That dollar amount results from an average 20.2% gain for all lettuce shippers over a five-year period starting from $2.96 billion in 2019.
Year over year, worldwide sales of exported lettuce slowed to a 2.6% increase compared to $3.56 billion for 2022.
The 5 most lucrative suppliers of lettuce on international markets are Spain, United States of America, Mexico, mainland China and the Netherlands. Combined, that quintet of leading exporters generated over three-quarters (77.1%) of globally exported lettuce during 2023.
Among continents, suppliers in European countries sold the highest dollar worth of exported lettuce during 2023 with shipments valued at $2 billion or over half (56.4%) of the worldwide total. In second place were exporters located in North America at 31.5% with another 10.6% of international lettuce shipments originating from Asia.
Smaller percentages came from sellers in Africa (1.1%), Latin America (0.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania’s (0.1%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 0705 for fresh or chilled lettuce.
Top Lettuce Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of lettuce during 2023.
- Spain: US$1.1 billion (30.4% of total lettuce exports)
- United States: $581.1 million (16.3%)
- Mexico: $472.7 million (13.3%)
- mainland China: $305.4 million (8.6%)
- Netherlands: $303.5 million (8.5%)
- Italy: $254.6 million (7.1%)
- Belgium: $84.2 million (2.4%)
- France: $82.6 million (2.3%)
- Canada: $67.5 million (1.9%)
- Germany: $56.6 million (1.6%)
- Poland: $35.5 million (1%)
- Egypt: $29.9 million (0.8%)
- Malaysia: $20.5 million (0.6%)
- Sweden: $17.1 million (0.5%)
- Denmark: $13.3 million (0.4%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 95.6% of globally exported lettuce in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing lettuce exporters since 2022 were: Poland (up 40.7%), Egypt (up 29.0%), France (up 19.8%) and Spain (up 16.9%).
Major suppliers that posted declines in their exported lettuce sales were: Germany (down -21.8% from 2022), Sweden (down -19.1%), United States of America (down -12.3%), Mexico (down -11.3%) and Canada (down -10%).
Countries Generating Best Trade Surpluses from Lettuce
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for lettuce 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 exported lettuce and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Spain: US$1 billion (net export surplus up 18.5% since 2022)
- Mexico: $431 million (down -12.4%)
- mainland China: $305.4 million (up 14.5%)
- Netherlands: $176.4 million (up 7.4%)
- Italy: $95.7 million (down -11.2%)
- Egypt: $29.9 million (up 29%)
- Malaysia: $15.7 million (up 6.6%)
- Jordan: $11 million (up 31.4%)
- Guatemala: $7.9 million (up 7.7%)
- Belgium: $5.7 million (down -54.3%)
- Türkiye: $5.6 million (up 127.8%)
- Ethiopia: $4.6 million (up 183.6%)
- Australia: $3.7 million (down -27.9%)
- Tunisia: $3.1 million (up 18.7%)
- Iran: $2.7 million (down -91.8%)
World-leading supplier Spain generated the highest surplus in the international trade of lettuce. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms strong Spanish competitive advantages for this specific product category.
Countries Experiencing Worst Trade Deficits from Lettuce
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for lettuce 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 imported lettuce purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Germany: -US$449.1 million (net export deficit up 11% since 2022)
- Canada: -$420.7 million (down -13%)
- United Kingdom: -$221.2 million (up 9.2%)
- France: -$94.7 million (up 22.4%)
- Poland: -$74.2 million (up 16.4%)
- Switzerland: -$72.1 million (up 15.3%)
- Austria: -$70.1 million (up 26%)
- Sweden: -$42.3 million (up 21.4%)
- Finland: -$34.7 million (up 1.7%)
- Denmark: -$34.4 million (up 16.9%)
- Vietnam: -$33.3 million (up 1,099%)
- Czech Republic: -$30.1 million (up 11.2%)
- Singapore: -$29.1 million (down -0.5%)
- Norway: -$27.1 million (up 9.5%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$27.1 million (down -49%)
Germany and Canada incurred the highest deficits in the international trade of lettuce. In turn, those negative cashflows highlight both countries’ competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for supplier countries that help satisfy the powerful consumer demand for lettuce particularly in those two nations.
Lettuce Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following suppliers are examples of lettuce-trading exporters. The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.
- AA Group, S. Coop (Spain)
- Algo Imports & Exports (United States)
- Bhuvani Exports (India)
- Javema Holdings Pty Ltd (South Africa)
- Partners for Import Export Trading Agencies & General Supplies (Egypt)
- PC Suppliers Company Ltd (Thailand)
- Tunisia Trade Partners (Tunisia)
- Yunnan Chuntian Agricultural Products (China)
See also Tomatoes Exports by Country, Potatoes Exports by Country and Corn Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier showroom for lettuce. Accessed on October 5, 2024
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on October 5, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 5, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 5, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 5, 2024
Wikipedia, Lettuce. Accessed on October 5, 2024