The value of globally exported soap rose by an average 26.8% from five years earlier in 2019 when soap shipments were valued at $11.8 billion.
Year over year, the world’s soap exports flatlined via a -0.2% downturn compared to $15.02 billion starting from 2022.
The top 5 biggest soap exporters are Germany, mainland China, United States of America, Indonesia and France. Collectively, that cohort of major soap suppliers collected 37% of all revenues for worldwide soap exported during 2023.
Among continents, suppliers in Europe generated the greatest revenue stream from exported soap during 2023 with shipments valued at $6.4 billion or 42.5% of the global total. In second place were exporters in Asia at 35.5% while another 13% of international soap shipments originated from North America.
Smaller percentages came from soap suppliers in Latin America (4%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (4.2%), then Oceania (0.8%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 3401 for soap. That code prefix includes bar and liquid soaps, as well as organic surface-active products and preparations.
Soap Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of soap during 2023.
- Germany: US$1.3 billion (8.7% of total soap exports)
- mainland China: $1.23 billion (8.2%)
- United States: $1.16 billion (7.7%)
- Indonesia: $940.5 million (6.3%)
- France: $899.7 million (6%)
- Poland: $844.8 million (5.6%)
- Italy: $786 million (5.2%)
- Malaysia: $536.3 million (3.6%)
- Türkiye: $519.1 million (3.5%)
- Netherlands: $493.2 million (3.3%)
- Japan: $472.8 million (3.2%)
- United Kingdom: $455.4 million (3%)
- Mexico: $400.8 million (2.7%)
- Canada: $392.3 million (2.6%)
- South Korea: $367.1 million (2.4%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 72.1% of globally exported soap in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of soap since 2022 were: France (up 19.3%), mainland China (up 17.8%), South Korea (up 16.9%) and Poland (up 15%).
Those countries that posted declines in their international sales of soap were: Japan (down -22.5% from 2022), Malaysia (down -11.4%), Germany (down -4.8%), United Kingdom (down -3.6%) and Mexico (down -2.1%).
Searchable List of Soap Exporting Countries in 2023
The 100 key exporters in the automated database below generated 99.9% of the total value of soap shipped via international markets in 2023.
| Rank | Exporter | Soap Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $1,310,348,000 | -4.8% |
| 2. | mainland China | $1,233,243,000 | +17.8% |
| 3. | United States | $1,161,313,000 | +3.3% |
| 4. | Indonesia | $940,457,000 | +7.9% |
| 5. | France | $899,735,000 | +19.3% |
| 6. | Poland | $844,759,000 | +15% |
| 7. | Italy | $785,955,000 | +7.5% |
| 8. | Malaysia | $536,260,000 | -11.4% |
| 9. | Türkiye | $519,057,000 | +1.5% |
| 10. | Netherlands | $493,216,000 | +2.2% |
| 11. | Japan | $472,845,000 | -22.5% |
| 12. | United Kingdom | $455,358,000 | -3.6% |
| 13. | Mexico | $400,842,000 | -2.1% |
| 14. | Canada | $392,301,000 | +4.4% |
| 15. | South Korea | $367,065,000 | +16.9% |
| 16. | Thailand | $338,615,000 | -5.3% |
| 17. | Spain | $313,750,000 | +15% |
| 18. | Singapore | $310,405,000 | -19.4% |
| 19. | Belgium | $199,901,000 | -5.7% |
| 20. | Czech Republic | $196,614,000 | +0.2% |
| 21. | South Africa | $196,373,000 | +1.2% |
| 22. | India | $166,543,000 | +21% |
| 23. | Guatemala | $147,911,000 | +12.2% |
| 24. | Brazil | $144,866,000 | +6.4% |
| 25. | Ivory Coast | $125,341,000 | +7.5% |
| 26. | Sweden | $118,541,000 | +9% |
| 27. | Australia | $101,610,000 | -19.8% |
| 28. | Denmark | $99,835,000 | +10.7% |
| 29. | Kenya | $97,501,000 | -0.9% |
| 30. | Honduras | $97,221,000 | 0% |
| 31. | Israel | $95,667,000 | -14.4% |
| 32. | Vietnam | $93,527,000 | -4.6% |
| 33. | Greece | $88,125,000 | -8.5% |
| 34. | Colombia | $84,461,000 | +13.8% |
| 35. | Switzerland | $76,130,000 | 0% |
| 36. | Russia | $71,421,000 | -23.7% |
| 37. | Egypt | $70,512,000 | +68.8% |
| 38. | Hungary | $56,037,000 | +8.9% |
| 39. | Bahrain | $50,791,000 | +4.6% |
| 40. | Austria | $49,356,000 | -1.3% |
| 41. | Slovakia | $47,420,000 | +1.1% |
| 42. | United Arab Emirates | $37,701,000 | -90% |
| 43. | Portugal | $37,289,000 | +3.3% |
| 44. | Uganda | $34,660,000 | +14.1% |
| 45. | Romania | $34,215,000 | +8.4% |
| 46. | Panama | $31,168,000 | +56.3% |
| 47. | Bulgaria | $30,619,000 | +36.4% |
| 48. | Pakistan | $30,542,000 | -15.1% |
| 49. | Philippines | $27,920,000 | -5.4% |
| 50. | Djibouti | $26,657,000 | +144% |
| 51. | Croatia | $24,750,000 | +30.3% |
| 52. | Lithuania | $23,761,000 | +16.7% |
| 53. | New Zealand | $20,434,000 | -1.9% |
| 54. | Taiwan | $20,344,000 | -6.2% |
| 55. | Dominican Republic | $20,311,000 | +8.2% |
| 56. | Ghana | $18,958,000 | -5.7% |
| 57. | Serbia | $18,651,000 | +7.9% |
| 58. | Hong Kong | $18,140,000 | +6.6% |
| 59. | Luxembourg | $14,981,000 | +17.7% |
| 60. | Paraguay | $14,744,000 | +89.7% |
| 61. | Zambia | $14,708,000 | +8.9% |
| 62. | Ukraine | $13,961,000 | -0.4% |
| 63. | Saudi Arabia | $13,787,000 | -82.2% |
| 64. | Latvia | $13,313,000 | +30% |
| 65. | Slovenia | $11,790,000 | -53.8% |
| 66. | Argentina | $11,473,000 | -21.4% |
| 67. | Kazakhstan | $11,196,000 | +20.4% |
| 68. | Peru | $10,307,000 | -2% |
| 69. | Tanzania | $9,451,000 | -60.5% |
| 70. | Jordan | $9,282,000 | +5.4% |
| 71. | Costa Rica | $8,320,000 | -3.4% |
| 72. | Ecuador | $7,713,000 | +12.7% |
| 73. | Norway | $7,372,000 | +16.8% |
| 74. | Morocco | $6,243,000 | -33.8% |
| 75. | North Macedonia | $6,137,000 | +6.8% |
| 76. | Ireland | $5,954,000 | +5.5% |
| 77. | Macao | $5,427,000 | +73.4% |
| 78. | Estonia | $5,142,000 | -4.2% |
| 79. | El Salvador | $4,927,000 | -0.1% |
| 80. | Nigeria | $4,471,000 | -35.7% |
| 81. | Mauritius | $4,383,000 | +10.1% |
| 82. | Finland | $4,288,000 | -5.1% |
| 83. | Mozambique | $3,889,000 | -41.8% |
| 84. | Syria | $3,861,000 | -17.9% |
| 85. | Iran | $3,517,000 | -86.2% |
| 86. | Tunisia | $3,194,000 | +1.2% |
| 87. | Uzbekistan | $3,123,000 | -20.6% |
| 88. | Belarus | $3,075,000 | +5.2% |
| 89. | Chile | $3,046,000 | -2.5% |
| 90. | Dominica | $2,376,000 | +33843% |
| 91. | Senegal | $1,975,000 | +32.4% |
| 92. | Benin | $1,753,000 | +1% |
| 93. | Bangladesh | $1,627,000 | +9.6% |
| 94. | Trinidad/Tobago | $1,565,000 | +0.4% |
| 95. | Lebanon | $1,543,000 | -64.1% |
| 96. | Fiji | $1,466,000 | -6.9% |
| 97. | Albania | $1,420,000 | 0% |
| 98. | Togo | $1,402,000 | +48% |
| 99. | Oman | $1,348,000 | -68.9% |
| 100. | Cameroon | $1,263,000 | -52.9% |
Perusing the top 100 most valuable sellers of soap on international markets, the fastest growers are Dominica (up 33,843% from 2022), Djibouti (up 144%), Paraguay (up 89.7%), Macao (up 73.4%) then Egypt (up 68.8%).
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 2023 data was unavailable.
Countries Earning Best Trade Surpluses from Soap
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for soap 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 soap and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Indonesia: US$850.9 million (net export surplus up 7.1% since 2022)
- Poland: $536.1 million (up 28.3%)
- Italy: $530.8 million (up 11.4%)
- Germany: $483.1 million (down -18.5%)
- Malaysia: $388.7 million (down -10.8%)
- Türkiye: $359.1 million (down -2.9%)
- France: $314.7 million (up 92.4%)
- Thailand: $233.1 million (down -6.8%)
- South Korea: $198 million (up 32.6%)
- Mexico: $171.7 million (down -22.3%)
- Japan: $157 million (down -41.4%)
- Ivory Coast: $117.1 million (up 7.7%)
- Brazil: $112.6 million (down -0.3%)
- Spain: $112.3 million (up 35.6%)
- South Africa: $110.2 million (up 6%)
Indonesia generated the highest surplus in the international trade of soap. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Indonesia’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Posting Largest Trade Deficits from Soap
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for soap 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 soap purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$454.5 million (net export deficit up 13.2% since 2022)
- Canada: -$303.3 million (up 6.3%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$293.1 million (reversing an $8.6 million surplus)
- Australia: -$223.3 million (up 13.5%)
- Taiwan: -$158.7 million (down -1%)
- Philippines: -$152.5 million (down -24.6%)
- United Kingdom: -$146.5 million (down -4.6%)
- Russia: -$136.4 million (up 43.7%)
- Romania: -$134 million (up 13.1%)
- Iraq: -$127.2 million (down -22.9%)
- Austria: -$123.8 million (up 22.8%)
- Ireland: -$113.7 million (down -3.5%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$102.1 million (down -23.5%)
- Peru: -$98.4 million (down -1.6%)
- Portugal: -$90 million (down 0%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of soap during 2023. In turn, these negative cashflows highlight America’s competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for soap-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful worldwide demand.
Soap Exporting Companies
Below are global soap manufacturers that represent established players engaged in the international soap trade. The home country for each is shown within parenthesis.
- Ach Brito & Ca. (Portugal)
- Caswell-Massey (United States)
- Colgate-Palmolive (United States)
- Deb Limited (United Kingdom)
- Defense Soap (United States)
- Doetsch Grether AG (Switzerland)
- Further Products (United States)
- Henkel (Germany)
- L’Amande (Italy)
- Nivea (Germany)
- Orkla Group (Norway)
- Proraso (Italy)
- PZ Cussons (United Kingdom)
- Sebapharma GmbH & Co (Germany)
- Unilever (Netherlands & United Kingdom)
See also Perfumes Exporters by Country, Beauty Cosmetics and Skincare Exports by sCountry, Top Human Hair Exporters by Country and Top Sunglasses Exporters by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 23, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 23, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 23, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 23, 2024
Wikipedia, Category:Soap brands. Accessed on September 23, 2024