globaltraffic.earth

Wool: top exporters and importers (2024)

In 2024, world trade in wool totaled $2.9 billion (682 thousand tonnes). Australia accounted for 63% of exports, followed by New Zealand (10%) and South Africa (9%); China accounted for 72% of imports, followed by India (7%) and Italy (4%). Compared with 2019, the value fell 23%.

Summary

World trade
$2.9billion
Tonnes
682thousand tonnes
Price per tonne
$4,236
The largest flows between countries. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Top exporters

  1. Australia$1.8 billion · 63.4%
    see destinations
  2. New Zealand$290 million · 10%
  3. South Africa$272 million · 9.4%
  4. Uruguay$80 million · 2.8%
  5. United Kingdom$62 million · 2.2%
  6. Lesotho$61 million · 2.1%
  7. China$38 million · 1.3%
  8. Argentina$27 million · 0.93%
  9. United States$23 million · 0.81%
  10. Turkey$22 million · 0.76%
  11. France$15 million · 0.51%
  12. Germany$14 million · 0.5%
  13. Syria$13 million · 0.46%
  14. Spain$12 million · 0.43%
  15. Chile$12 million · 0.41%
  16. Italy$10 million · 0.35%
  17. Brazil$10 million · 0.35%
  18. Belgium$9 million · 0.31%
    re-exports
  19. Peru$8 million · 0.27%
  20. Mongolia$7 million · 0.24%

Top importers

  1. China$2.1 billion · 71.6%
    see sources
  2. India$203 million · 7%
  3. Italy$120 million · 4.1%
  4. Czechia$83 million · 2.9%
  5. Germany$46 million · 1.6%
  6. United Kingdom$42 million · 1.4%
  7. South Africa$39 million · 1.4%
  8. Lithuania$36 million · 1.2%
  9. South Korea$30 million · 1%
  10. Egypt$22 million · 0.76%
  11. Bulgaria$22 million · 0.75%
  12. Thailand$19 million · 0.66%
  13. Uruguay$15 million · 0.51%
  14. Nepal$12 million · 0.4%
  15. United States$11 million · 0.37%
  16. Japan$10 million · 0.36%
  17. Turkey$9 million · 0.3%
  18. Poland$9 million · 0.3%
  19. Portugal$8 million · 0.29%
  20. United Arab Emirates$8 million · 0.28%

Trend

Who sells it

Australia was the top exporter throughout the period

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

  • Australia 1.8
  • New Zealand 0.29
  • South Africa 0.27
  • Uruguay 0.08
  • United Kingdom 0.06

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Country19952024
Australia2.51.8
New Zealand0.70.29
South Africa0.10.27
Uruguay0.050.08
United Kingdom0.140.06

Price

Implied price

The price per tonne rose 24% since 1995

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

  • 2024: $4,236

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearUSD per tonne
1995$3,429
1996$3,220
1997$3,159
1998$2,836
1999$2,264
2000$2,435
2001$2,451
2002$2,817
2003$3,237
2004$3,193
2005$3,117
2006$3,055
2007$3,690
2008$3,925
2009$3,126
2010$3,966
2011$5,707
2012$5,491
2013$4,875
2014$4,782
2015$4,441
2016$4,177
2017$5,006
2018$5,777
2019$5,547
2020$4,261
2021$4,676
2022$4,859
2023$4,558
2024$4,236

What it includes

Not carded or combed.

  • 5101 · Raw wool

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