That dollar amount results from an average 32.9% increase for all refrigerator and freezer shippers over the 5 years starting in 2019 when global exports equaled $46.1 billion.
Year over year, the value of globally exported refrigerators and freezers flatlined via a 0.8% upturn compared to $60.9 billion during 2022.
The 5 biggest exporters of major kitchen appliances are mainland China, Mexico, Italy, Germany and South Korea. Combined, that quintet of leading suppliers generated over half (54.5%) of global sales for refrigerators and freezers exported during 2023.
Among continents, suppliers in Asia furnished the highest dollar worth of exported refrigerators and freezers during 2023 with shipments valued at $26.3 billion or 43% of the worldwide total. In second place were exporters located in Europe at 38.4% while another 17% of international sales for refrigerators and freezers originated from North America.
Tinier percentages came from sellers in Latin America (0.9%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (0.5%), and Oceania (0.1%) mostly Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 8418 for refrigerators, freezers and other refrigerating or freezing equipment.
Refrigerator and Freezer Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of refrigerators and freezers during 2023.
- mainland China: US$15.6 billion (25.4% of refrigerators/freezers exports)
- Mexico: $6.9 billion (11.3%)
- Italy: $4.2 billion (6.9%)
- Germany: $3.5 billion (5.7%)
- South Korea: $3.1 billion (5.1%)
- United States: $2.9 billion (4.8%)
- Türkiye: $2.6 billion (4.2%)
- Poland: $2.3 billion (3.8%)
- Thailand: $2.1 billion (3.3%)
- France: $2 billion (3.3%)
- Czech Republic: $1.37 billion (2.2%)
- Sweden: $1.36 billion (2.2%)
- Austria: $1.12 billion (1.8%)
- Netherlands: $1.1 billion (1.8%)
- Spain: $703.2 million (1.1%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 83.1% of globally exported refrigerators and freezers in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of refrigerators and freezers since 2022 were: Sweden (up 22.1%), France (up 9.9%), Poland (up 8.7%) and the Czech Republic (up 7.7%).
Those countries that posted declines in their international sales of refrigerators and freezers included: Thailand (down -6.3% from 2022 ), Spain (down -2.4%), Türkiye (down -1.4%), South Korea (down -1.4%) and Mexico (down -1%).
Searchable List of Refrigerator and Freezer Exporting Countries in 2023
The 100 key countries that shipped refrigerators and freezers in the following automated database sold 99.96% of globally exported refrigerators and freezers during 2023.
| Rank | Exporter | Refrigerator/Freezer Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | mainland China | $15,568,333,000 | +3.6% |
| 2. | Mexico | $6,917,882,000 | -1% |
| 3. | Italy | $4,246,799,000 | -0.2% |
| 4. | Germany | $3,512,157,000 | +5.7% |
| 5. | South Korea | $3,149,806,000 | -1.4% |
| 6. | United States | $2,930,451,000 | +2.4% |
| 7. | Türkiye | $2,578,937,000 | -1.4% |
| 8. | Poland | $2,331,615,000 | +8.7% |
| 9. | Thailand | $2,052,420,000 | -6.3% |
| 10. | France | $2,017,882,000 | +9.9% |
| 11. | Czech Republic | $1,373,717,000 | +7.7% |
| 12. | Sweden | $1,357,922,000 | +22.1% |
| 13. | Austria | $1,116,078,000 | +2.7% |
| 14. | Netherlands | $1,102,981,000 | +4.2% |
| 15. | Spain | $703,239,000 | -2.4% |
| 16. | Japan | $697,879,000 | -21.9% |
| 17. | Belgium | $629,230,000 | -20% |
| 18. | Denmark | $625,991,000 | +8.5% |
| 19. | Canada | $587,670,000 | +3.4% |
| 20. | Romania | $587,095,000 | +8.3% |
| 21. | Singapore | $558,675,000 | -17.4% |
| 22. | United Kingdom | $522,445,000 | +8.7% |
| 23. | Slovakia | $471,572,000 | +8.9% |
| 24. | Ireland | $464,460,000 | -13.7% |
| 25. | Indonesia | $399,117,000 | -20.2% |
| 26. | Hungary | $393,049,000 | +17.3% |
| 27. | Vietnam | $391,071,000 | +11.4% |
| 28. | Serbia | $367,207,000 | +21.6% |
| 29. | Bulgaria | $309,551,000 | -2.8% |
| 30. | Switzerland | $305,101,000 | +39.9% |
| 31. | Portugal | $271,639,000 | +10.8% |
| 32. | Malaysia | $257,234,000 | +18.3% |
| 33. | India | $231,671,000 | -1.2% |
| 34. | Brazil | $174,150,000 | -6.7% |
| 35. | Colombia | $163,993,000 | +6.9% |
| 36. | South Africa | $151,001,000 | -3.1% |
| 37. | Russia | $142,977,000 | -53.8% |
| 38. | Slovenia | $130,693,000 | -8.5% |
| 39. | Taiwan | $130,538,000 | +6.1% |
| 40. | Lithuania | $126,572,000 | -3.8% |
| 41. | Guatemala | $108,702,000 | -2.4% |
| 42. | Luxembourg | $84,948,000 | -27.4% |
| 43. | Egypt | $84,726,000 | +37.2% |
| 44. | Finland | $82,062,000 | -11.4% |
| 45. | Panama | $79,196,000 | -8.3% |
| 46. | Hong Kong | $78,895,000 | +20.1% |
| 47. | Croatia | $70,448,000 | +27.7% |
| 48. | Greece | $64,254,000 | -2.6% |
| 49. | Australia | $56,604,000 | +40.4% |
| 50. | Uzbekistan | $49,536,000 | -37.2% |
| 51. | United Arab Emirates | $48,472,000 | -88.4% |
| 52. | Ukraine | $46,639,000 | +12.8% |
| 53. | Latvia | $37,494,000 | +9.2% |
| 54. | New Zealand | $30,286,000 | +19.3% |
| 55. | Djibouti | $30,097,000 | +301% |
| 56. | Chile | $28,138,000 | -12.6% |
| 57. | Kazakhstan | $26,879,000 | +25.1% |
| 58. | Jordan | $26,099,000 | -1.5% |
| 59. | Estonia | $23,828,000 | -3.7% |
| 60. | Norway | $23,350,000 | -10.9% |
| 61. | Israel | $21,585,000 | -7.4% |
| 62. | Philippines | $18,451,000 | +46.2% |
| 63. | Eswatini | $15,847,000 | -10.5% |
| 64. | Armenia | $13,250,000 | +229.2% |
| 65. | Kyrgyzstan | $10,621,000 | +508.7% |
| 66. | Algeria | $10,071,000 | +104.7% |
| 67. | Belarus | $8,495,000 | -68.6% |
| 68. | Bangladesh | $6,224,000 | -68.2% |
| 69. | Tunisia | $5,701,000 | -33.7% |
| 70. | Morocco | $5,700,000 | -14.4% |
| 71. | Lebanon | $4,937,000 | -85.2% |
| 72. | Iran | $4,902,000 | -89.7% |
| 73. | Ecuador | $4,700,000 | +15.7% |
| 74. | Zimbabwe | $4,666,000 | +68.5% |
| 75. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $4,282,000 | -2.4% |
| 76. | Iceland | $4,250,000 | +69.3% |
| 77. | Bahrain | $4,179,000 | -46% |
| 78. | Sri Lanka | $3,854,000 | +66.8% |
| 79. | North Macedonia | $3,552,000 | +14.7% |
| 80. | Argentina | $3,509,000 | -46.2% |
| 81. | Pakistan | $2,806,000 | +149.9% |
| 82. | Costa Rica | $2,786,000 | +13.6% |
| 83. | Dominican Republic | $2,516,000 | -15.5% |
| 84. | Georgia | $2,232,000 | +21.3% |
| 85. | Kenya | $2,193,000 | +84.1% |
| 86. | Saudi Arabia | $1,955,000 | -77.1% |
| 87. | Trinidad/Tobago | $1,203,000 | +55.6% |
| 88. | Papua New Guinea | $1,189,000 | -43.2% |
| 89. | Bahamas | $925,000 | +166.6% |
| 90. | Montenegro | $666,000 | -41.9% |
| 91. | Namibia | $662,000 | -52.9% |
| 92. | Albania | $649,000 | 0% |
| 93. | Senegal | $632,000 | -43.8% |
| 94. | Peru | $557,000 | -36.7% |
| 95. | Malta | $510,000 | +39.3% |
| 96. | Moldova | $488,000 | -41.8% |
| 97. | Faroe Islands | $455,000 | +645.9% |
| 98. | Qatar | $447,000 | -37.7% |
| 99. | Botswana | $389,000 | +18.6% |
| 100. | British Virgin Is | $376,000 | -2.1% |
Focusing on the 100 major exporters, the fastest growers were the Faroe Islands (up 645.9% from 2022), Kyrgyzstan (up 508.7%), Djibouti (up 301%), Armenia (up 229.2%), Bahamas (up 166.6%) then Pakistan (up 149.9%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the above table’s columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2022 data was unavailable.
Countries Generating Best Trade Surpluses from Refrigerators and Freezers
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for refrigerators and freezers during 2023. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s exported refrigerators and freezers and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- mainland China: US$14.7 billion (net export surplus up 6.5% since 2022)
- Mexico: $5.6 billion (down -2.6%)
- Italy: $2.5 billion (up 6.9%)
- South Korea: $2.3 billion (down -1.2%)
- Türkiye: $2.1 billion (down -7.3%)
- Thailand: $1.6 billion (down -9.1%)
- Poland: $1.1 billion (up 27.5%)
- Czech Republic: $757.4 million (up 15.6%)
- Sweden: $516.2 million (up 137.4%)
- Austria: $261.4 million (up 10.8%)
- Serbia: $235.9 million (up 38.3%)
- Ireland: $188.7 million (down -22.3%)
- Romania: $180.9 million (up 46%)
- Singapore: $128.5 million (down -24.4%)
- Denmark: $112.7 million (reversing a -$43.2 million deficit)
Mainland China generated the highest surplus in the international trade of refrigerators and freezers. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms mainland China’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Causing Largest Trade Deficits from Refrigerators and Freezers
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for refrigerators and freezers during 2023. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s imported refrigerators and freezers purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$10.9 billion (net export deficit down -9.7% since 2022)
- United Kingdom: -$1.6 billion (down -5.8%)
- Canada: -$1.4 billion (down -4.1%)
- Australia: -$1.2 billion (down -13.5%)
- Germany: -$983.6 million (up 12.8%)
- Japan: -$823.1 million (up 7.3%)
- France: -$791.1 million (down -20.9%)
- Switzerland: -$741.9 million (up 11.6%)
- Russia: -$725.9 million (up 93.2%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$632.3 million (up 69%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$616.7 million (down -8.7%)
- Netherlands: -$583.3 million (down -8.5%)
- Spain: -$548.8 million (up 11.7%)
- Philippines: -$433.4 million (down -1.4%)
- Belgium: -$398 million (up 26.3%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of refrigerators and freezers. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for refrigerators and freezers-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Top Refrigerators and Freezers Brands
Below are the leading global brands for refrigerators and freezers according to Ranker. The home country for each top brand is shown within parenthesis.
- Whirlpool Corporation (United States)
- KitchenAid (United States)
- LG Electronics Inc (South Korea)
- General Electric (United States)
- Walton Group (Bangladesh)
- Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany)
- Sub-Zero Freezer Company (United States)
- Kenmore (United States)
- Viking Range Corporation (United States)
- Frigidaire (United States)
See also Electric Cars Exports by Country, Computer Device Exports by Country, Antiques Exporters and China’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on October 28, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 28, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 28, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 28, 2024
Ranker, The Best Refrigerator Brands. Accessed on October 28, 2024
Wikipedia, Category:Home applicance manufacturers. Accessed on June 14, 2023