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Who buys the United States’ raw cotton? Export destinations 2024

In 2024, the United States exported $4.5 billion of raw cotton (2.2 million tonnes), 26.8% of the world total. Its main destinations were China (39%), Vietnam (13%) and Turkey (9%). The United States was the world’s 2nd-largest exporter of raw cotton.

Summary

Value
$4.5billion
Tonnes
2.2million tonnes
Share of world total
26.8%
World rank
2nd
Routes to the main destinations. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Destinations

The 20 main destinations in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
China1.7Tonnes: 838,906USD per tonne: $2,07438.8%Sea
Vietnam0.58Tonnes: 291,061USD per tonne: $1,99713%Sea
Turkey0.39Tonnes: 176,557USD per tonne: $2,1828.6%Sea
Pakistan0.27Tonnes: 182,810USD per tonne: $1,4555.9%Sea
Bangladesh0.25Tonnes: 130,074USD per tonne: $1,9285.6%Sea
India0.2Tonnes: 69,701USD per tonne: $2,8614.5%Sea
Mexico0.18Tonnes: 95,998USD per tonne: $1,9134.1%Land
Indonesia0.15Tonnes: 69,947USD per tonne: $2,1413.3%Sea
Guatemala0.12Tonnes: 52,342USD per tonne: $2,2502.6%Sea
Peru0.09Tonnes: 39,546USD per tonne: $2,3392.1%Sea
El Salvador0.09Tonnes: 40,650USD per tonne: $2,2662.1%Sea
Thailand0.08Tonnes: 34,281USD per tonne: $2,1951.7%Sea
Malaysia0.06Tonnes: 27,193USD per tonne: $2,1191.3%Sea
South Korea0.04Tonnes: 18,324USD per tonne: $2,1810.89%Sea
Japan0.04Tonnes: 17,171USD per tonne: $2,2370.86%Sea
Costa Rica0.03Tonnes: 15,275USD per tonne: $2,2490.77%Sea
Macao0.03Tonnes: 19,383USD per tonne: $1,5710.68%Sea
Taiwan0.03Tonnes: 17,090USD per tonne: $1,7670.67%Sea
Nicaragua0.03Tonnes: 13,585USD per tonne: $2,1190.64%Sea
France0.01Tonnes: 1,238USD per tonne: $11,7720.32%Sea

Trend

Who it sells to

China has been its main destination since 2020

Value in USD billions. The five largest destinations in 2024.

  • China 1.7
  • Vietnam 0.58
  • Turkey 0.39
  • Pakistan 0.27
  • Bangladesh 0.25

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
China0.91.7
Vietnam0.010.58
Turkey0.090.39
Pakistan0.130.27
Bangladesh0.040.25

Sources and methodology

Other products of this country

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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