That dollar amount results from a 40.3% increase from 5 years earlier in 2019 when hat exports were worth $10 billion.
Year over year, the overall value of exported hats dropped by -5.3% compared to $14.8 billion during 2022.
The world’s top 3 exporters of hats are mainland China, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Combined, that trio of major suppliers generated almost three-fifths (57.1%) of total international sales for hats during 2023.
Below, we look at the main exporting countries for different types of hats.
Exported Hats Made From Different Types of Materials
Hats are worn for diverse reasons, encompassing protection against the weather, religious purposes, ceremonial celebrations such as graduation, as well as for safety, status symbols and fashion accessories.
Exported hats are made from a wide range of materials. The following percentages provide a gauge of international demand for the materials which the most popular hats are made from.
Roughly three-fifths (60.7%) of globally exported hats in 2023 was knitted or crocheted headgear made from textile fabric including lace and felt. Trailing that at 35.6% was miscellaneous headgear, well ahead of headgear constructed by assembling strips from any material, the later representing another 3.7%.
From a continental perspective, $9.7 billion or nearly three-quarters (64.7%) worth of globally exported hats during 2023 originated from Asia, outpacing suppliers located in Europe (28.8%) and North America (5.3%).
Sellers in Latin America plus the Caribbean was responsible for another 0.7% in international hat sales, ahead of 0.4% for exporters in Africa, and 0.2% for shippers in Oceania led by Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 650500 for knitted or crocheted headgear or made from lace, felt or other textile fabric. The 6 HTS digits are 650610 for safety headgear, 650699 for the catchall category and 650691 for bathing caps. For headgear constructed by assembling strip of any material, the 4-digit HTS prefix is 6504.
Exported Hats by Country: Overall
Below are the 25 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of hats shipped during 2023.
- mainland China: US$5.9 billion (41.6% of total exported hats)
- Vietnam: $1.2 billion (8.7%)
- Bangladesh: $945 million (6.7%)
- Italy: $736.1 million (5.2%)
- Germany: $706.1 million (5%)
- Netherlands: $595 million (4.2%)
- France: $474.2 million (3.4%)
- United States: $385.5 million (2.7%)
- Belgium: $324 million (2.3%)
- Poland: $266 million (1.9%)
- Mexico: $252.4 million (1.8%)
- Spain: $202.4 million (1.4%)
- United Kingdom: $156.3 million (1.1%)
- Hong Kong: $138.6 million (1%)
- Indonesia: $121.8 million (0.9%)
- Türkiye: $115.4 million (0.8%)
- Denmark: $111.6 million (0.8%)
- Czech Republic: $106.4 million (0.8%)
- Sweden: $92.4 million (0.7%)
- South Korea: $87.7 million (0.6%)
- Myanmar: $83.7 million (0.6%)
- Austria: $81.1 million (0.6%)
- Cambodia: $75.2 million (0.5%)
- Taiwan: $69.2 million (0.5%)
- Canada: $64.9 million (0.5%)
By value, the above countries produced 94.4% of overall exports for hats in 2023.
The greatest increases in the overall sales of hats since 2019 belonged to providers in Vietnam (up 110.5%), United States of America (up 95.8%), France (up 81.8%), Bangladesh (up 63%) then Germany (up 58%).
There was a pair of decliners over the 5-year period namely Hong Kong (down -38.1% from 2019) and Sweden (down -0.9%).
Hats Exports by Country: Knitted/Crocheted, Lace, Felt, Other Textile
Below are the 25 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of hats made from knitted or crocheted fabric, lace, felt or other textile material and that was shipped during 2023.
- mainland China: US$3.7 billion (42.9% of textile fabric headgear)
- Vietnam: $825.8 million (9.7%)
- Bangladesh: $628.7 million (7.4%)
- Italy: $443 million (5.2%)
- Germany: $429.4 million (5%)
- Netherlands: $356.1 million (4.2%)
- France: $255.4 million (3%)
- United States: $191.8 million (2.2%)
- Belgium: $191.7 million (2.2%)
- Poland: $158.6 million (1.9%)
- Mexico: $152.6 million (1.8%)
- Spain: $104.1 million (1.2%)
- United Kingdom: $85 million (1%)
- Hong Kong: $69 million (0.8%)
- Indonesia: $57.9 million (0.7%)
- Türkiye: $56 million (0.7%)
- Denmark: $55.1 million (0.6%)
- Czech Republic: $53.2 million (0.6%)
- Sweden: $47.3 million (0.6%)
- South Korea: $47 million (0.6%)
- Myanmar: $43.6 million (0.5%)
- Austria: $43 million (0.5%)
- Cambodia: $38.1 million (0.4%)
- Taiwan: $37.1 million (0.4%)
- Canada: $36.9 million (0.4%)
By value, the above countries produced 94.5% of textile fabric hats in 2023 including knitted or crocheted headgear.
Leading the gainers since 2019 were: Vietnam (up 155%), Myanmar (up 119.9%), Mexico (up 95.4%), France (up 89.7%), Bangladesh (up 89.5%) then the United States of America (up 88.1%).
Top suppliers that posted the severest declines over the 5-year period were Hong Kong (down -33.9%), Taiwan (down -18.7%), United Kingdom (down -16.1%), Canada (down -13.4%) and South Korea (down -3.1%).
Hats Exports by Country: Plaited or Strip-Assembled
Below are the 25 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of hats plaited or assembled from strips regardless of material and that was shipped during 2023.
- mainland China: US$262.7 million (50.2% of hats assembled from strips)
- Mexico: $45.2 million (8.6%)
- Italy: $25 million (4.8%)
- United States: $17.97 million (3.4%)
- Greece: $17.95 million (3.4%)
- Germany: $14.3 million (2.7%)
- France: $14.2 million (2.7%)
- Belgium: $13.5 million (2.6%)
- Netherlands: $10.5 million (2%)
- Spain: $10.3 million (2%)
- Ecuador: $9.1 million (1.7%)
- Sweden: $9 million (1.7%)
- Vietnam: $8.5 million (1.6%)
- Poland: $8.4 million (1.6%)
- United Kingdom: $6.4 million (1.2%)
- Türkiye: $5.8 million (1.1%)
- Bangladesh: $4.2 million (0.8%)
- Slovakia: $3.3 million (0.6%)
- Panama: $3 million (0.6%)
- Sri Lanka: $2.6 million (0.5%)
- Indonesia: $2.2 million (0.4%)
- Madagascar: $2 million (0.4%)
- South Africa: $1.7 million (0.3%)
- South Korea: $1.4 million (0.3%)
- Bulgaria: $1.4 million (0.3%)
By value, the above countries produced 95.7% of hats plaited or assembled from strips in 2023.
Leading the gainers since 2019 were: Greece (up 1,365%), South Korea (up 460.5%), Belgium (up 238.1%), Sweden (up 189.1%), Poland (up 147.5%) then Mexico (up 142.2%).
The value of exports for plaited or strip-assembled headgear declined by double-digits for: Vietnam (down -41.6% from 2019), Sri Lanka (down -36.1%), United Kingdom (down -35.8%) then South Africa (down -26.7%).
Hats Exports by Country: Miscellaneous Headgear
Below are the 25 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of miscellaneous headgear that was shipped during 2023. These include safety hats and bathing caps but specifically exclude hair nets.
- mainland China: US$1.9 billion (38.6% of miscellaneous headgear)
- Germany: $358.3 million (7.2%)
- France: $291.3 million (5.8%)
- Italy: $275.1 million (5.5%)
- United States: $258.8 million (5.2%)
- Japan: $224.7 million (4.5%)
- Netherlands: $204.5 million (4.1%)
- Vietnam: $180.2 million (3.6%)
- Poland: $121.7 million (2.4%)
- Spain: $97.1 million (1.9%)
- Belgium: $90.7 million (1.8%)
- Austria: $89.3 million (1.8%)
- India: $62.7 million (1.3%)
- United Kingdom: $61.2 million (1.2%)
- Malaysia: $57.4 million (1.1%)
- Mexico: $53.6 million (1.1%)
- Czech Republic: $52.3 million (1%)
- Sweden: $49.8 million (1%)
- South Korea: $42.1 million (0.8%)
- Canada: $38.1 million (0.8%)
- Thailand: $37.8 million (0.8%)
- Taiwan: $36.1 million (0.7%)
- Portugal: $35.4 million (0.7%)
- Türkiye: $30.7 million (0.6%)
- Croatia: $26.6 million (0.5%)
By value, the above countries supplied 94.2% of miscellaneous headgear exported during 2023.
Leading the gainers since 2019 were: Türkiye (up 555.6%), India (up 138.3%), Croatia (up 117.2%), Vietnam (up 98.2%) then Poland (up 81.5%).
Recording double-digit declines over the 5-year period were suppliers in: United Kingdom (down -47.3% from 2019), South Korea (down -28.6%), Taiwan (down -21.4%) and Mexico (down -13.9%).
See also T-shirt Exports by Country, Top Exported Baby Clothing Sales and Top Sewing Threads Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on October 16, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 16, 2024
Wikipedia, Hat. Accessed on October 16, 2024