Overall, the value of natural honey exports rose by an average 7.2% for all exporting countries since 2019 when natural honey shipments were valued at $2 billion.
Year over year, the value of exported natural honey fell via a -20.5% drop compared to $2.68 billion during 2022.
By value, the 5 biggest exporters of natural honey are mainland China, New Zealand, India, Argentina and the Ukraine. Combined, those 5 leading suppliers generated 45% of international sales of natural honey for 2023.
From the continents’ perspective, suppliers in European countries sold the highest dollar worth of natural honey exported during 2023 with shipments amounting to $847.3 million or 39.8% of overall international natural honey sales. That percentage compares with 26.5% from exporters located in Asia, 14.3% from Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, plus another 13.3% from Oceania led by New Zealand.
Smaller percentages came natural honey providers in North America (5.4%) and Africa (0.6%).
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for natural honey is 0409.
Natural Honey Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of natural honey during 2023.
- mainland China: US$254.2 million (11.9% of natural honey exports)
- New Zealand: $243.3 million (11.4%)
- India: $170.9 million (8%)
- Argentina: $168.8 million (7.9%)
- Ukraine: $121.4 million (5.7%)
- Spain: $113.9 million (5.3%)
- Germany: $113.7 million (5.3%)
- Brazil: $85.3 million (4%)
- Belgium: $83.5 million (3.9%)
- Hungary: $70.9 million (3.3%)
- Mexico: $51.3 million (2.4%)
- Vietnam: $46.1 million (2.2%)
- Poland: $42.6 million (2%)
- Australia: $40.9 million (1.9%)
- Romania: $39.8 million (1.9%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 77.3% of all natural honey exported in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the most modest declining exporters of natural honey from 2022 to 2023 were: Spain (down -3.1%), Australia (down -5.1%), Germany (down -7.4%) and mainland China (down -8.4%).
Those countries that posted the greatest declines in their exported natural honey sales were led by: Mexico (down -52.9% from 2022), Brazil (down -38.2%), Argentina (down -26.5%), India (down -25.5%) and Romania (down -24%).
Searchable List of Natural Honey Exporting Countries in 2023
The following automated database presents the top 100 natural honey exporters ranked by purchases in descending order.
The fastest-growing sellers among the top 100 natural honey exporters were suppliers in Africa’s Ivory Coast (up 3,106% from 2022), Azerbaijan (up 326.3%), Afghanistan (up 285.7%), Kazakhstan (up 165.4%), Cyprus (up 145.5%) then Madagascar (up 129.5%).
| Rank | Exporter | Natural Honey Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | mainland China | $254,227,000 | -8.4% |
| 2. | New Zealand | $243,262,000 | -8.8% |
| 3. | India | $170,887,000 | -25.5% |
| 4. | Argentina | $168,787,000 | -26.5% |
| 5. | Ukraine | $121,384,000 | -12% |
| 6. | Spain | $113,872,000 | -3.1% |
| 7. | Germany | $113,669,000 | -7.4% |
| 8. | Brazil | $85,267,000 | -38.2% |
| 9. | Belgium | $83,483,000 | -11.4% |
| 10. | Hungary | $70,862,000 | -16.9% |
| 11. | Mexico | $51,339,000 | -52.9% |
| 12. | Vietnam | $46,053,000 | -24% |
| 13. | Poland | $42,606,000 | -19.6% |
| 14. | Australia | $40,852,000 | -5.1% |
| 15. | Romania | $39,812,000 | -24% |
| 16. | Bulgaria | $38,253,000 | -10.1% |
| 17. | Canada | $36,525,000 | -36.6% |
| 18. | Türkiye | $31,907,000 | -31% |
| 19. | France | $30,614,000 | -15.8% |
| 20. | Greece | $27,753,000 | -12.6% |
| 21. | Italy | $27,691,000 | -3% |
| 22. | United States | $27,071,000 | -15.7% |
| 23. | Thailand | $24,887,000 | -2% |
| 24. | Netherlands | $23,275,000 | +2.7% |
| 25. | Uruguay | $18,007,000 | -49.8% |
| 26. | Portugal | $17,269,000 | -35.2% |
| 27. | Cuba | $14,593,000 | -25.7% |
| 28. | Denmark | $14,236,000 | -3.9% |
| 29. | United Kingdom | $14,139,000 | -9.7% |
| 30. | Austria | $10,676,000 | +5.9% |
| 31. | Chile | $9,984,000 | -41.5% |
| 32. | Slovakia | $7,942,000 | -51.7% |
| 33. | Serbia | $7,500,000 | -25% |
| 34. | Pakistan | $7,099,000 | -13% |
| 35. | Czech Republic | $6,146,000 | +16.1% |
| 36. | Moldova | $6,014,000 | -53% |
| 37. | Lithuania | $5,987,000 | -22.7% |
| 38. | Egypt | $5,853,000 | -24.3% |
| 39. | Russia | $5,675,000 | +4% |
| 40. | Saudi Arabia | $5,073,000 | -80% |
| 41. | Sweden | $4,193,000 | +38.4% |
| 42. | Singapore | $3,522,000 | -15% |
| 43. | Switzerland | $3,521,000 | +7.8% |
| 44. | Croatia | $3,501,000 | +15.5% |
| 45. | Guatemala | $3,350,000 | -36.2% |
| 46. | Cambodia | $3,182,000 | +82.1% |
| 47. | Ireland | $3,127,000 | +57.2% |
| 48. | Nicaragua | $2,980,000 | +22.7% |
| 49. | Zambia | $2,933,000 | -52% |
| 50. | Myanmar | $2,872,000 | -6.5% |
| 51. | United Arab Emirates | $2,767,000 | -82.3% |
| 52. | South Africa | $2,184,000 | +0.2% |
| 53. | Norway | $1,947,000 | +51% |
| 54. | Hong Kong | $1,749,000 | +20% |
| 55. | Taiwan | $1,675,000 | +51% |
| 56. | Kyrgyzstan | $1,546,000 | +38.5% |
| 57. | Malaysia | $1,506,000 | +14.6% |
| 58. | El Salvador | $1,090,000 | -65.1% |
| 59. | Yemen | $985,000 | -84.6% |
| 60. | Indonesia | $947,000 | -83.7% |
| 61. | Tanzania | $849,000 | -39.4% |
| 62. | Georgia | $747,000 | -35.9% |
| 63. | Armenia | $606,000 | +47.4% |
| 64. | Kenya | $599,000 | +12.4% |
| 65. | Slovenia | $597,000 | -68.8% |
| 66. | Jordan | $547,000 | -12.9% |
| 67. | North Macedonia | $518,000 | +0.4% |
| 68. | Ivory Coast | $513,000 | +3106% |
| 69. | Dominican Republic | $424,000 | +10.7% |
| 70. | Estonia | $417,000 | +98.6% |
| 71. | Kazakhstan | $406,000 | +165.4% |
| 72. | Japan | $301,000 | +6.7% |
| 73. | Costa Rica | $277,000 | -29.2% |
| 74. | Iran | $276,000 | -95.7% |
| 75. | Lebanon | $236,000 | -57.2% |
| 76. | Bangladesh | $229,000 | -79.5% |
| 77. | Morocco | $226,000 | +1.8% |
| 78. | Kuwait | $211,000 | -84% |
| 79. | Sri Lanka | $210,000 | -65.3% |
| 80. | Israel | $200,000 | +51.5% |
| 81. | Namibia | $136,000 | +83.8% |
| 82. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $132,000 | -15.9% |
| 83. | Finland | $117,000 | -1.7% |
| 84. | Luxembourg | $114,000 | +1.8% |
| 85. | Ethiopia | $110,000 | -50% |
| 86. | Cyprus | $108,000 | +145.5% |
| 87. | Madagascar | $101,000 | +129.5% |
| 88. | South Korea | $101,000 | +17.4% |
| 89. | Azerbaijan | $81,000 | +326.3% |
| 90. | Uzbekistan | $74,000 | -61.5% |
| 91. | Oman | $67,000 | -96.6% |
| 92. | Belarus | $58,000 | -66.9% |
| 93. | Rwanda | $44,000 | -95.1% |
| 94. | Mozambique | $43,000 | +30.3% |
| 95. | Nepal | $32,000 | -80.7% |
| 96. | Andorra | $28,000 | -86.2% |
| 97. | Afghanistan | $27,000 | +285.7% |
| 98. | Macao | $27,000 | +42.1% |
| 99. | Montenegro | $25,000 | +108.3% |
| 100. | Bahrain | $24,000 | +20% |
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icons at the top of the above table’s columns. The right-most column highlights the percentage change in the value of exported natural honey from 2022 to 2023. (An entry of 0% in that column means no 2022 data is available.)
Countries Earning Largest Surpluses Trading Honey
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for natural honey 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 natural honey exports and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- New Zealand: US$242.9 million (net export surplus down -8.5% since 2022)
- mainland China: $190.7 million (down -7.6%)
- Argentina: $168.7 million (down -26.4%)
- India: $168.4 million (down -25.3%)
- Ukraine: $121.3 million (down -11.8%)
- Brazil: $85.3 million (down -38.2%)
- Hungary: $66.5 million (down -13.5%)
- Mexico: $51.3 million (down -52.9%)
- Spain: $47.2 million (up 68.9%)
- Vietnam: $44.5 million (down -25.5%)
- Türkiye: $31.8 million (down -31%)
- Bulgaria: $30.7 million (up 5%)
- Romania: $25.2 million (down -33.2%)
- Thailand: $18.8 million (down -5.8%)
- Uruguay: $18 million (down -49.8%)
New Zealand generated the highest surplus in the international trade of natural honey. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms the Oceanian nation’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Facing Worst Deficits Trading Honey
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for natural honey 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 natural honey import purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$557.6 million (net export deficit down -26.8% since 2022)
- Japan: -$144.7 million (down -14.2%)
- Germany: -$115 million (down -36.7%)
- United Kingdom: -$97.6 million (down -12.8%)
- France: -$85.3 million (down -18%)
- Italy: -$58.8 million (down -19.7%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$45.4 million (down -23.4%)
- Switzerland: -$40.6 million (down -4.7%)
- Netherlands: -$29.7 million (down -30%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$24.7 million (up 0.8%)
- South Korea: -$18.1 million (up 4.5%)
- Sweden: -$18 million (down -6%)
- Ireland: -$17.1 million (up 8.8%)
- Austria: -$16 million (down -15%)
- Singapore: -$15.9 million (down -22.2%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of natural honey. In turn, this negative cashflow confirms America’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for natural honey-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand from American consumers.
Natural Honey Exporting Companies
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following companies are also examples of natural honey-trading companies located in the country shown within parentheses.
- Capilano Honey Ltd (Australia)
- Caprilush International (Mexico)
- Duc Cuong Phat Company Limited (Vietnam)
- Dutch Golld Honey (United States)
- Groeb Farms, Inc (United States)
- Navrang SL (Spain)
- Nuxten Health Ltd (New Zealand)
- Rowse Honey Ltd (United Kingdom)
- Zanchetta Alimentos LTDA (Brazil)
- Zhejiang Jiangshan Bee Enterprise Co, Ltd (China)
In addition, here are 5 other multinational honey suppliers based on searches from global trade intelligence firm Zepol.
- Bee Honey (Vietnam)
- Compania Inversora Platens (Argentina)
- Honeyma (Argentina)
- Miel Mex (Mexico)
- Mieles Del Mayab (Mexico)
See also Natural Honey Imports by Country, Bananas Exports by Country, Sugar Exports by Country and Candy Sweets Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier information for natural honey. Accessed on August 28, 2024
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on August 28, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 28, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 28, 2024
Zepol’s company summary highlights by HTS code. Accessed on August 28, 2024
