The overall value of globally exported asparagus shrank by -10.2% from $1.21 billion worth of asparagus shipments 5 years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the dollar value of globally exported asparagus rose 2.3% compared to $1.18 billion starting from 2022.
The top 5 most lucrative exporters of asparagus are Peru, Mexico, United States of America, Spain and the Netherlands. Collectively, that quintet of leading suppliers accounted for 83.2% of all asparagus exported in 2023. Such a high percentage indicates a concentrated set of leading asparagus exporters.
Applying a continental lens, exporters in North America shipped the highest dollar worth of exported asparagus at $461 million or 38.1% of the global total. In second place were shippers in Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean at 32.7%. Another 27.5% of international asparagus sales were sourced from Europe.
Tinier percentages came from sellers in Asia (0.9%), Oceania (0.6%) mostly Australia, and Africa (0.2%).
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 070920 for fresh or chilled asparagus.
Asparagus Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of asparagus during 2023.
- Peru: US$391.2 million (32.3% of total asparagus exports)
- Mexico: $300.3 million (24.8%)
- United States: $148.3 million (12.3%)
- Spain: $96.1 million (7.9%)
- Netherlands: $71.4 million (5.9%)
- Italy: $54.8 million (4.5%)
- France: $30.3 million (2.5%)
- Germany: $24.7 million (2%)
- Greece: $23.5 million (1.9%)
- Canada: $12.3 million (1%)
- Belgium: $12.3 million (1%)
- Hungary: $9.2 million (0.8%)
- Thailand: $7.9 million (0.7%)
- Australia: $7.3 million (0.6%)
- Slovakia: $3.9 million (0.3%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 98.6% of globally exported asparagus. All told, 79 countries supplied asparagus to the international marketplace in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of asparagus since 2022 were: Thailand (up 85.5%), Hungary (up 52%), Canada (up 48.8%) and Italy (up 47.1%).
Listed suppliers that posted declines in their international sales of asparagus were led by: Slovakia (down -20.1% from 2022), Belgium (down -12.0%), Mexico (down -10.8%), Australia (down -7.8%) and France (down -4.2%).
Countries Generating Best Trade Surpluses from Asparagus
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for asparagus 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 asparagus and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Peru: US$391.2 million (net export surplus up 5.8% since 2022)
- Mexico: $299 million (down -11.2%)
- Italy: $34.9 million (up 89.7%)
- Spain: $24.9 million (down -34.2%)
- Netherlands: $24.3 million (up 123.6%)
- Greece: $21.1 million (up 18.2%)
- Hungary: $8.8 million (up 55.6%)
- Thailand: $7.7 million (up 87.5%)
- Ecuador: $3.57 million (up 102.8%)
- Morocco: $1.1 million (up 60.9%)
- Slovakia: $544,000 (down -67%)
- Namibia: $386,000 (up 260.7%)
- Guatemala: $194,000 (down -3.5%)
- Vietnam: $117,000 (reversing a -$112,000 deficit)
- mainland China: $109,000 (up 67.7%)
Peru and Mexico earned the greatest surpluses in the international trade of asparagus. Those product surpluses confirm both countries’ strong competitive advantages for this specific product category.
Countries Causing Worst Trade Deficits from Asparagus
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for asparagus 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 asparagus purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$532.2 million (net export deficit down -2.6% since 2022)
- Germany: -$81.8 million (up 10.2%)
- Canada: -$63.8 million (down -10.4%)
- United Kingdom: -$63.6 million (down -5.7%)
- Switzerland: -$60.8 million (up 8.9%)
- Japan: -$37.9 million (down -7.7%)
- Belgium: -$24.5 million (up 14.3%)
- France: -$23.2 million (down -8.7%)
- Denmark: -$15.9 million (up 32.2%)
- Austria: -$15.1 million (up 23.9%)
- Sweden: -$13.4 million (down -9.4%)
- Poland: -$9.8 million (up 74.5%)
- Norway: -$9.6 million (down -11.8%)
- Singapore: -$8.3 million (down -1%)
- Finland: -$7.5 million (down -6.3%)
The United States of America posted the highest deficit in the international trade of asparagus. This negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for asparagus-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from US consumers.
Asparagus Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following companies are also examples of asparagus-trading companies. Their home-country locations are shown within parentheses.
- Alfafood GmbH (Germany)
- Beverages Development Kft (Hungary)
- Camill Alimentos (United States)
- El Corte Ingles SA (Spain)
- International Trading Company (Peru)
- Italy Food Service SRL (Italy)
- JDGC (France)
- Siam Pagoda Group Pty Ltd (Australia)
- Zima Thai Traders (Thailand)
See also Tomatoes Exports by Country, Potatoes Exports by Country, Corn Exports by Country, Top Cucumbers Exporting Countries, Top Lettuce Exports by Country and Top Fresh Spinach Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier information for asparagus. Accessed on November 29, 2024
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on November 29, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on November 29, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on November 29, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on November 29, 2024
Wikipedia, Asparagus. Accessed on November 29, 2024
