The worldwide value of coal exports expanded by an average 66.9% for all exporting countries since 2019 when overall coal shipments were valued at $113.6 billion.
From 2022 to 2023, the value of exported coal declined by -22.6% starting from $245.1 billion.
The 5 biggest exporters of coal are Australia, Indonesia, Russia, United States of America, and Canada. Collectively, those 5 countries shipped 81.1% of the total value of coal sold on international markets during 2023.
From a continental perspective, coal exported from Oceania (mostly Australia but also from New Zealand) amounted to $64.3 billion or 33.9% of worldwide coal sales. Asian exporters generated 24.9% worth of these international fossil fuel sales, trailed by suppliers in Europe at 18.6% then North American suppliers at 12.9%.
Smaller percentages came from coal exporters in Africa (5.3%) and Latin America (4.4%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 2701 for coal. Those digits encompass briquettes, ovoids and similar solid fuels manufactured from coal.
Coal Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of coal during 2023.
- Australia: US$64.3 billion (33.9% of total coal exports)
- Indonesia: $34.6 billion (18.2%)
- Russia: $30.6 billion (16.2%)
- United States: $15.4 billion (8.1%)
- Canada: $9 billion (4.7%)
- Mongolia: $8.8 billion (4.6%)
- Colombia: $8 billion (4.2%)
- South Africa: $7.9 billion (4.1%)
- Mozambique: $1.8 billion (0.9%)
- Netherlands: $1.3 billion (0.7%)
- Poland: $1.2 billion (0.6%)
- mainland China: $1.1 billion (0.6%)
- Spain: $766.6 million (0.4%)
- Kazakhstan: $707.5 million (0.4%)
- Philippines: $614.4 million (0.3%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 98.1% of globally exported coal in 2023.
Among the top exporters, there were two growth suppliers namely Spain (up 77.4% from 2022) and Mongolia (up 34.6%).
The leading decliners were sellers in South Africa (down -39.6% from 2022), Netherlands (down -36%), Philippines (down -30.4%), Russia (down -29.6%) then Indonesia (down -26%).
Searchable List of All Coal Exporting Countries in 2023
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. The right-most column highlights the change in value of globally exported coal in 2023 compared to 2022.
| Rank | Exporter | Coal Exports (US$) | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Australia | $64,257,117,000 | -22.9% |
| 2. | Indonesia | $34,592,077,000 | -26% |
| 3. | Russia | $30,639,894,000 | -29.6% |
| 4. | United States | $15,398,236,000 | -10.8% |
| 5. | Canada | $9,003,508,000 | -16.6% |
| 6. | Mongolia | $8,763,978,000 | +34.6% |
| 7. | Colombia | $8,047,637,000 | -23.4% |
| 8. | South Africa | $7,870,172,000 | -39.6% |
| 9. | Mozambique | $1,760,984,000 | -13.5% |
| 10. | Netherlands | $1,266,794,000 | -36% |
| 11. | Poland | $1,191,108,000 | -25.6% |
| 12. | mainland China | $1,148,469,000 | -6.7% |
| 13. | Spain | $766,599,000 | +77.4% |
| 14. | Kazakhstan | $707,532,000 | -25.2% |
| 15. | Philippines | $614,449,000 | -30.4% |
| 16. | United Arab Emirates | $429,067,000 | +4222% |
| 17. | Belgium | $350,148,000 | -54.1% |
| 18. | Vietnam | $331,655,000 | -18.1% |
| 19. | Germany | $250,997,000 | -12.4% |
| 20. | Peru | $230,328,000 | +16% |
| 21. | Afghanistan | $218,615,000 | -46.2% |
| 22. | Czech Republic | $213,754,000 | -28.1% |
| 23. | United Kingdom | $204,545,000 | -5.6% |
| 24. | India | $193,305,000 | +6.6% |
| 25. | Tanzania | $180,947,000 | +12.8% |
| 26. | Ukraine | $172,691,000 | -20.4% |
| 27. | Venezuela | $79,338,000 | +92.5% |
| 28. | Eswatini | $73,256,000 | +29.1% |
| 29. | Türkiye | $70,946,000 | -74.7% |
| 30. | Italy | $58,373,000 | +33.7% |
| 31. | France | $51,718,000 | +0% |
| 32. | Kyrgyzstan | $50,876,000 | +68.1% |
| 33. | Iran | $47,092,000 | +90% |
| 34. | Ireland | $40,691,000 | -31.8% |
| 35. | New Zealand | $36,541,000 | -7% |
| 36. | Botswana | $34,198,000 | -34.7% |
| 37. | Egypt | $32,940,000 | -24.7% |
| 38. | Denmark | $25,289,000 | +278% |
| 39. | Albania | $22,580,000 | 0% |
| 40. | Zimbabwe | $22,039,000 | +3.9% |
| 41. | Tajikistan | $20,000,000 | +104.5% |
| 42. | Finland | $17,327,000 | +55793% |
| 43. | Lithuania | $17,182,000 | -66.4% |
| 44. | Malaysia | $16,864,000 | +33.3% |
| 45. | Curaçao | $14,755,000 | 0% |
| 46. | Zambia | $14,469,000 | +48.9% |
| 47. | Thailand | $13,648,000 | -62.2% |
| 48. | Nigeria | $12,285,000 | -12.6% |
| 49. | Slovakia | $12,060,000 | -50.6% |
| 50. | Latvia | $8,827,000 | -65.5% |
| 51. | Laos | $8,698,000 | -84% |
| 52. | Saudi Arabia | $7,798,000 | +6565% |
| 53. | Namibia | $7,372,000 | -67.1% |
| 54. | Bulgaria | $5,975,000 | -58.4% |
| 55. | Bahamas | $5,955,000 | 0% |
| 56. | Romania | $3,430,000 | -50.7% |
| 57. | Oman | $3,154,000 | 0% |
| 58. | Japan | $1,594,000 | -16.1% |
| 59. | Sweden | $1,216,000 | +1479% |
| 60. | Slovenia | $1,214,000 | -32.3% |
| 61. | Bahrain | $1,077,000 | +181.2% |
| 62. | Greece | $824,000 | -90.2% |
| 63. | Serbia | $818,000 | -55.1% |
| 64. | Ethiopia | $817,000 | +224.2% |
| 65. | Taiwan | $704,000 | +1.3% |
| 66. | South Sudan | $652,000 | +8050% |
| 67. | Kenya | $651,000 | -50% |
| 68. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $574,000 | +796.9% |
| 69. | Brazil | $313,000 | -99.6% |
| 70. | Uzbekistan | $277,000 | -89.5% |
| 71. | South Korea | $216,000 | -16.3% |
| 72. | Hungary | $132,000 | -59.9% |
| 73. | Belarus | $128,000 | -79.3% |
| 74. | Switzerland | $111,000 | 0% |
| 75. | Singapore | $63,000 | +26% |
| 76. | Ecuador | $43,000 | +26.5% |
| 77. | Croatia | $41,000 | -99.8% |
| 78. | Morocco | $23,000 | -98.4% |
| 79. | Luxembourg | $18,000 | +28.6% |
| 80. | Lesotho | $14,000 | 0% |
| 81. | Tunisia | $14,000 | +366.7% |
| 82. | Ghana | $10,000 | -65.5% |
| 83. | Cuba | $8,000 | 0% |
| 84. | Senegal | $7,000 | 0% |
| 85. | Portugal | $7,000 | -98.9% |
| 86. | Pakistan | $6,000 | 0% |
| 87. | Cyprus | $4,000 | 0% |
| 88. | Austria | $4,000 | -55.6% |
| 89. | Dominican Republic | $3,000 | 0% |
| 90. | Iraq | $3,000 | -99.8% |
| 91. | Montenegro | $3,000 | -95.6% |
| 92. | St Vincent/Grenadines | $3,000 | 0% |
| 93. | Burkina Faso | $2,000 | 0% |
| 94. | Brit. Indian Ocean Terr | $2,000 | 0% |
| 95. | Cocos (Keeling) Islands | $1,000 | 0% |
| 96. | Kuwait | $1,000 | -85.7% |
| 97. | Syria | $1,000 | -50% |
A value of 0% in the right-most column means that 2022 data was unavailable.
Countries Enjoying Highest Surpluses from International Coal Trade
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for coal 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 coal and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Australia: US$64.2 billion (net export surplus down -22.9% since 2022)
- Indonesia: $31.2 billion (down -27.7%)
- Russia: $30.5 billion (down -29.5%)
- United States of America: $14.8 billion (down -10.3%)
- Mongolia: $8.8 billion (up 34.6%)
- Colombia: $8 billion (down -23.5%)
- Canada: $7.9 billion (down -19.1%)
- South Africa: $7.3 billion (down -41.3%)
- Mozambique: $1.7 billion (down -13.8%)
- Kazakhstan: $611.4 million (down -29.5%)
- Afghanistan: $218.6 million (down -45.5%)
- Tanzania: $180.9 million (up 12.8%)
- Peru: $177.2 million (up 104.8%)
- United Arab Emirates: $130 million (reversing a -$269.9 million deficit)
- Venezuela: $79.3 million (up 92.6%)
World leader Australia generated the highest surplus in the international trade of coal. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Australia’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Incurring Worst Deficits from International Coal Trade
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for coal 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 coal purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Japan: -US$41.8 billion (net export deficit down -29.9% since 2022)
- mainland China: -$40.2 billion (up 38.4%)
- India: -$36.9 billion (down -24.4%)
- South Korea: -$20.1 billion (down -28.7%)
- Taiwan: -$11.8 billion (down -28.1%)
- Germany: -$6.8 billion (down -46.6%)
- Türkiye: -$5.5 billion (down -30.8%)
- Malaysia: -$5.2 billion (down -25.9%)
- Vietnam: -$4.4 billion (down -30%)
- Brazil: -$4 billion (down -26.1%)
- Philippines: -$3.5 billion (down -32.8%)
- Poland: -$2.4 billion (down -41%)
- Italy: -$2 billion (down -52.7%)
- France: -$1.8 billion (down -37.1%)
- Thailand: -$1.7 billion (down -35.1%)
Densely populated Japan, mainland China and India racked up the highest deficits in the international trade of coal, ahead of a handful of fellow Asian countries. In turn, these negative cashflows highlight those traders’ competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for coal-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Major Coal Exporting Companies
Below are global coal-processing conglomerates that represent established players engaged in the international trade of coal. The home country for each is shown within parenthesis.
- BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (Australia)
- Bumi Resources (Indonesia)
- China Kingho Group (China)
- DSM (Netherlands)
- Exxaro Resources (South Africa)
- Kompania Węglowa (Poland)
- Peabody Energy (United States)
- Pioneer Coal Limited (Canada)
- Siberian Coal Energy Company (Russia)
- SouthGobi Resources (Mongolia)
See also Average Coal Prices Compared for Top Coal Exporters by Country, Coal Imports by Country, Crude Oil Exports by Country, Petroleum Gas Exports by Country and Best Solar & Wind Exporters Powering International Energy Sales
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 3, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 3, 2024
Wikipedia, Category: Coal companies by country. Accessed on July 3, 2024
Wikipedia, Coal. Accessed on July 3, 2024