That dollar amount results from an average 25% increase in value compared to $5.72 billion 5 years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, global sales of sweet or chili peppers accelerated by 14.2% compared to $6.25 billion for 2022.
The 5 largest exporters of sweet or chili peppers by dollar value are Spain, Mexico, Netherlands, Canada and the United States of America. Collectively, that powerful cohort of pepper suppliers generated almost three-quarters (74%) of total sweet or chili peppers exported during 2023. Such a high percentage suggests a relatively concentrated set of global suppliers.
From a continental perspective, exporters in Europe shipped the highest dollar worth of peppers during 2023 with shipments valued at $3.48 billion or approaching half (48.7%) of the world’s total. In second place were shippers in North America at 34.2% while another 12.2% of globally exported peppers originated from Asia.
Tinier percentages came from sellers in Africa (3.7%), Latin America (1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.2%) led by New Zealand and Australia.
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 070960 for fresh or chilled peppers. That code prefix encompasses both sweet peppers and chili peppers.
Peppers Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of peppers during 2023.
- Spain: US$1.7 billion (23.7% of total exported peppers)
- Mexico: $1.63 billion (22.8%)
- Netherlands: $1.1 billion (16.1%)
- Canada: $525.2 million (7.3%)
- United States: $293.6 million (4.1%)
- Türkiye: $273.8 million (3.8%)
- Morocco: $242.6 million (3.4%)
- mainland China: $198.1 million (2.8%)
- France: $119.3 million (1.7%)
- Belgium: $103.7 million (1.5%)
- Austria: $87 million (1.2%)
- Israel: $80.8 million (1.1%)
- South Korea: $65.8 million (0.9%)
- Jordan: $58.4 million (0.8%)
- India: $56.5 million (0.8%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 92% of globally exported peppers in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of peppers since 2022 were: Austria (up 419.5%), Jordan (up 43.2%), France (up 37.8%) and mainland China (up 37%).
South Korea was the sole major supplier to post a decline in international sales of peppers, recording a -12.3% year-over-year setback.
Searchable List of Sweet/Chili Pepper Exporting Countries in 2023
The following 100 key exporters of sweet or chili peppers accounted for 99.995% of all shipments of those commodities by value during 2023.
| Rank | Exporter | Exported Peppers | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Spain | $1,697,091,000 | +19.9% |
| 2. | Mexico | $1,626,311,000 | +9.6% |
| 3. | Netherlands | $1,148,912,000 | +12.8% |
| 4. | Canada | $525,206,000 | +3.2% |
| 5. | United States | $293,591,000 | +6.2% |
| 6. | Türkiye | $273,765,000 | +35.9% |
| 7. | Morocco | $242,560,000 | +31% |
| 8. | mainland China | $198,063,000 | +37% |
| 9. | France | $119,290,000 | +37.8% |
| 10. | Belgium | $103,719,000 | +25.3% |
| 11. | Austria | $86,994,000 | +419.5% |
| 12. | Israel | $80,845,000 | +12.3% |
| 13. | South Korea | $65,787,000 | -12.3% |
| 14. | Jordan | $58,406,000 | +43.2% |
| 15. | India | $56,524,000 | +20.1% |
| 16. | Germany | $44,761,000 | -10.6% |
| 17. | Poland | $43,384,000 | +21.6% |
| 18. | Vietnam | $42,084,000 | -8.1% |
| 19. | Hungary | $39,593,000 | +35.4% |
| 20. | Greece | $36,459,000 | +38.6% |
| 21. | Honduras | $34,531,000 | 0% |
| 22. | Italy | $32,502,000 | +20.8% |
| 23. | Thailand | $32,255,000 | -33.6% |
| 24. | Albania | $26,719,000 | +397.7% |
| 25. | North Macedonia | $22,259,000 | +43.6% |
| 26. | Dominican Republic | $21,997,000 | +6.7% |
| 27. | Myanmar | $21,460,000 | -37.6% |
| 28. | Portugal | $16,272,000 | +138% |
| 29. | Bulgaria | $16,139,000 | +73.5% |
| 30. | Czech Republic | $13,992,000 | +31.9% |
| 31. | Armenia | $13,783,000 | +1.1% |
| 32. | Iran | $12,763,000 | -80.9% |
| 33. | New Zealand | $9,106,000 | +4.2% |
| 34. | Guatemala | $8,721,000 | +14.3% |
| 35. | Malaysia | $7,353,000 | -1.9% |
| 36. | Egypt | $6,011,000 | -5.5% |
| 37. | Croatia | $5,642,000 | +105.3% |
| 38. | Serbia | $5,090,000 | -10.6% |
| 39. | Denmark | $4,044,000 | +49.3% |
| 40. | Rwanda | $3,824,000 | +1021.4% |
| 41. | Romania | $3,359,000 | +117.8% |
| 42. | El Salvador | $3,175,000 | -12% |
| 43. | Senegal | $2,944,000 | +30.1% |
| 44. | Slovakia | $2,900,000 | +79% |
| 45. | Lithuania | $2,829,000 | +14.4% |
| 46. | Uzbekistan | $2,228,000 | -71.3% |
| 47. | South Africa | $2,169,000 | -2.3% |
| 48. | Slovenia | $1,878,000 | -3.1% |
| 49. | Saudi Arabia | $1,528,000 | -4.9% |
| 50. | Kenya | $1,426,000 | +59.2% |
| 51. | Australia | $1,411,000 | +11.3% |
| 52. | Cambodia | $1,352,000 | +9557.1% |
| 53. | United Kingdom | $1,285,000 | -27.9% |
| 54. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $1,267,000 | +67.6% |
| 55. | Laos | $1,252,000 | -38.8% |
| 56. | Peru | $1,059,000 | -6.4% |
| 57. | Sweden | $1,009,000 | +56.7% |
| 58. | Trinidad/Tobago | $989,000 | +69.1% |
| 59. | United Arab Emirates | $951,000 | -95.4% |
| 60. | Brazil | $937,000 | +32.3% |
| 61. | Kyrgyzstan | $844,000 | -77.3% |
| 62. | Jamaica | $796,000 | -4.1% |
| 63. | Oman | $774,000 | -47.2% |
| 64. | Luxembourg | $742,000 | +9.1% |
| 65. | Ireland | $741,000 | -38% |
| 66. | Uganda | $705,000 | +223.4% |
| 67. | Nicaragua | $674,000 | -24% |
| 68. | Singapore | $594,000 | -23.9% |
| 69. | Bangladesh | $428,000 | -80.3% |
| 70. | Indonesia | $409,000 | +74% |
| 71. | Pakistan | $389,000 | +53.1% |
| 72. | Kazakhstan | $316,000 | -32.2% |
| 73. | Argentina | $276,000 | -40.4% |
| 74. | Cuba | $266,000 | -21.1% |
| 75. | Mali | $265,000 | -18.2% |
| 76. | Fiji | $264,000 | +103.1% |
| 77. | Madagascar | $261,000 | +48.3% |
| 78. | Ivory Coast | $260,000 | +4% |
| 79. | Finland | $236,000 | +46.6% |
| 80. | Georgia | $227,000 | -20.1% |
| 81. | Gambia | $219,000 | 0% |
| 82. | Ethiopia | $208,000 | +20700% |
| 83. | Colombia | $189,000 | +27.7% |
| 84. | Ecuador | $184,000 | -14.4% |
| 85. | Taiwan | $149,000 | -32.9% |
| 86. | Libya | $149,000 | 0% |
| 87. | Sri Lanka | $145,000 | -44.9% |
| 88. | Dominica | $125,000 | +635.3% |
| 89. | Russia | $114,000 | -52.3% |
| 90. | Tunisia | $75,000 | -96.8% |
| 91. | Switzerland | $75,000 | +8.7% |
| 92. | Eswatini | $71,000 | +91.9% |
| 93. | Estonia | $67,000 | -5.6% |
| 94. | Namibia | $66,000 | -83.7% |
| 95. | Niger | $55,000 | -19.1% |
| 96. | Lebanon | $53,000 | -77.5% |
| 97. | Afghanistan | $47,000 | -87.2% |
| 98. | Guyana | $42,000 | +1300% |
| 99. | Costa Rica | $33,000 | +560% |
| 100. | Bahrain | $33,000 | +371.4% |
Focusing on the 100 major sellers of sweet or chili peppers, the fastest growers since 2022 were Ethiopia (up 27,000%), Cambodia (up 9,557%), Guyana (up 1,300%), Rwanda (up 1,021%) then Dominica (up 635.3%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the above table’s columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2022 data was unavailable.
Countries Earning Best Trade Surpluses from Peppers
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for sweet or chili peppers 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 peppers and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Mexico: US$1.62 billion (net export surplus up 9.6% since 2022)
- Spain: $1.58 billion (up 20%)
- Netherlands: $900.2 million (up 10%)
- Türkiye: $272.7 million (up 36.2%)
- Morocco: $242.5 million (up 31%)
- mainland China: $175.5 million (up 73%)
- Canada: $173.9 million (down -9%)
- Israel: $74.1 million (up 17.5%)
- South Korea: $65.8 million (down -12.3%)
- Jordan: $58.4 million (up 43.2%)
- India: $56.5 million (up 20.3%)
- Honduras: $34.5 million (2022 data unavailable)
- Albania: $26.2 million (up 397.6%)
- Greece: $25.1 million (up 52.9%)
- Vietnam: $24 million (down -43.7%)
Mexico achieved the world’s highest surplus in the international trade of sweet or chili peppers. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms strong Mexican competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Experiencing Worst Trade Deficits from Peppers
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for peppers 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 peppers purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$1.8 billion (net export deficit up 4.5% since 2022)
- Germany: -$1 billion (up 18.1%)
- United Kingdom: -$589 million (up 13.5%)
- France: -$266.6 million (up 14.1%)
- Poland: -$131.8 million (up 30.5%)
- Italy: -$131.1 million (up 29.1%)
- Switzerland: -$114.3 million (up 21.9%)
- Russia: -$110 million (down -26%)
- Romania: -$102.6 million (up 29.5%)
- Czech Republic: -$87.4 million (up 11.2%)
- Sweden: -$86.3 million (up 10.2%)
- Austria: -$85.8 million (up 34.4%)
- Japan: -$83.4 million (down -5.5%)
- Norway: -$74.6 million (up 18.4%)
- Denmark: -$67.4 million (up 21.4%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of peppers. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for peppers-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Peppers Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following companies are also examples of companies that trade sweet and/or chili peppers including seeds. The home-country location is shown within parentheses.
- Alfafood GmbH (Germany)
- American Top Foods LLC (United States)
- Boumamar Trading (Netherlands)
- Cannery Row SL (Spain)
- Henan Alchemy Food Co, Ltd (China)
- Mave Enterprises Inc (United States)
- Shanxi Qinghe Trading Co, Ltd (China)
- TMEM (France)
- Vast Exporters (India)
- Viet Star Import Export Company Limited (Vietnam)
See also Top Exported Spices by Sales, Weight and Unit Value, Tomatoes Exports by Country, Potatoes Exports by Country and Corn Exports by Country and Onions Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, supplier information for peppers. Accessed on October 15, 2024
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on October 15, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 15, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 15, 2024
Wikipedia, Bell Pepper. Accessed on October 15, 2024
Wikipedia, Chili Pepper. Accessed on October 15, 2024