-34.2%
88.	Taiwan	$144,000	-67%
89.	Turkmenistan	$132,000	+842.9%
90.	Niger	$109,000	-72.4%
91.	Colombia	$97,000	-29.7%
92.	Estonia	$96,000	+71.4%
93.	Ghana	$87,000	+55.4%
94.	Tanzania	$84,000	-80.8%
95.	Zimbabwe	$64,000	-11.1%
96.	Afghanistan	$60,000	-60.8%
97.	Algeria	$57,000	+533.3%
98.	Palestine	$48,000	-53.8%
99.	Eswatini	$45,000	+73.1%
100.	Malawi	$41,000	0%

Focusing on the 100 major sellers of sweet or chili peppers, the fastest growers since 2020 were Namibia (up 235,700%), Uganda (up 23,217%), Belarus (up 1,603%), Ecuador (up 1,276%), Turkmenistan (up 842.9%), Algeria (up 533.3%) then Austria (up 439.4%).

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 2020 data was unavailable.

See also Top Exported Spices by Sales, Weight and Unit Value, Tomatoes Exports by Country, Potatoes Exports by Country and Corn Exports by Country and Onions Exports by Country

Research Sources:
Alibaba, supplier information for peppers. Accessed on August 9, 2022

Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on August 9, 2022

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 9, 2022

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 9, 2022

Wikipedia, Bell Pepper. Accessed on August 9, 2022

Wikipedia, Chili Pepper. Accessed on August 9, 2022