Countries all across the world rely on imports and exports via air, sea, and road networks to carry goods across borders and into other countries. A thriving economy is dependent on healthy trade.
The title of the 10 largest exporting nations Of the world has shifted multiple times in the past, and it is certain to do so again. Britain established a global empire built on trade in the 19th century and was known as the “workshop of the world.” China had risen to become “the world’s factory” by the twenty-first century. However, the Silk Route and the magnitude of China’s economy show that in prior ages, China was frequently the largest exporter of products.
We examine the following 10 largest exporting nations of the world, their products, and each country’s busiest ports and shipping routes.
The 10 Largest Exporting Nations Of The World
One of the most recent trade battles to make news is between two superpowers, the United States and China. Despite this, neither of these countries has stopped boosting their exports in 2019.
1. CHINA
China is the most important exporter in the world. Surprisingly, four of the top ten exporting countries are from Asia, five are from Europe, and one is from North America.
In 2019, China exported almost $2.64 trillion in products. Electronics and other machinery are China’s main exports, while electronics, especially integrated circuits and other computer components, are the country’s main imports.
The Most Exported Products from China:
Apparel, as well as electrical and other apparatus, such as computers and telecommunications equipment
Textiles
Furniture
The busiest ports are:
Seven of the top ten busiest container ports on the planet are in China. Shanghai is home to the world’s busiest container port. Shenzhen is the third busiest city in the world. Ningbo-Zhoushan in Northeast China is ranked fourth, and the Port of Guangzhou is ranked fifth.
What is ahead for China as the world’s leading exporter?
In general, China is expected to continue to be the world’s biggest exporter shortly. However, its worldwide economic dominance in terms of exports may be reaching its limit. This is due to a variety of factors.
First, China’s economy is maturing to become increasingly reliant on home demand rather than foreign demand, with exports playing a smaller role in the Chinese economy in recent years. In terms of world trade, this means that Chinese imports are projected to grow faster than exports, reducing China’s export market share.
Second, China’s global competitiveness is being eroded by rising labour costs, particularly in labour-intensive manufacturing processes. Global production will eventually be relocated to lower-cost countries as a result of this. Economies with high levels of competition, such as Vietnam, are projected to eat into China’s market share.
Furthermore, advances in labour-saving technologies such as automation and robotics, as well as fiscal incentives such as company incentives and tax credits for local employment, are making reshoring some manufacturing processes closer to consumers in developed countries more financially viable.
2. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The United States has the largest economy and is the second-largest exporter of goods in the world. Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, and the United Kingdom are the top five export destinations for the United States.
The Most Exported Products include:
Capital goods are items that are purchased with money (transistors, aircraft, motor vehicle parts, computers, telecommunications equipment)
Chemicals that are made up of organic compounds
Automobiles,
Medicines
The busiest ports are:
The following ports in the United States have the most products exported and imported:
Los Angeles (top imports: furniture, automobile parts.)
Long Beach (top imports: crude oil, electronics.)
New York and New Jersey (top imports: Petroleum, appliances.)
What makes the USA the 2nd world’s leading exporter?
With approximately $5.6 trillion in exports and imports of goods and services in 2019, the United States is the world’s largest trading nation. The United States has trade agreements with over 200 countries, territories, and regional organizations throughout the world.
Exports of Goods
The United States is the world’s second-largest exporter of products. In 2019, US goods exports to the rest of the world totalled $1.6 trillion, down 1.4 percent ($22.5 billion) from the previous year. In 2019, Canada was the top buyer of U.S. goods exports, accounting for 17.8% of total U.S. goods exports. Canada ($292.6 billion), Mexico ($256.6 billion), China ($106.4 billion), Japan ($74.4 billion), and the United Kingdom ($69.1 billion) were the top five buyers of US goods exports in 2019. Exports of goods from the United States to the European Union’s 27 members totalled $267.6 billion.
Exports of Services
The United States is the world’s greatest supplier of services. Services exports in the United States totalled $875.8 billion in 2019, up 1.6 percent ($13 billion) over the previous year. In 2019, service exports from the United States account for 35% of total exports. In 2019, the United Kingdom was the top buyer of American services exports, accounting for approximately 9% of total exports. The United Kingdom ($78.3 billion), Canada ($67.7 billion), Ireland ($57.5 billion), China ($56.5 billion), and Japan ($50.0 billion) were the top five buyers of US services exports in 2019. Services exports from the United States to the European Union’s 27 members totalled $200.3 billion.
3. GERMANY
Germany is the world’s third-largest exporter, as well as the largest economy in Europe, and the world’s fourth-largest economy. The United States, France, China, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom were the top five trading partners with Germany in 2020.
The Most Exported Products include:
Vehicles are used for transportation.
Machinery
Chemicals
The busiest ports are:
Hamburg is a city in Germany (machinery and equipment, chemicals)
Bremerhaven is a city in Germany (automobiles)
What makes Germany the 3rd world’s leading exporter?
Germany has a social market economy, which combines open-market capitalism with social welfare guarantees. Its economy is one of the greatest in the world, and Germany is a major importer and exporter. The country’s economy is dominated by services, which include businesses like telecommunications, health care, and tourism. Other important economic sectors include industry and agriculture.
Germany has a well-educated and talented workforce. However, the country’s population is ageing, prompting concerns about the high level of social service spending. The bulk of the population is ethnically German, with Turks and other Europeans making up a sizable minority.
Germany is one of the top three exporting countries, alongside China and the United States. Germany exported items worth a total of 1,278.9 billion euros in 2017. The export quota was around 40% in agriculture and over 50% in industries.
Germany is the world’s most popular destination for international trade shows. Germany hosts two-thirds of the world’s largest industrial events. Around 150 international trade fairs and exhibitions attract 10 million visitors each year.
4. FRANCE
France is the world’s fourth-largest exporter and seventh-largest economy. Energy, manufacturing, and transportation are the three most important industries in France. Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and the United States are the leading export destinations for French goods.
Products with the Most Exports:
Transport and machinery equipment
Aircraft
Plastics
Ports with the most traffic:
Le Havre (top imports: coal, construction materials, crude oil)
Fos – Marseille (top imports: crude oil)
What makes France the 4th world’s leading exporter?
In January 2022, exports from France increased 6.9% month over month to a new high of EUR 47.27 billion, boosted by sales of other industrial items (3.8%), transportation materials (23.4%), and computer, electronics, electrical, and mechanical equipment (5.6 percent).
France In January 2022, total exports increased by 20.4 percent YoY, compared to 14.3 percent YoY the previous month. The Total Exports Growth data is updated monthly and is accessible from January 2001 to January 2022, with a 3.2 percent average rate.
In April 2021, the data achieved an all-time high of 70.7 percent, while in April 2020, it hit a new low of -43.5 percent. Total Exports Growth is calculated by CEIC using monthly Total Exports. Total Exports, FOB, in EUR is provided by the General Directorate of Customs and Excise. Military equipment is included in total exports.
According to the most recent data, France’s total exports reached $53.5 billion in January 2022. In January 2022, total imports totalled 62.6 USD billion, an increase of 25.9% year over year. In January 2022, France’s trade balance was 9.1 billion dollars in deficit.
5. JAPAN
Japan is the world’s fifth-largest exporter and the third-largest economy. It also has the third-biggest vehicle manufacturing business and the largest electrical goods industry in the world. The United States, China, South Korea, and Taiwan were the nations to which Japan shipped the most goods in 2020.
The Most Exported Products include:
Vehicles are used for transportation.
Products made of iron and steel
Semiconductors
The busiest ports are:
Nagoya (top exports: finished vehicles, auto parts)
Tokyo (top exports: chemicals, machinery)
What makes Japan the 5th world’s leading exporter?
With exports accounting for roughly 16% of GDP, international trade plays a key role in the Japanese economy. Vehicles, machinery, and manufactured items are among the most important exports. The United States (20.2%), China (17.5%), and the Republic of Korea (17.5%) were Japan’s top export destinations in 2015-16. (7 per cent).
Export growth is sluggish, despite a cheaper yen as a result of stimulus measures. Japan’s natural resources are limited, and its agriculture sector is strictly regulated.
Japan remains Australia’s second-largest trading partner and export market, and it is expected to remain so for some time. In 2015-16, the two-way goods and services trade between Australia and Japan was AUD 60.3 billion. Exports of goods to Japan totalled AUD 35.8 billion, accounting for roughly 15% of Australia’s total goods exports.
LNG (about AUD 16 billion), coal (AUD 11.2 billion), iron ore (AUD 4.7 billion), beef (AUD 1.8 billion), and copper ores and concentrates (AUD 1.8 billion) were among Australia’s top exports to Japan in 2015-16. (AUD 1.4 billion). Beef, fish, fruit and vegetable juices, animal feed, coal, liquefied propane and butane, aluminium, transmission shafts, dairy products, and natural gas were among Australia’s top exports. On the other hand, on the other side of the ledger.
6. UNITED KINGDOM
The United Kingdom is the world’s sixth-largest exporter and the fifth-largest economy. The United States, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and the Republic of Ireland are the UK’s biggest trading partners.
The Most Exported Products include:
Goods made in a factory
Fuels
Chemicals
Food
The busiest ports are:
Felixstowe (number 1 port for imports in the UK)
Southampton (number 1 export port in the UK)
What makes the United Kingdom the 6th world’s leading exporter?
The economy of the United Kingdom has always been dependent on trade. Imports and exports account for roughly half of the country’s total GDP. (For contrast, the value of foreign commerce accounts for roughly one-fifth of the US GDP.) In recent years, the United Kingdom’s exports and imports have consistently increased in volume.
Machinery, automobiles, other transportation equipment, electrical and electronic equipment (including computers), chemicals, and oil are among the most important British exports. Another important export is services, notably financial services, which contribute significantly to the UK’s trade balance. One-tenth of the country’s food is imported, as is one-third of its industrial and transportation equipment.
7. NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands is the world’s seventh-largest exporter, and its economy is the world’s seventeenth-largest. Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy are the top export destinations for Dutch goods.
Products with the Most Exports:
Transport and machinery equipment
Chemicals
Mineral-based fuels
Ports with the most traffic
Rotterdam (top imports: coal, iron ore)
Amsterdam (top imports: cocoa, iron ore, oil products)
What makes the Netherlands the 7th world’s leading exporter?
After the United States, the Netherlands is the world’s second-largest food exporter. The small country in northwest Europe has a thriving food and agriculture sector, but its true success is due to its strategic location, which is surrounded by some of the world’s most prosperous countries, with major ports and well-developed road, rail, and water transportation systems for moving goods inland. Its advantages are bolstered by a long history of trading prowess.
Total agricultural exports in the Netherlands were €95.6 billion ($116.2 billion) on Jan. 21, 2021, up 1% over the previous year, owing primarily to increasing re-exports of agricultural products of foreign origin.
8. South Korea
South Korea is the world’s eighth-largest exporter of products. It has the 11th-largest economy in the world and the fourth-largest in Asia. Shipbuilding, vehicle manufacturing, and electronics are all important economic sectors. China, the United States, Vietnam, Japan, and Taiwan were South Korea’s major exporting partners in 2017.
The Most Exported Products include:
Semiconductors
Petrochemicals
Automobiles and automobile parts
The busiest ports are:
Busan (top exports: integrated circuits, cars)
9. SINGAPORE
Singapore is the world’s ninth-largest exporter. It boasts the world’s fourth-largest GDP per capita and Asia’s 16th-largest economy. China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the United States, and Indonesia are Singapore’s major export destinations.
Products with the Most Exports
Circuits with integrated circuits
Petroleum that has been refined
Gold
Ports with the most traffic
Singapore’s port
What makes Singapore the 9th world’s leading exporter?
Despite the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 epidemic, Singapore’s exports increased by 4.3 percent last year, mainly to strong global demand for semiconductors and medicines, the city-main state’s produced goods.
Exports to the United States jumped 38% to SG$29.9 billion, while shipments to China fell 8% to SG$26.3 billion, indicating that manufacturers may have transferred some of their US-targeted exports from China to Singapore amid trade concerns between the world’s two largest economies.
Total trade for 2020, on the other hand, was down 5% to SG$969 billion, due to lower oil imports and exports.
The increase in benchmark exports contrasts with Singapore’s overall bleak economic situation. As a result of the pandemic’s impact on the tourism and transportation industries, GDP dropped by a record 5.8% in 2020.
10. ITALY
Italy is the world’s tenth-largest exporter. It is the third-largest economy in the Eurozone and the eighth-largest economy on the planet. Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and the United States are the major export destinations for Italian goods.
Products with the Most Exports
Engineering creations
Clothing and textiles
Machines for production
Ports with the most traffic
Gioia Tauro’s Port (top imports: crude oil)
Genoa’s Port (top imports: steel products)
What makes Italy the 10th world’s leading exporter?
Italy’s export market is quickly expanding, and with the country’s exporting industry currently focusing on high-value areas, there are several chances for Italians who make or sell items in these sectors.
The Italian economy is one of the world’s most powerful. Italy’s current gross domestic product (GDP) is $1.886 trillion, making it the world’s eighth-largest economy.
Exports account for more than a quarter of Italy’s GDP. Italy’s export sector is expected to be valued at $496.1 billion in 2020. The majority of these items were sold to European purchasers.
When you consider Italy’s population, the export industry is worth $8,200 per person.
