That dollar amount flatlined via a -0.8% drop from $12.5 billion five years earlier from 2019.
Year over year, natural rubber shipments depreciated by -23.1% compared to $16.1 billion starting in 2022.
The five largest exporters are Thailand, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Vietnam and Malaysia. Collectively, that powerful subgroup of top five international suppliers generated almost four-fifths (78.9%) of worldwide sales for exported natural rubber in 2023.
Among continents, providers in Asian countries exported $8.95 billion worth or 72.2% of international natural rubber sales. Exporters in Africa supplied 19.8% worth of the global total trailed by suppliers in Europe at another 5.5%.
Accounting for a tinier percentage of exported natural rubber were exporters in Latin America (1.6%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, North America (0.8%), then Oceania’s Papua New Guinea and Australia only (0.04%).
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for natural rubber is 4001.
Natural Rubber Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of natural rubber during 2023.
- Thailand: US$3.6 billion (29.2% of natural rubber exports)
- Indonesia: $2.5 billion (20%)
- Ivory Coast: $2.1 billion (16.5%)
- Vietnam: $820.2 million (6.6%)
- Malaysia: $815.4 million (6.6%)
- Cambodia: $558.5 million (4.5%)
- Belgium: $281.5 million (2.3%)
- Laos: $246.9 million (2%)
- Guatemala: $174.5 million (1.4%)
- Philippines: $124.7 million (1%)
- Myanmar: $120.5 million (1%)
- Ghana: $111.4 million (0.9%)
- Liberia: $97 million (0.8%)
- Germany: $95.8 million (0.8%)
- United States: $86.9 million (0.7%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 94.2% of all natural rubber exported in 2023.
Among the top exporters, there was a pair of growth exporters for natural rubber shipped from 2022 to 2023, namely Cambodia (up 40.2%) and Africa’s Ivory Coast (up 10.2%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported natural rubber sales were led by: Laos (down -60.8%), Myanmar (down -53.9%), Indonesia (down -30.1%), Philippines (down -29.0%) and Thailand (down -28.9%).
Searchable List of Natural Rubber Exporting Countries in 2023
By value, the 103 exporters in the following automated database generated 100% of natural rubber shipped worldwide in 2023.
| Rank | Exporter | Natural Rubber Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thailand | $3,621,551,000 | -28.9% |
| 2. | Indonesia | $2,478,751,000 | -30.1% |
| 3. | Ivory Coast | $2,051,567,000 | +10.2% |
| 4. | Vietnam | $820,233,000 | -27.8% |
| 5. | Malaysia | $815,399,000 | -22.1% |
| 6. | Cambodia | $558,472,000 | +40.2% |
| 7. | Belgium | $281,509,000 | -23.2% |
| 8. | Laos | $246,921,000 | -60.8% |
| 9. | Guatemala | $174,494,000 | -17.1% |
| 10. | Philippines | $124,705,000 | -29% |
| 11. | Myanmar | $120,467,000 | -53.9% |
| 12. | Ghana | $111,433,000 | -6.5% |
| 13. | Liberia | $97,036,000 | -13.9% |
| 14. | Germany | $95,777,000 | -27.5% |
| 15. | United States | $86,856,000 | -6.2% |
| 16. | Singapore | $78,652,000 | -37.4% |
| 17. | Cameroon | $59,421,000 | -30.7% |
| 18. | France | $58,141,000 | -37% |
| 19. | Nigeria | $54,328,000 | -15.6% |
| 20. | Netherlands | $51,328,000 | -9.7% |
| 21. | Luxembourg | $43,330,000 | +564.7% |
| 22. | Guinea | $41,144,000 | +7.8% |
| 23. | Romania | $34,956,000 | +18.1% |
| 24. | Hungary | $34,785,000 | +453.1% |
| 25. | China | $30,601,000 | -36.5% |
| 26. | Sri Lanka | $28,634,000 | -30.8% |
| 27. | Gabon | $20,244,000 | +46.1% |
| 28. | Poland | $15,385,000 | -32.1% |
| 29. | Denmark | $13,555,000 | -31.9% |
| 30. | Colombia | $13,033,000 | -12.2% |
| 31. | Spain | $12,626,000 | -21.4% |
| 32. | Brazil | $12,481,000 | +111% |
| 33. | Türkiye | $10,769,000 | +224.1% |
| 34. | Italy | $7,857,000 | -42% |
| 35. | Canada | $7,724,000 | +1.3% |
| 36. | Ireland | $6,890,000 | -93.2% |
| 37. | United Kingdom | $6,774,000 | -0.3% |
| 38. | India | $6,680,000 | +38.3% |
| 39. | Democratic Rep. Congo | $6,062,000 | -34.1% |
| 40. | Portugal | $5,396,000 | +69% |
| 41. | Egypt | $4,693,000 | -58.5% |
| 42. | Papua New Guinea | $4,420,000 | -15.6% |
| 43. | Bangladesh | $4,228,000 | +2.7% |
| 44. | Malawi | $4,115,000 | -4.1% |
| 45. | Czech Republic | $3,731,000 | -19.3% |
| 46. | Mexico | $2,776,000 | -65.2% |
| 47. | Taiwan | $2,621,000 | -57.7% |
| 48. | Finland | $2,615,000 | -55% |
| 49. | Sweden | $2,513,000 | -17.4% |
| 50. | Slovenia | $2,370,000 | +88.4% |
| 51. | South Africa | $2,240,000 | -21.2% |
| 52. | Greece | $1,968,000 | +61.8% |
| 53. | Slovakia | $1,922,000 | -73.2% |
| 54. | Chile | $1,394,000 | -43.6% |
| 55. | South Korea | $1,053,000 | -80.4% |
| 56. | Congo | $845,000 | 0% |
| 57. | Austria | $794,000 | -24.5% |
| 58. | Switzerland | $781,000 | -6.1% |
| 59. | Russia | $719,000 | -66% |
| 60. | Australia | $677,000 | -6.4% |
| 61. | Estonia | $609,000 | +7.6% |
| 62. | Lithuania | $570,000 | -81.3% |
| 63. | United Arab Emirates | $408,000 | -79.9% |
| 64. | Serbia | $338,000 | -92.5% |
| 65. | Panama | $336,000 | +7% |
| 66. | Japan | $305,000 | -29.2% |
| 67. | Armenia | $230,000 | 0% |
| 68. | Hong Kong | $224,000 | -75.2% |
| 69. | Israel | $216,000 | +173.4% |
| 70. | Syria | $212,000 | +21100% |
| 71. | Saudi Arabia | $161,000 | -93.6% |
| 72. | Norway | $154,000 | +120% |
| 73. | Peru | $152,000 | -61.6% |
| 74. | Mozambique | $128,000 | 0% |
| 75. | Sudan | $128,000 | 0% |
| 76. | Zambia | $114,000 | 0% |
| 77. | Pakistan | $104,000 | +70.5% |
| 78. | Lebanon | $94,000 | +4600% |
| 79. | Kazakhstan | $86,000 | +1333% |
| 80. | Iran | $69,000 | 0% |
| 81. | Djibouti | $46,000 | -96.4% |
| 82. | Bulgaria | $44,000 | -74% |
| 83. | Tunisia | $35,000 | +12.9% |
| 84. | Tanzania | $30,000 | -59.5% |
| 85. | Honduras | $27,000 | 0% |
| 86. | Jordan | $23,000 | +130% |
| 87. | Croatia | $23,000 | +228.6% |
| 88. | Iceland | $21,000 | +600% |
| 89. | Sierra Leone | $13,000 | 0% |
| 90. | Guinea-Bissau | $12,000 | -33.3% |
| 91. | Morocco | $11,000 | +450% |
| 92. | Venezuela | $10,000 | -71.4% |
| 93. | Namibia | $7,000 | -53.3% |
| 94. | Antigua/Barbuda | $6,000 | 0% |
| 95. | Ecuador | $4,000 | -99.3% |
| 96. | Bahrain | $3,000 | -40% |
| 97. | Latvia | $3,000 | 0% |
| 98. | Trinidad/Tobago | $2,000 | 0% |
| 99. | Ukraine | $1,000 | -66.7% |
| 100. | Uzbekistan | $1,000 | 0% |
| 101. | Botswana | $1,000 | 0% |
| 102. | Dominican Republic | $1,000 | -96.2% |
| 103. | Lesotho | $1,000 | 0% |
Widening our scope to all natural rubber exporters, the fastest growers from 2022 to 2023 were Syria (up 21,100%), Lebanon (up 4,600%), Honduras (up 1,477%), Kazakhstan (up 1,333%), Iceland (up 600%) and Luxembourg (up 564.7%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns in the above table. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that no 2022 data was available.
Countries Earning Largest Trade Surpluses from Natural Rubber
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for natural rubber during 2023. 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 natural rubber exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Thailand: US$3.6 billion (net export surplus down -28.9% since 2022)
- Indonesia: $2.3 billion (down -31.5%)
- Ivory Coast: $2.1 billion (up 10.2%)
- Cambodia: $547.5 million (up 38.4%)
- Vietnam: $260.8 million (reversing a -$730 million deficit)
- Laos: $245.1 million (down -61%)
- Guatemala: $174 million (down -16%)
- Myanmar: $120 million (down -54%)
- Ghana: $110.4 million (down -7.1%)
- Philippines: $108.9 million (down -30.3%)
- Belgium: $86 million (up 215.2%)
- Liberia: $83.6 million (down -19.6%)
- Cameroon: $59 million (down -30.4%)
- Nigeria: $50 million (down -15.6%)
- Guinea: $41.1 million (up 8.2%)
World-leader Thailand generated the highest surplus in the international trade of natural rubber. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Thailand’s strong competitive advantage under this specific resource category.
Countries Facing Worst Trade Deficits from Natural Rubber
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for natural rubber during 2023. 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 natural rubber import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- mainland China: -US$3.5 billion (net export deficit down -11% since 2022)
- United States of America: -$1.4 billion (down -38.9%)
- Japan: -$963.4 million (down -34.5%)
- India: -$707.7 million (down -32.2%)
- Malaysia: -$442.4 million (down -26.5%)
- South Korea: -$410.5 million (down -42.8%)
- Türkiye: -$383.5 million (down -39.6%)
- Germany: -$293.5 million (down -34.5%)
- Spain: -$279.5 million (down -37.7%)
- Brazil: -$231.4 million (down -49%)
- Poland: -$198.2 million (down -26.2%)
- Italy: -$195.1 million (down -36.9%)
- Mexico: -$186 million (down -31.4%)
- Canada: -$184 million (down -30.9%)
- Slovakia: -$146.6 million (down -25.9%)
Mainland China recorded the highest deficit in the international trade of natural rubber. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights China’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific resource category but also signals opportunities for natural rubber-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand of Chinese manufacturers.
Natural Rubber Exporting Companies
Below are rubber manufacturing companies that dominate the worldwide rubber trade, with a focus on rubber tire makers.
- Bridgestone Corp (Japan)
- Michelin (France)
- Goodyear (United States)
- Continental A.G. (Germany)
- Pirelli & C. S.p.A. (Italy)
- Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (Japan)
- Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. (South Korea)
- Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (Japan)
- Maxxis International/Cheng Shin Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd. (Taiwan)
- Zhongce Rubber Group Co. Ltd. (China)
These 10 companies accounted for almost two-thirds of worldwide rubber tire sales based on data from 2019.
According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following companies are also important players in the rubber industry.
- PT PP London Sumatra Indonesia TBK (Indonesia)
- Lee Rubber (Malaysia)
- Transityre (France)
See also Natural Rubber Imports by Country, Thailand’s Top 10 Exports, Thailand’s Top Trading Partners, Indonesia’s Top 10 Exports and Indonesia’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 24, 2024
Global Rubber Markets (GRM), Bridgestone ranks as world’s top tire producer again (September 8, 2019). Accessed on September 24, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 24, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 24, 2024
Wikipedia, Natural rubber. Accessed on September 24, 2024
Zepol’s company summary highlights by HTS code. Accessed on September 24, 2024