Also known as maize, the value of globally exported corn increased by an average 47.7% for all exporting countries since 2019 when corn shipments were valued at $35.8 billion.
From 2022 to 2023, the dollar amount paid for globally exported corn shrank by -15.8% starting from $62.9 billion.
The 5 biggest corn exporters (United States of America, Brazil, Argentina, Ukraine and France) generated roughly three-quarters (75.5%) of overall sales for the popular grain commodity in 2023.
Among continents, countries in Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean sold the highest dollar worth of exported corn during 2023 with shipments valued at $20.2 billion or 38.1% of the worldwide total. In second place were suppliers in North America at 27.4% while 26.8% worth of the tasty grain originated from shippers in Europe.
Smaller percentages came from providers located in Asia (5%), Africa (2.5%), then Australia, New Zealand and Micronesia in Oceania (0.1%).
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for corn is 1005.
Corn Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of corn during 2023.
- United States: US$13.7 billion (25.9% of total corn exports)
- Brazil: $13.6 billion (25.7%)
- Argentina: $5.7 billion (10.7%)
- Ukraine: $5 billion (9.4%)
- France: $2 billion (3.8%)
- Romania: $1.7 billion (3.2%)
- Poland: $1.3 billion (2.4%)
- South Africa: $1.2 billion (2.3%)
- Russia: $932.2 million (1.8%)
- Türkiye: $796.7 million (1.5%)
- Canada: $766.5 million (1.4%)
- Paraguay: $750.7 million (1.4%)
- Hungary: $704.2 million (1.3%)
- India: $702.6 million (1.3%)
- Myanmar: $453 million (0.9%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 93% of globally exported corn in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing corn suppliers from 2022 to 2023 were: Türkiye (up 209.5%), Russia (up 11.6%), Brazil (up 11%) and Canada (up 9.4%).
Those countries that posted declines in their exported corn sales were led by: India (down -37.2% from 2022), Argentina (down -34%), Myanmar (down -31.2%), Paraguay (down -31%) and the United States of America (down -28.1%).
Countries Generating Highest Surpluses from Trading Corn
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for corn 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 corn exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Brazil: US$13.34 billion (net export surplus up 14.5% since 2022)
- United States of America: $13.25 billion (down -29.1%)
- Argentina: $5.6 billion (down -34.7%)
- Ukraine: $4.9 billion (down -17%)
- France: $1.6 billion (down -18.8%)
- Romania: $1.3 billion (down -12.1%)
- South Africa: $1.2 billion (up 0.03%)
- Poland: $955.8 million (up 51.6%)
- Russia: $803.7 million (up 18.7%)
- India: $694.6 million (down -37.2%)
- Paraguay: $633.2 million (down -36.3%)
- Myanmar: $414.2 million (down -32.7%)
- Bulgaria: $298.5 million (up 26.3%)
- Pakistan: $273.7 million (up 56.2%)
- Hungary: $271.7 million (down -8.6%)
Brazil and the United States of America earned the highest surpluses in the international trade of fresh corn. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms both countries’ strong competitive advantages for this specific product category.
Countries Incurring Greatest Deficits from Trading Corn
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for corn 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 corn import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- mainland China: -US$9 billion (net export deficit up 26.9% since 2022)
- Mexico: -$5.5 billion (up 2%)
- Japan: -$4.9 billion (down -16%)
- South Korea: -$3.5 billion (down -17.1%)
- Spain: -$2.53 billion (down -29%)
- Vietnam: -$2.49 billion (down -24.3%)
- Egypt: -$2.45 billion (down -19.6%)
- Italy: -$1.89 billion (down -16.4%)
- Colombia: -$1.86 billion (down -13.9%)
- Netherlands: -$1.45 billion (down -7.2%)
- Taiwan: -$1.27 billion (down -27%)
- Iran: -$1.27 billion (down -63.2%)
- Malaysia: -$1.1 billion (down -12.1%)
- Algeria: -$1.07 billion (up 15.8%)
- Peru: -$1 billion (down -21.2%)
Highly populous mainland China incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of fresh corn. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights China’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for corn-supplying countries that help satisfy powerful consumer demand.
Searchable List of Corn Exporting Countries in 2023
The following 100 countries were responsible for 99.9995% of total corn exports by value in 2023.
| Rank | Exporter | Corn Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | United States | $13,683,227,000 | -28.1% |
| 2. | Brazil | $13,613,017,000 | +11% |
| 3. | Argentina | $5,675,603,000 | -34% |
| 4. | Ukraine | $4,966,263,000 | -17.1% |
| 5. | France | $2,012,143,000 | -15.5% |
| 6. | Romania | $1,679,093,000 | -15.8% |
| 7. | Poland | $1,291,516,000 | -0.6% |
| 8. | South Africa | $1,208,351,000 | -0.3% |
| 9. | Russia | $932,167,000 | +11.6% |
| 10. | Türkiye | $796,703,000 | +209.5% |
| 11. | Canada | $766,538,000 | +9.4% |
| 12. | Paraguay | $750,699,000 | -31% |
| 13. | Hungary | $704,242,000 | -23.3% |
| 14. | India | $702,624,000 | -37.2% |
| 15. | Myanmar | $453,026,000 | -31.2% |
| 16. | Bulgaria | $381,927,000 | +16.1% |
| 17. | Pakistan | $345,523,000 | +30.9% |
| 18. | Austria | $340,555,000 | -4% |
| 19. | Serbia | $275,524,000 | -34.5% |
| 20. | Croatia | $250,097,000 | -21.4% |
| 21. | Germany | $220,718,000 | -20.2% |
| 22. | Slovakia | $185,253,000 | -49.1% |
| 23. | Moldova | $144,089,000 | -57.6% |
| 24. | Spain | $139,931,000 | +22% |
| 25. | Netherlands | $116,814,000 | -13.3% |
| 26. | Thailand | $105,934,000 | +4.8% |
| 27. | Italy | $101,876,000 | +17.2% |
| 28. | Czech Republic | $83,152,000 | -36.1% |
| 29. | Vietnam | $82,943,000 | +69.3% |
| 30. | Chile | $79,522,000 | +22.1% |
| 31. | Portugal | $75,839,000 | -3.9% |
| 32. | Mexico | $73,836,000 | +57.2% |
| 33. | Zambia | $59,283,000 | -46% |
| 34. | Latvia | $54,018,000 | +83.6% |
| 35. | Laos | $49,143,000 | -1.6% |
| 36. | United Kingdom | $47,711,000 | +54.9% |
| 37. | Slovenia | $47,124,000 | -27.5% |
| 38. | Lithuania | $42,606,000 | -29.4% |
| 39. | Australia | $40,732,000 | +2.9% |
| 40. | Tanzania | $38,216,000 | -57% |
| 41. | Ireland | $37,139,000 | -6.6% |
| 42. | Belgium | $30,790,000 | -38.6% |
| 43. | Indonesia | $29,254,000 | -41.4% |
| 44. | Cambodia | $28,564,000 | +5490% |
| 45. | Peru | $27,441,000 | +40.9% |
| 46. | Kazakhstan | $22,007,000 | -7.5% |
| 47. | Ivory Coast | $10,671,000 | +24.7% |
| 48. | Guatemala | $10,620,000 | -7.1% |
| 49. | Greece | $9,844,000 | +2.8% |
| 50. | Estonia | $8,759,000 | +4302% |
| 51. | Uganda | $8,733,000 | -79% |
| 52. | China | $7,880,000 | +106.2% |
| 53. | Luxembourg | $6,657,000 | +39.7% |
| 54. | Honduras | $5,228,000 | -19.7% |
| 55. | Philippines | $5,199,000 | -41.6% |
| 56. | Kenya | $5,146,000 | +7.7% |
| 57. | Denmark | $4,242,000 | -46% |
| 58. | Malawi | $4,212,000 | -62% |
| 59. | North Macedonia | $3,873,000 | -27.6% |
| 60. | Syria | $3,836,000 | +1985% |
| 61. | Bolivia | $3,621,000 | -35% |
| 62. | Zimbabwe | $3,540,000 | -29.5% |
| 63. | Dominican Republic | $2,995,000 | +392.6% |
| 64. | Kyrgyzstan | $2,886,000 | -53.1% |
| 65. | New Zealand | $2,656,000 | +34.8% |
| 66. | Egypt | $2,583,000 | +99.3% |
| 67. | Colombia | $2,520,000 | +67.7% |
| 68. | Malaysia | $2,192,000 | -55.4% |
| 69. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $1,850,000 | -55.5% |
| 70. | Switzerland | $1,603,000 | +46.8% |
| 71. | Nicaragua | $1,538,000 | -53.3% |
| 72. | United Arab Emirates | $1,474,000 | -96.2% |
| 73. | Georgia | $1,317,000 | +35.9% |
| 74. | Mozambique | $1,067,000 | -85% |
| 75. | Ghana | $988,000 | +32833% |
| 76. | Sweden | $955,000 | +14.6% |
| 77. | Belize | $832,000 | -10.1% |
| 78. | Rwanda | $566,000 | -6.1% |
| 79. | Benin | $452,000 | -51.3% |
| 80. | Trinidad/Tobago | $448,000 | +116.4% |
| 81. | Senegal | $406,000 | +46.6% |
| 82. | El Salvador | $356,000 | +229.6% |
| 83. | Algeria | $350,000 | 0% |
| 84. | Burkina Faso | $333,000 | +3600% |
| 85. | Micronesia | $316,000 | 0% |
| 86. | Sri Lanka | $268,000 | +396.3% |
| 87. | Botswana | $221,000 | -72% |
| 88. | Ecuador | $184,000 | +411.1% |
| 89. | Taiwan | $175,000 | -1.7% |
| 90. | Costa Rica | $143,000 | -84.6% |
| 91. | South Korea | $121,000 | -89% |
| 92. | Uzbekistan | $110,000 | 0% |
| 93. | Togo | $109,000 | 0% |
| 94. | Singapore | $94,000 | -43% |
| 95. | Namibia | $88,000 | -77.4% |
| 96. | Curaçao | $75,000 | 0% |
| 97. | Afghanistan | $52,000 | +420% |
| 98. | Lebanon | $51,000 | +64.5% |
| 99. | Japan | $50,000 | +28.2% |
| 100. | Cameroon | $49,000 | -32.9% |
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the above columns. Note that an entry of 0% in the right-most column means no 2022 data was available at time of article publication.
Expanding the scope to the top 100 corn exporters, the fastest-growing shippers of corn by value from 2022 to 2023 were Ghana (up 32,833%), Cambodia (up 5,490%), Estonia (up 4,302%), Burkina Faso (up 3,600%) and Syria (up 1,985%).
Top 10 Exporters of Corn by Shipment Weight
The worldwide total of exported corn equaled 193.8 billion tons in 2023. That shipment weight reflects a -5% drop from 204.1 billion tons in 2022 but a 3.5% gain compared to 187.2 billion tons during 2019.
- Brazil: 55,898,042 tons (28.8% of global corn exports)
- United States of America: 45,946,834 tons (23.7%)
- Ukraine: 26,367,037 tons (13.6%)
- Argentina: 21,821,128 tons (11.3%)
- Romania: 5,351,324 tons (2.8%)
- Poland: 4,580,691 tons (2.4%)
- South Africa: 3,972,443 tons (2%)
- Paraguay: 3,789,894 tons (2%)
- France: 3,752,571 tons (1.9%)
- Russia: 3,279,682 tons (1.7%)
The top 10 corn exporters accounted for 90.2% of corn shipped by total tonnage in 2023.
Growth in terms of shipment weight from 2022 to 2023 was posted by exporters in Russia (up by 32%), Brazil (up 28.8%), Poland (up 18%), South Africa (up 6.5%) and the Ukraine (up 4.7%).
Average Prices for Top Corn Exporters
Overall, the world’s average price for exported corn in 2023 was US$273 per ton. That dollar metric represents a -11.4% decrease from the average $308 per ton one year earlier in 2022 but a 42.6% increase compared to $191.4 per ton five years earlier for 2019.
Presented below are the average prices per ton for each of the world’s biggest corn exporters. This list is ordered by volume starting with countries shipping the greatest total tons.
- United States: US$298 per ton (down -8.3% from 2022)
- Brazil: $244 per ton (down -13.8%)
- Argentina: $260 per ton (down -0.4%)
- Ukraine: $188 per ton (down -21%)
- France: $536 per ton (up 15%)
- Romania: $314 per ton (down -12.8%)
- Poland: $282 per ton (down -15.8%)
- South Africa: $304 per ton (down -6.5%)
- Russia: $284 per ton (down -15.5%)
- Türkiye: $295 per ton (down -37.1%)
- Canada: $271 per ton (down -19.6%)
The most expensive average prices among the above major corn suppliers are charged by France, Romania and South Africa costing well above the global average of $273 per ton.
The least costly sources were the Ukraine and Brazil.
Year over year, the sole gainer for average prices originated from France via a 15% increase compared to 2022.
Average prices declined the greatest for corn exported from Türkiye (down -37.1% from 2022), Ukraine (down -21%) and Canada (down -19.6%).
Major Corn Exporting Companies
Below are corn-processing conglomerates that represent large players in the global corn market. Shown within parenthesis is the country where the company is headquartered.
- Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (United States)
- Bunge Limited (United States)
- Cargill, Inc (United States)
- Ingredion Incorporated (United States)
- Louis Dreyfus Holding B.V. (Netherlands)
- Mriya Agro Holding (Ukraine)
- SLC Agrícola (Brazil)
- Syngenta AG (Switzerland)
- Tate & Lyle Public Limited Company (United Kingdom)
- Vanguarda Agro (Brazil)
See also Corn Imports by Country, Wheat Exports by Country, Soya Beans Exports by Country and Top Sweet Pepper and Chili Pepper Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 8, 2024
Genetic Literacy Project, World’s largest corn producer sues Syngenta over Chinese rejection of GMO corn. Accessed on July 8, 2024
Hoovers, Company information. Accessed on July 8, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 8, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 8, 2024
Wikipedia, Category: Agriculture companies by country. Accessed on July 8, 2024
Wikipedia, Maize. Accessed on July 8, 2024
