globaltraffic.earth

Raw cotton: top exporters and importers (2024)

In 2024, world trade in raw cotton totaled $16.8 billion (8.7 million tonnes). The top exporters were Brazil (31%), the United States (27%) and Australia (14%); the top importers were China (28%), Bangladesh (15%) and Vietnam (15%). Compared with 2019, the value rose 5%.

Summary

World trade
$16.8billion
Tonnes
8.7million tonnes
Price per tonne
$1,926
The largest flows between countries. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Top exporters

  1. Brazil$5.1 billion · 30.7%
    see destinations
  2. United States$4.5 billion · 26.8%
    see destinations
  3. Australia$2.3 billion · 13.7%
    see destinations
  4. India$925 million · 5.5%
  5. Benin$506 million · 3%
  6. Turkey$473 million · 2.8%
  7. Greece$425 million · 2.5%
  8. Burkina Faso$350 million · 2.1%
  9. Côte d'Ivoire$282 million · 1.7%
  10. Afghanistan$226 million · 1.4%
  11. Azerbaijan$186 million · 1.1%
  12. Mali$159 million · 0.95%
  13. Egypt$156 million · 0.93%
  14. Kazakhstan$146 million · 0.87%
  15. Argentina$143 million · 0.85%
  16. Sudan$94 million · 0.56%
  17. Tanzania$80 million · 0.48%
  18. Tajikistan$53 million · 0.31%
  19. Syria$52 million · 0.31%
  20. Mexico$51 million · 0.3%

Top importers

  1. China$4.7 billion · 28%
    see sources
  2. Bangladesh$2.5 billion · 15.1%
    see sources
  3. Vietnam$2.5 billion · 14.7%
    see sources
  4. Turkey$1.5 billion · 8.8%
    see sources
  5. Pakistan$1.3 billion · 8%
  6. India$1 billion · 6.2%
  7. Indonesia$765 million · 4.6%
  8. Malaysia$311 million · 1.9%
  9. Egypt$294 million · 1.8%
  10. Mexico$184 million · 1.1%
  11. Thailand$180 million · 1.1%
  12. South Korea$131 million · 0.78%
  13. Côte d'Ivoire$122 million · 0.73%
  14. Guatemala$118 million · 0.71%
  15. El Salvador$94 million · 0.56%
  16. Peru$93 million · 0.55%
  17. Japan$65 million · 0.39%
  18. Greece$59 million · 0.35%
  19. Portugal$57 million · 0.34%
  20. Switzerland$52 million · 0.31%

Trend

Who sells it

Brazil has been the top exporter since 2024

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

  • Brazil 5.1
  • United States 4.5
  • Australia 2.3
  • India 0.93
  • Benin 0.51

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Country19952024
Brazil0.085.1
United States3.94.5
Australia0.632.3
India0.050.93
Benin0.150.51

Price

Implied price

The price per tonne stayed close to $1,926 since 1995

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

  • 2024: $1,926

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearUSD per tonne
1995$1,893
1996$1,816
1997$1,710
1998$1,605
1999$1,370
2000$1,237
2001$1,150
2002$1,043
2003$1,250
2004$1,495
2005$1,221
2006$1,307
2007$1,356
2008$1,605
2009$1,373
2010$1,915
2011$2,863
2012$2,155
2013$2,009
2014$1,975
2015$1,637
2016$1,613
2017$1,837
2018$1,926
2019$1,762
2020$1,554
2021$1,914
2022$2,558
2023$2,090
2024$1,926

What it includes

Not carded or combed.

  • 5201 · Raw cotton

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.

See all products