Exports of vanilla plummeted in value by an average -67.9% since 2021 when export sales for vanilla were $946.5 million.
Year over year, overall export revenues from sales of the fragrant and tasty spice shrank by -29.1% compared to $429.2 million during 2024.
Vanilla comes from special orchid flowers notably Mexican flat-leaved flower pods. Vanilla is widely used as a baking ingredient, as well as a flavor enhancement in the commercial production of food, beverages, perfumes, cosmetics and aromatherapy products.
By value, the top 5 biggest exporters of vanilla in 2025 were Madagascar, France, Germany, Uganda and Canada. Combined, that leading cohort sold almost three-quarters (74.7%) of all vanilla exported during 2025.
Madagascar is an island country off the East African coast.
Applying a continental perspective, countries located in Africa supplied the highest dollar worth of exported vanilla during 2025 with shipments valued at $149.7 million or 49.2% of the global total. In second place were exporters in Europe (31.8%) trailed by those in North America (7.6%), Asia (6.8%), then Oceania (4.3%) led by Papua New Guinea. A tinier percentage originated from Latin America (0.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
Shifting our focus to imports, the 5 leading importers of vanilla in 2025 were the United States of America, France, Germany, Netherlands and Canada. Combined, that quintet of top import countries bought approaching three-quarters (73.5%) of globally imported vanilla as measured by dollar value.
The above percentages suggest the total 84 exporters of vanilla (74.7% for the corresponding top 5 exporters) compares with 149 buying countries, islands and territories. The top 5 importers accounted for a slightly smaller portion of the corresponding world total, as specified above at 73.5%.
As for global imports of vanilla by continent, over half (56.1%) of vanilla purchased on international markets was delivered to customers in Europe. In second place were importers in North America (33.5%) then Asia (6.2%), Africa (2.3%), Latin America (0.9%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then buyers in Oceania (also 0.9%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 090510 for vanilla that is neither crushed nor ground, and 090520 for crushed or ground vanilla.
Drilling down by the type of vanilla, 83.2% of world vanilla exports by sales in 2025 were for non-crushed and unground vanilla versus 91.6% for the prior year. The remaining 16.8% for 2025 was collected for shipments of crushed or ground vanilla.
Top Vanilla Exports by Country
Below are the top 20 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of vanilla during 2025, regardless of whether the shipped vanilla was crushed or ground.
- Madagascar: US$128.3 million (42.2% of total vanilla exports)
- France: $44.3 million (14.6%)
- Germany: $22.5 million (7.4%)
- Uganda: $16.2 million (5.3%)
- Canada: $16 million (5.3%)
- Netherlands: $14.3 million (4.7%)
- Indonesia: $11.6 million (3.8%)
- United States: $7.1 million (2.3%)
- Papua New Guinea: $5.5 million (1.8%)
- French Polynesia: $5.3 million (1.7%)
- Singapore: $4.2 million (1.4%)
- Poland: $3.1 million (1%)
- Czech Republic: $3.1 million (1%)
- Mauritius: $2.9 million (1%)
- Denmark: $1.9 million (0.6%)
- Saudi Arabia: $1.8 million (0.6%)
- Italy: $1.43 million (0.5%)
- Australia: $1.43 million (0.5%)
- South Africa: $1.32 million (0.4%)
- Switzerland: $1.27 million (0.4%)
By value, the listed 20 countries shipped 96.5% of globally exported vanilla in 2025.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing vanilla exporters since 2024 were: Singapore (up 112.4%), Denmark (up 23.4%), Australia (up 14.6%) and the Czech Republic (up 13.7%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported vanilla sales were led by: Switzerland (down -59.4%), Madagascar (down -44.6%), Poland (down -44.3%), Uganda (down -26.2%) and the Netherlands (down -23.8%).
Top Vanilla Imports by Country
The overall cost for imported vanilla in 2025 (US$348.8 million) retreated by -55.4% over the 5-year period starting in 2021 and plummeted by -22.5% year over year since 2024.
Below are the 20 best buying markets as measured by the highest dollar value worth of vanilla imported during 2025, for any vanilla regardless of whether crushed or ground.
- United States: US$100.5 million (28.8% of total vanilla imports)
- France: $82.4 million (23.6%)
- Germany: $38.4 million (11%)
- Netherlands: $19.1 million (5.5%)
- Canada: $16 million (4.6%)
- Italy: $7.5 million (2.1%)
- Switzerland: $7.2 million (2.1%)
- Denmark: $6.3 million (1.8%)
- United Kingdom: $5.7 million (1.6%)
- Japan: $5.6 million (1.6%)
- Belgium: $4.6 million (1.3%)
- Mauritius: $4.3 million (1.2%)
- Austria: $3.9 million (1.1%)
- Poland: $3.7 million (1.1%)
- Sweden: $3.2 million (0.9%)
- Australia: $2.87 million (0.8%)
- mainland China: $2.86 million (0.8%)
- Czech Republic: $2.8 million (0.8%)
- South Korea: $2.6 million (0.8%)
- Saudi Arabia: $2.5 million (0.7%)
By value, the listed 20 countries bought 92.4% of globally imported vanilla in 2025.
Among the top importers, the fastest-growing vanilla importers since PrYr were: Mauritius (up 42.3%), mainland China (up 41.2%), Sweden (up 39.3%) and Austria (up 20.3%).
Those countries that posted declines in their imported vanilla purchases were led by: Poland (down -37.4%), Canada (down -33.5%), Belgium (down -31%), France (down -30.9%) and Australia (down -26.9%).
Vanilla Price Insights
Like another high-priced spice saffron, vanilla is one of the world’s most valuable spices shipped on global markets.
We calculated the average unit price paid by importers of non-crushed and unground vanilla to be $48,652 per ton in 2025. That dollar amount is 9.5% inflated from the average $44,431 for 2024.
Processed vanilla exports scored a lower unit price. For crushed or ground vanilla, the average unit price paid by importers was $25,156 per ton in 2025 inflating by 27.5% from the average tonnage rate of $19,730 for 2024. In this scenario, the lower average price is driven more by the geography of supplying countries rather than labor and other processing expenses.
See also Top Exported Spices by Sales, Weight and Unit Value, Cinnamon Exports by Country, Top Garlic Exports by Country and Top Cloves Exports & Imports by Country Plus Average Prices
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Vanilla Showroom. Accessed on July 19, 2026
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 19, 2026
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 19, 2026
Wikipedia, Vanilla. Accessed on July 19, 2026