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Pearls: top exporters and importers (2024)

In 2024, world trade in pearls totaled $1.1 billion (2 thousand tonnes). The top exporters were Japan (31%), Australia (14%) and Indonesia (12%); the top importers were Hong Kong (39%), Japan (27%) and the United States (7%). Compared with 2019, the value rose 31%.

Summary

World trade
$1.1billion
Tonnes
2thousand tonnes
Price per tonne
$635,774
The largest flows between countries. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Top exporters

  1. Japan$348 million · 31.4%
  2. Australia$159 million · 14.4%
  3. Indonesia$136 million · 12.3%
  4. French Polynesia$94 million · 8.5%
  5. Hong Kong$87 million · 7.9%
    re-exports
  6. China$75 million · 6.7%
  7. United States$38 million · 3.4%
  8. Philippines$36 million · 3.3%
  9. Thailand$30 million · 2.7%
  10. Switzerland$17 million · 1.5%
  11. France$15 million · 1.4%
  12. Myanmar$14 million · 1.2%
  13. Vietnam$10 million · 0.87%
  14. India$8 million · 0.73%
  15. Qatar$6 million · 0.58%
  16. Germany$6 million · 0.55%
  17. Italy$4 million · 0.41%
  18. Malaysia$4 million · 0.36%
  19. United Kingdom$4 million · 0.32%
  20. Belize$2 million · 0.17%

Top importers

  1. Hong Kong$433 million · 39.2%
    re-exports
  2. Japan$300 million · 27.1%
  3. United States$81 million · 7.3%
  4. Thailand$60 million · 5.5%
  5. China$38 million · 3.4%
  6. India$33 million · 3%
  7. Australia$26 million · 2.3%
  8. Italy$25 million · 2.2%
  9. Switzerland$18 million · 1.7%
  10. France$10 million · 0.9%
  11. Qatar$9 million · 0.79%
  12. United Arab Emirates$8 million · 0.7%
  13. Macao$6 million · 0.57%
  14. Germany$6 million · 0.55%
  15. Russia$5 million · 0.43%
  16. United Kingdom$5 million · 0.42%
  17. Canada$4 million · 0.4%
  18. Taiwan$4 million · 0.33%
  19. South Korea$4 million · 0.32%
  20. Bahrain$3 million · 0.32%

Trend

Who sells it

Japan has been the top exporter since 2019

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

  • Japan 0.35
  • Australia 0.16
  • Indonesia 0.14
  • French Polynesia 0.09
  • Hong Kong 0.09

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Country19952024
Japan0.240.35
Australia0.120.16
Indonesia0.050.14
French Polynesia0.10.09
Hong Kong0.050.09

Price

Implied price

The price per tonne fell 61% since 2000

Current US dollars per tonne: value over the weight reported by BACI.

  • 2024: $635,774

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearUSD per tonne
1995—
1996—
1997—
1998—
1999—
2000$1,614,433
2001$953,294
2002$1,571,073
2003$862,284
2004$1,359,784
2005$542,406
2006$1,941,846
2007$1,078,910
2008$944,097
2009$828,609
2010$781,295
2011$813,937
2012$668,580
2013$2,237,709
2014$2,157,077
2015$2,644,744
2016$2,687,888
2017$2,571,816
2018$382,062
2019$895,708
2020$509,607
2021$397,208
2022$338,612
2023$478,420
2024$635,774

What it includes

  • 7101 · Pearls

Products in the same chapter

Sources and methodology

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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