In second place were European countries (36.9%) trailed by suppliers in North America (13.7%), Latin America (3.5%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (2.6%), then Oceania (1.8%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
Below we flesh out the key metrics for exporting entities at the continent level. Continents are presented in descending order starting with the highest dollar value for global shipments during 2023.
Also shown is each continent’s percentage value compared to the worldwide total.
- Asia: US$9.66 trillion (41.5% of globally exported products)
- Europe: $8.594 trillion (36.9%)
- North America: $3.181 trillion (13.7%)
- Latin America (plus Caribbean minus Mexico): $803.6 billion (3.5%)
- Africa: $614.6 billion (2.6%)
- Oceania: $430.7 billion (1.8%)
The overall value of the world’s exported products increased in total value by 24.1% compared to $18.762 trillion five years earlier in 2019.
The fastest-growing continents from 2019 to 2023 were Latin America (up 36.2%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Oceania (up 31.9%), Africa (up 29.6%), Asia (up 25.1%), North America (up 24.7%) then Europe (up 21.3%).
Year over year, global exports fell by -5.8% from $24.720 trillion during 2022.
The most modest continental year-over-year declines were posted by exporters in: North America (down -1.8% from 2022), Europe (down -2.8%), then Latin America (down -3.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
Ranking of Continents by Exported Goods per Capita
When it comes to the value of exported products proportioned based on each continent’s population count for 2023, bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better.
Case in point: Europe’s population of 742.3 million people falls far short of Asia’s population of 4.753 billion. Nevertheless, exports per capita for Europe in 2023 equaled US$11,589 per person compared to $2,032 per person for the much more populous Asian continent.
The following list shows the average value of continental exports per person. The population for each continent in 2023 is shown within parentheses.
- Europe: US$11,578 in exports per capita (742.3 million residents)
- Oceania: $9,454 (45.6 million residents)
- North America: $8,394 (378.9 million residents)
- Asia: $2,032 (4.753 billion residents)
- Latin America (plus Caribbean minus Mexico): $1,498 (536.5 million residents)
- Africa: $421 (1.46 billion residents)
Africa is the second-most populous continent behind only Asia. Nevertheless, continental Africa sells by far the smallest value in terms of exports per capita.
Even though the African population is almost three times that for Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, the Latin American score for exports per capita is almost four times higher than for the much more populated African continent.
Most Valuable Export Product by Continent
Another root cause for the stark differences in the average value of exports per capita comes down to the predominant types of products that each continent ships.
The most valuable exported for Europe is cars which generates a much higher per-unit cost compared to electronic integrated circuits for Asia, iron ores and concentrates for Oceania, and crude oil for both North American and Africa.
See also Major Exports by Continent, Top African Export Countries, Top Oceanian Export Countries and Top South American Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, Population statistics by country. Accessed on August 24, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on August 24, 2024
Trade Map, International Trade Centre, www.intracen.org/marketanalysis. Accessed on August 24, 2024
Wikipedia, List of countries and dependencies by population. Accessed on August 24, 2024