That dollar amount results from a -1.7% decrease from 5 years earlier in 2019 when exported goat meat was worth $386.7 million.
Year over year, the value of goat meat exports fell by -8.7% compared to $416.3 billion starting from 2022.
The 5 biggest exporters of goat meat are Australia, Kenya, Ethiopia, France and Spain. Combined, that subgroup of leading suppliers generated 90.6% of globally exported goat meat in 2023. Such a high percentage indicates an intensely concentrated cohort of goat meat exporters.
From a continents-based perspective, countries in Oceania sold nearly half (44.4%) of exported goat meat during 2023 with total shipments valued at $168.6 million led by Australia and New Zealand. In second place were exporters in Africa at 38.1% while another 15.2% of worldwide shipments of goat meat originated from providers in Europe.
Smaller percentages came from suppliers in Asia (2.2%), United States in North America (0.1%), then Latin America (0.01%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 020450 for fresh, chilled or frozen goat meat.
Top Goat Meat Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of goat meat during 2023.
- Australia: US$166 million (43.7% of total goat meat exports)
- Kenya: $83.7 million (22%)
- Ethiopia: $56.4 million (14.9%)
- France: $21.6 million (5.7%)
- Spain: $16.7 million (4.4%)
- Greece: $8.4 million (2.2%)
- Netherlands: $5.7 million (1.5%)
- Tanzania: $4.72 million (1.2%)
- Mongolia: $4.68 million (1.2%)
- New Zealand: $2.6 million (0.7%)
- Italy: $1.9 million (0.5%)
- Belgium: $1.6 million (0.4%)
- mainland China: $1.4 million (0.4%)
- Pakistan: $1.3 million (0.3%)
- Portugal: $811,000 (0.2%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 99.3% of all goat meat exported in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of goat meat since 2022 were: Belgium (up 109.7%), Kenya (up 69.3%), Portugal (up 37.5%) and Netherlands (up 27.8%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported goat meat sales were led by: mainland China (down -65.8% from 2022), New Zealand (down -62.8%), Italy (down -50.7%), Ethiopia (down -31.3%) and Greece (down -22.1%).
Countries Generating Best Trade Surpluses from Goat Meat
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for goat meat 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 goat meat and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Australia: US$166 million (net export surplus down -13% since 2022)
- Kenya: $83.7 million (up 69.3%)
- Ethiopia: $56.4 million (down -31.3%)
- Spain: $14.8 million (down -16.6%)
- France: $13.6 million (up 38.5%)
- Greece: $7.9 million (down -24.7%)
- Netherlands: $5.6 million (up 36.1%)
- Tanzania: $4.7 million (down -3.3%)
- Mongolia: $4.7 million (up 14%)
- New Zealand: $2.5 million (down -63%)
- Pakistan: $1.3 million (up 22.1%)
- India: $740,000 (up 139.5%)
- Belgium: $586,000 (up 7225%)
- Serbia: $153,000 (2022 data unavailable)
- South Africa: $20,000 (down -25.9%)
World-leading Australia generated the highest surplus in the international trade of goat meat. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Australia’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Generating Worst Trade Deficits from Goat Meat
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for goat meat 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 goat meat purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United Arab Emirates: -US$92.1 million (net export deficit down -26.8% since 2022)
- United States of America: -$69.8 million (down -54.5%)
- South Korea: -$42.7 million (up 27.7%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$39.4 million (up 56.3%)
- mainland China: -$27 million (reversing a $2.4 million surplus)
- Portugal: -$14.2 million (down -14.8%)
- Taiwan: -$10.5 million (down -34.2%)
- United Kingdom: -$7.5 million (up 9.9%)
- Canada: -$7.3 million (down -53.7%)
- Trinidad/Tobago: -$6.5 million (down -33.1%)
- Italy: -$6.3 million (down -5.1%)
- Hong Kong: -$6.1 million (down -31.4%)
- Oman: -$5.7 million (down -46.6%)
- Qatar: -$3.5 million (up 18.1%)
- Japan: -$2.6 million (down -40.1%)
The United Arab Emirates incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of goat meat. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights the UAE’s competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for goat meat-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Goat Meat Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following suppliers are examples of fresh or frozen goat meat-trading exporters. The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.
- Agak Company Ltd (Kenya)
- Al-Muqeet International (Pakistan)
- Carnicas J Colomer Sau (Spain)
- Eiffel International Trade (France)
- Ethiopian General Import/Export (Ethiopia)
- I. Braditsas “Trofino” S.A (Greece)
- Parsa Enterprises Pty Ltd (Australia)
- Qingdao UnionGold Trade Co (China)
See also Top Beef Exporting Countries, Pork Exports by Country, Chicken Exports by Country and Top Sheep and Lamb Meat Exports
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier showroom for goat meat. Accessed on October 27, 2024
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on October 27, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 27, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 27, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 27, 2024