The overall value of exported candy sweets increased by an average 45.4% for all exporting countries from five years earlier in 2019 when candy sweets shipments were valued at $11 billion.
Year over year, the worldwide value of exported candy sweets accelerated by 15.3% compared to $13.9 billion starting from 2022.
The 5 biggest exporters of candy sweets are Germany, mainland China, Mexico, Belgium and Spain. That cohort of leading sellers collected 41.2% worth of the international revenues for globally exported candy sweets.
From a continental perspective, shippers in Europe sold the highest dollar worth of exported candy sweets during 2023 with shipments valued at $8.7 billion or over half (54.3%) of the global total. In second place were exporters in Asia at 23.5% while another 14.9% originated from North America.
Smaller percentages came from suppliers in Latin America (4.7%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, Africa (1.8%), then Oceania (0.8%) mostly Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for candy sweets is 170490. That code prefix encompasses a wide range of confectionery including lollipops, jelly beans, caramels, candy floss, fudge and peanut brittle. Specifically excluded are chewing gum and items containing cocoa (chocolate) which are covered under separate tariff codes.
Candy Sweets Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of candy sweets during 2023.
- Germany: US$2.1 billion (13% of exported candy sweets)
- mainland China: $1.5 billion (9.3%)
- Mexico: $1.1 billion (6.9%)
- Belgium: $984 million (6.1%)
- Spain: $949.5 million (5.9%)
- Netherlands: $938.6 million (5.9%)
- Türkiye: $838.5 million (5.2%)
- United States: $707.9 million (4.4%)
- Poland: $660.6 million (4.1%)
- Canada: $578.1 million (3.6%)
- Czech Republic: $308.1 million (1.9%)
- Italy: $307.7 million (1.9%)
- France: $302.1 million (1.9%)
- Colombia: $269.6 million (1.7%)
- United Kingdom: $246.5 million (1.5%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 73.4% of all candy sweets exported in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing exporters of candy sweets since 2022 were: Netherlands (up 33.2%), Czech Republic (up 29.8%), Belgium (up 27%) and France (up 25.2%).
Those countries that posted the most modest increases in their international sales of candy sweets were: Italy (up 7.1%), Mexico (up 11.5%), Canada (up 12.1%), Türkiye (up 13.8%) and mainland China (up 14.3%).
Searchable List of Candy Sweets Exporters in 2023
The 100 key export countries in the automated database below sold 99.97% of the globally exported candy sweets during 2023.
| Rank | Exporter | Candy Sweets Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Germany | $2,072,854,000 | +19% |
| 2. | mainland China | $1,484,911,000 | +14.3% |
| 3. | Mexico | $1,099,256,000 | +11.5% |
| 4. | Belgium | $984,031,000 | +27% |
| 5. | Spain | $949,545,000 | +21.8% |
| 6. | Netherlands | $938,603,000 | +33.2% |
| 7. | Türkiye | $838,538,000 | +13.8% |
| 8. | United States | $707,871,000 | +16% |
| 9. | Poland | $660,574,000 | +22.9% |
| 10. | Canada | $578,134,000 | +12.1% |
| 11. | Czech Republic | $308,120,000 | +29.8% |
| 12. | Italy | $307,723,000 | +7.1% |
| 13. | France | $302,124,000 | +25.2% |
| 14. | Colombia | $269,574,000 | +15.2% |
| 15. | United Kingdom | $246,491,000 | +20.1% |
| 16. | Denmark | $223,656,000 | +31.1% |
| 17. | Switzerland | $223,607,000 | +25.5% |
| 18. | Sweden | $217,298,000 | +29.5% |
| 19. | India | $202,482,000 | +27.4% |
| 20. | Brazil | $189,818,000 | -1.4% |
| 21. | Ukraine | $185,996,000 | +33.6% |
| 22. | Thailand | $184,205,000 | +4.8% |
| 23. | Indonesia | $167,250,000 | +16.2% |
| 24. | Slovakia | $152,910,000 | +19.2% |
| 25. | Hungary | $152,083,000 | +50.2% |
| 26. | Austria | $151,694,000 | +37.6% |
| 27. | Russia | $149,303,000 | -9.1% |
| 28. | Ireland | $131,834,000 | +21.5% |
| 29. | Japan | $130,992,000 | +4% |
| 30. | Hong Kong | $127,049,000 | +24.2% |
| 31. | Vietnam | $118,398,000 | +41.3% |
| 32. | Malaysia | $95,456,000 | +1.5% |
| 33. | Guatemala | $93,299,000 | +5.9% |
| 34. | South Korea | $84,272,000 | -27% |
| 35. | South Africa | $82,775,000 | +5.7% |
| 36. | Pakistan | $71,668,000 | +0.9% |
| 37. | Egypt | $65,319,000 | +14% |
| 38. | Australia | $64,915,000 | +27% |
| 39. | Greece | $63,643,000 | +4% |
| 40. | New Zealand | $63,317,000 | +18.9% |
| 41. | Finland | $51,132,000 | +6.9% |
| 42. | Taiwan | $48,900,000 | -1% |
| 43. | Singapore | $48,811,000 | +20.9% |
| 44. | El Salvador | $45,842,000 | +0.3% |
| 45. | Lithuania | $42,335,000 | +19.3% |
| 46. | Argentina | $40,035,000 | +40.4% |
| 47. | Bulgaria | $37,673,000 | +34.4% |
| 48. | Ecuador | $32,678,000 | +15.2% |
| 49. | Costa Rica | $31,819,000 | +34.6% |
| 50. | Kazakhstan | $31,794,000 | -20.9% |
| 51. | Zambia | $29,504,000 | -8.2% |
| 52. | Jordan | $28,543,000 | -11% |
| 53. | Kenya | $25,842,000 | -23.8% |
| 54. | Romania | $25,092,000 | +8% |
| 55. | Croatia | $24,880,000 | +66.3% |
| 56. | Philippines | $22,917,000 | -19% |
| 57. | Morocco | $21,717,000 | +15.5% |
| 58. | Eswatini | $18,591,000 | +10.3% |
| 59. | Latvia | $18,242,000 | +29.8% |
| 60. | Togo | $18,156,000 | -15.9% |
| 61. | Tunisia | $15,048,000 | +24.3% |
| 62. | Slovenia | $13,554,000 | +4.5% |
| 63. | Serbia | $12,203,000 | +24.1% |
| 64. | Israel | $12,148,000 | -11.6% |
| 65. | Panama | $12,139,000 | +220.5% |
| 66. | Estonia | $11,093,000 | +19% |
| 67. | Portugal | $10,464,000 | +30.3% |
| 68. | Peru | $10,234,000 | +6.9% |
| 69. | Iran | $9,585,000 | -90.4% |
| 70. | Lebanon | $8,764,000 | -23.7% |
| 71. | Bangladesh | $8,626,000 | -26.8% |
| 72. | United Arab Emirates | $7,323,000 | -92% |
| 73. | Trinidad and Tobago | $7,292,000 | -15.7% |
| 74. | Dominican Republic | $6,748,000 | +24.1% |
| 75. | North Macedonia | $6,253,000 | +17.1% |
| 76. | Moldova | $5,882,000 | -14.9% |
| 77. | Chile | $5,725,000 | +13.5% |
| 78. | Honduras | $5,575,000 | 0% |
| 79. | Uganda | $4,285,000 | +6.7% |
| 80. | Uzbekistan | $4,169,000 | -42.7% |
| 81. | Saudi Arabia | $3,971,000 | -88.3% |
| 82. | Norway | $3,876,000 | -25.1% |
| 83. | Senegal | $2,934,000 | -25.1% |
| 84. | Kuwait | $2,495,000 | -77.6% |
| 85. | Kyrgyzstan | $2,448,000 | +267.6% |
| 86. | Cambodia | $1,810,000 | -9.2% |
| 87. | Belarus | $1,660,000 | +18.7% |
| 88. | Bahrain | $1,528,000 | +8.4% |
| 89. | Syria | $1,134,000 | -86.7% |
| 90. | Azerbaijan | $1,133,000 | -45.8% |
| 91. | Zimbabwe | $1,070,000 | -28.5% |
| 92. | Armenia | $1,046,000 | -16.9% |
| 93. | Nigeria | $973,000 | -48.2% |
| 94. | Ivory Coast | $862,000 | +56.2% |
| 95. | Guyana | $859,000 | +21375% |
| 96. | Luxembourg | $839,000 | +9.1% |
| 97. | Afghanistan | $656,000 | +116.5% |
| 98. | Malawi | $655,000 | +235.9% |
| 99. | Macao | $628,000 | -15.6% |
| 100. | Iraq | $628,000 | +45.4% |
Focusing on the top 100 exporters, the fastest growers from were Guyana (up 21,375% from 2022), Kyrgyzstan (up 267.6%), Malawi (up 235.9%), Panama (up 220.5%) then Afghanistan (up 116.5%).
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 Earning Best Trade Surpluses from Candy Sweets
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for candy sweets 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 candy sweets and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- mainland China: US$1.14 billion (net export surplus up 16.7% since 2022)
- Germany: $1.09 billion (up 10.3%)
- Mexico: $963 million (up 9.3%)
- Türkiye: $788.3 million (up 12%)
- Spain: $745.8 million (up 21.6%)
- Belgium: $598.5 million (up 28.4%)
- Netherlands: $337.5 million (up 26.6%)
- Poland: $306.4 million (up 27.4%)
- Colombia: $238.2 million (up 20%)
- India: $174.1 million (up 32.5%)
- Brazil: $153.7 million (down -3.9%)
- Czech Republic: $143.2 million (up 26.3%)
- Ukraine: $105.2 million (up 19.1%)
- Switzerland: $73.3 million (up 58.8%)
- Slovakia: $72.2 million (up 13.4%)
World-leading China and Germany generated the highest surpluses in the international trade of candy sweets during 2023. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms both countries’ strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Incurring Worst Trade Deficits from Candy Sweets
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for candy sweets 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 candy sweets purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$2.4 billion (net export deficit up 7.3% since 2022)
- United Kingdom: -$765.1 million (up 30.7%)
- France: -$307.3 million (up 22.3%)
- South Korea: -$215.6 million (up 61.3%)
- Australia: -$180.8 million (up 2.6%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$163.3 million (down -26.8%)
- Sweden: -$153.0 million (up 27.1%)
- Norway: -$140.4 million (up 22.8%)
- Romania: -$124.3 million (up 23.6%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$112.7 million (up 56.6%)
- Philippines: -$102.2 million (up 30.3%)
- Iraq: -$94.7 million (down -39.9%)
- Israel: -$92.7 million (up 14.8%)
- Kazakhstan: -$88.4 million (up 38.5%)
- Finland: -$85.4 million (up 42.8%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of candy sweets. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for candy confectionery-suppliers that target American consumers’ sweet tooth cravings.
Candy Sweets Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following companies are examples of verified companies engaged in the international sales of candies. Their home countries are shown within parenthesis.
- Aspro BV (Netherlands)
- Big Buy (Spain)
- Bold Marketing Mexico S de RL de CV (Mexico)
- Chaozhou Qiaoxiang Foodstuff Factory (China)
- EUROBRANDS Grosshandel Lebensmittel GmbH (Germany)
- GeNaTa European Goods SP ZOO SpK (Poland)
- JM Alexander Corporation (United States)
- Kaizer Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Turkey)
- Probel Group SA (Belgium)
- Super Super Market Export Ltd (United Kingdom)
See also Bananas Exports by Country, Pineapples Exports by Country, Apples Exports by Country, Oranges Exports by Country and Kiwifruit Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier information for candy sweets. Accessed on September 28, 2024
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on September 28, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 28, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 28, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 28, 2024
Wikipedia, List of top-selling candy brands. Accessed on September 28, 2024
