That dollar amount results from a flatlining 0.4% rise compared to $22.7 billion in 2018.
Year over year, the overall value of globally exported paintings and drawings accelerated by 24% from $18.4 billion during 2021.
Paintings and drawings may be subjective art where traditionally beauty resides in the eye of the beholder. What’s statistically indisputable is that exported artwork places among the fastest-growing commodities sold in the international marketplace.
The top 5 most lucrative exporters of paintings and drawings are the United States of America, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Switzerland and mainland China. Collectively, that quintet of major art suppliers generated 81.9% of overall sales of exported paintings and drawings during 2022. That percentage indicates a relatively concentrated set of art exporting nations.
Among continents, suppliers in North America sold the highest dollar amount for exported paintings and drawings during 2022 with shipments valued at $8.1 billion or 35.5% of the global total. Close behind in second place were exporters in Europe at 33.8% while another 29.6% of total revenues from the international sale of paintings and drawings originated from sellers in Asia.
Tinier percentages came from providers in Latin America (0.8%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Oceania (0.23%) led by Australia, then suppliers located in Africa (0.16%).
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 970110 which encompasses oil, watercolor and pastel paintings as well as drawings. In 2022, two additional codes were implemented: 970191 and 970121. Statistics from all 3 code prefixes are incorporated into the analysis below.
Exported Paintings and Drawings by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of paintings and drawings during 2022.
- United States: US$8 billion (34.9% of exported paintings/drawings)
- Hong Kong: $4.5 billion (19.8%)
- United Kingdom: $3.1 billion (13.6%)
- Switzerland: $1.8 billion (7.7%)
- China: $1.3 billion (5.8%)
- France: $931.5 million (4.1%)
- Germany: $618.3 million (2.7%)
- Singapore: $410.9 million (1.8%)
- Italy: $316.1 million (1.4%)
- South Korea: $227 million (1%)
- Andorra: $211.3 million (0.9%)
- Japan: $149 million (0.7%)
- Belgium: $147.6 million (0.6%)
- Brazil: $144.8 million (0.6%)
- Canada: $121.1 million (0.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 96.2% of globally exported paintings and drawings in 2022.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of paintings and drawings since 2021 were: Andorra (up 16,044%), Switzerland (up 122.7%), Hong Kong (up 63.6%) and South Korea (up 60%).
A trio of major suppliers posted declines in their international sales of paintings and drawings, namely: mainland China (down -29.4% from 2021), Germany (down -18.6%) and Japan (down -3.3%).
Searchable List of Paintings/Drawings Exporting Countries
The 100 key exporters of paintings and drawings in the following automated database represent 99.99% of the overall value of globally exported paintings and drawings sold in 2022.
| Rank | Exporter | Painting/Drawing Exports | 2021-2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | United States | $7,975,772,000 | +28.3% |
| 2. | Hong Kong | $4,522,981,000 | +63.6% |
| 3. | United Kingdom | $3,112,034,000 | +17.8% |
| 4. | Switzerland | $1,751,856,000 | +122.7% |
| 5. | China | $1,333,758,000 | -29.4% |
| 6. | France | $931,518,000 | -0.5% |
| 7. | Germany | $618,342,000 | -18.6% |
| 8. | Singapore | $410,882,000 | +47.7% |
| 9. | Italy | $316,114,000 | +30.2% |
| 10. | South Korea | $227,024,000 | +60% |
| 11. | Andorra | $211,328,000 | +16044% |
| 12. | Japan | $149,025,000 | -3.3% |
| 13. | Belgium | $147,642,000 | +18% |
| 14. | Brazil | $144,800,000 | +19.6% |
| 15. | Canada | $121,126,000 | +32.4% |
| 16. | Austria | $109,235,000 | +6.1% |
| 17. | Spain | $91,662,000 | +5.6% |
| 18. | Netherlands | $90,578,000 | +47.3% |
| 19. | Greece | $88,983,000 | +1734% |
| 20. | Denmark | $53,275,000 | +114.3% |
| 21. | Norway | $52,693,000 | -7.1% |
| 22. | Australia | $46,869,000 | +42.9% |
| 23. | Ireland | $37,081,000 | +3.8% |
| 24. | Russia | $33,385,000 | +4022% |
| 25. | India | $29,377,000 | -47.9% |
| 26. | United Arab Emirates | $28,372,000 | -93.3% |
| 27. | Sweden | $24,753,000 | -16% |
| 28. | Ghana | $16,304,000 | +92.3% |
| 29. | Portugal | $13,271,000 | +93.9% |
| 30. | Taiwan | $11,747,000 | -31.5% |
| 31. | South Africa | $10,367,000 | -63.8% |
| 32. | Israel | $8,540,000 | -71.3% |
| 33. | Chile | $8,479,000 | +265.6% |
| 34. | Bahamas | $7,131,000 | +792.5% |
| 35. | Iran | $6,900,000 | +3821% |
| 36. | Thailand | $6,041,000 | +272.2% |
| 37. | Türkiye | $5,992,000 | +45.1% |
| 38. | Cuba | $5,984,000 | +34% |
| 39. | Morocco | $5,780,000 | -10.4% |
| 40. | New Zealand | $5,402,000 | +4.8% |
| 41. | Luxembourg | $5,053,000 | -38.8% |
| 42. | Vietnam | $4,497,000 | +746.9% |
| 43. | Nepal | $4,482,000 | +37.7% |
| 44. | Czech Republic | $4,329,000 | -42.8% |
| 45. | Finland | $3,800,000 | -68.9% |
| 46. | Hungary | $3,464,000 | +183.5% |
| 47. | Belarus | $2,240,000 | +1026% |
| 48. | Indonesia | $1,865,000 | 0% |
| 49. | Lebanon | $1,850,000 | -59.9% |
| 50. | Venezuela | $1,635,000 | -23.4% |
| 51. | Saudi Arabia | $1,395,000 | +85% |
| 52. | Kazakhstan | $1,348,000 | +4113% |
| 53. | Malaysia | $1,341,000 | +83.7% |
| 54. | Iceland | $1,246,000 | -31.3% |
| 55. | Haiti | $1,212,000 | +479.9% |
| 56. | Philippines | $1,114,000 | +208.6% |
| 57. | Malta | $998,000 | +1286% |
| 58. | Cayman Islands | $993,000 | +4038% |
| 59. | Ukraine | $990,000 | -59% |
| 60. | Panama | $981,000 | +130.8% |
| 61. | Argentina | $936,000 | -99.3% |
| 62. | Colombia | $875,000 | -57.5% |
| 63. | Peru | $855,000 | +129.2% |
| 64. | Latvia | $834,000 | -28.4% |
| 65. | Uruguay | $819,000 | -37.2% |
| 66. | British Virgin Is | $692,000 | -47.1% |
| 67. | Serbia | $670,000 | -31.9% |
| 68. | Uganda | $665,000 | +6550% |
| 69. | Lithuania | $659,000 | +19.2% |
| 70. | Trinidad/Tobago | $497,000 | +7000% |
| 71. | Cameroon | $475,000 | +15733% |
| 72. | Zimbabwe | $456,000 | +4460% |
| 73. | Ivory Coast | $428,000 | -28.5% |
| 74. | Algeria | $389,000 | +30.1% |
| 75. | Costa Rica | $382,000 | +61.9% |
| 76. | Mali | $359,000 | +281.9% |
| 77. | Slovenia | $337,000 | +19.5% |
| 78. | Slovakia | $308,000 | -82.5% |
| 79. | Croatia | $297,000 | +2.4% |
| 80. | Bulgaria | $248,000 | -17.1% |
| 81. | Estonia | $246,000 | -85% |
| 82. | Mauritius | $243,000 | -75.4% |
| 83. | Congo | $239,000 | +2290% |
| 84. | Kenya | $238,000 | +24% |
| 85. | French Polynesia | $230,000 | +18.6% |
| 86. | Mexico | $202,000 | -93% |
| 87. | Iraq | $188,000 | -87.2% |
| 88. | Syria | $174,000 | -56.8% |
| 89. | Barbados | $170,000 | +335.9% |
| 90. | Senegal | $169,000 | +4125% |
| 91. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $165,000 | +685.7% |
| 92. | Azerbaijan | $135,000 | -26.2% |
| 93. | Marshall Islands | $124,000 | 0% |
| 94. | Cyprus | $120,000 | -55.6% |
| 95. | Georgia | $118,000 | +22.9% |
| 96. | Jamaica | $117,000 | -43.8% |
| 97. | Bahrain | $115,000 | -57.6% |
| 98. | Kuwait | $108,000 | -86% |
| 99. | Bangladesh | $97,000 | -21.1% |
| 100. | Curaçao | $95,000 | +10.5% |
Focusing on the leading 100 suppliers, the fastest growers from 2021 to 2022 were suppliers in Andorra (up 16,044%), Cameroon (up 15,733%), Trinidad and Tobago (up 7,000%), Uganda (up 6,550%), Zimbabwe (up 4,460%), Senegal (up 4,125%), Kazakhstan (up 4,113%), Cayman Islands (up 4,038%) and Russia (up 4,022%).
Recording the greatest sales declines year over year were sellers in Argentina (down -99.3% from 2021), United Arab Emirates (down -93.3%), Mexico (down -93%), Iraq (down -87.2%) and Kuwait (down -86%).
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 data for 2021 was unavailable.
Paintings and Drawings Export Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following suppliers are examples of international companies engaged in international sales of paintings and drawings. The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.
- Art Sender (Canada)
- Fuzhou Baodeyou Trading Co, Ltd (China)
- Global Star Trading (HK) Limited (Hong Kong)
- Goldbrush Inc (United States)
- Quang Thanh Company Limited (Vietnam)
- Ravi Exports (India)
- Tokyo Fujishokai Co, Ltd (Japan)
- Tumadi Traditional Batik Painting (Singapore)
- YH-Arts Limited (United Kingdom)
- Yuen Young Plastics Co, Ltd (Taiwan)
See also Top Paint Exports by Country, Diamond Exports by Country, Top Sculptures Exporters by Country and Wine Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier showroom for paintings and drawings. Accessed on October 6, 2023
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on October 6, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 6, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 6, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 6, 2023
Wikipedia, Fine art. Accessed on October 6, 2023