Worldwide rice exports by country totaled US$21.9 billion in 2019, down by an average -5.9% for all exporting countries since 2015 when overall rice shipments were valued at $23.2 billion. Year over year, the value of globally exported rice declined by -16.8% from the $26.3 billion worth of rice shipped during 2018.



From a continental perspective, three-quarters (75%) of global rice exports originated from Asian countries with shipments amounting to $16.4 billion. Exporters in Europe supplied 9.1% of global rice exports, trailed by North America at 8.7% then Latin America (6%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean. Smaller percentages came from Oceania (0.6%) led by Australia and Africa (also 0.6%).



For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for rice is 1006.

Countries

Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of rice during 2019. India: US$7.1 billion (32.5% of total rice exports) Thailand: $4.2 billion (19.2%) United States: $1.9 billion (8.6%) Vietnam: $1.4 billion (6.6%) Pakistan: $1.2 billion (5.6%) China: $1.1 billion (4.8%) Italy: $624.3 million (2.9%) Myanmar (Burma): $579 million (2.6%) Cambodia: $430.6 million (2%) Uruguay: $375.8 million (1.7%) Brazil: $367.6 million (1.7%) Netherlands: $307.4 million (1.4%) Belgium: $271.4 million (1.2%) Paraguay: $226.7 million (1%) Spain: $207 million (0.9%) The listed 15 countries shipped 92.8% of global rice exports in 2019 by value.



Among the above countries, the fastest-growing rice exporters since 2015 were: China (up 296%), Netherlands (up 75.7%), Paraguay (up 74.6%) and Cambodia (up 51.1%).



Those countries that posted declines in their exported rice sales were led by: Vietnam (down -48.6%), Pakistan (down -36.9%), Thailand (down -7.7%), United States (down -6.3%) and Myanmar also called Burma (down -5.4%).

Advantages

The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for rice during 2019. 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 rice exports and its import purchases for that same commodity. India: US$7.1 billion (net export surplus up 11.8% since 2015) Thailand: $4.2 billion (down -7.8%) Vietnam: $1.4 billion (down -49%) Pakistan: $1.2 billion (down -38.3%) United States: $790.7 million (down -34.7%) Myanmar (Burma): $576.2 million (down -5.6%) Italy: $449.5 million (down -1%) Cambodia: $428.2 million (up 56.3%) Uruguay: $373.7 million (down -0.9%) Paraguay: $226 million (up 75.6%) Argentina: $181.6 million (up 19.6%) Brazil: $122.8 million (down -36.2%) Guyana: $91.2 million (down -57%) Spain: $76.5 million (down -26.4%) Greece: $38.7 million (up 18.3%) India generated the highest surplus in the international trade of rice. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms India’s strong competitive advantage for rice, a cereals product category.

Opportunities

The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for rice during 2019. 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 rice import purchases and its exports for that same commodity. Iran: -US$1.6 billion (net export deficit up 139.1% since 2015) Saudi Arabia: -$1.4 billion (down -5.3%) Philippines: -$1 billion (up 117.5%) Iraq: -$654.6 million (down -1%) Benin: -$570.5 million (up 24%) France: -$492 million (up 22.9%) United Kingdom: -$457.2 million (down -9.6%) Malaysia: -$441.9 million (down -12.4%) Japan: -$434.1 million (down -7.9%) Canada: -$397.2 million (up 20.3%) South Africa: -$384.8 million (up 5.2%) Yemen: -$346.8 million (up 10.8%) Mexico: -$332 million (up 3.4%) United Arab Emirates: -$321.1 million (down -34.2%) Germany: -$305.5 million (up 11.7%) The Islamic Republic of Iran incurred the greatest amount of red ink trading rice on global markets during 2019. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Iran’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for rice-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.

Companies