That dollar metric results from a 42.8% increase for all pasta shippers compared to $10.5 billion five years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the value of globally exported pasta posted a 3.2% advance from $14.5 billion starting from 2022.
In general, this analysis encompasses both fresh and dried pasta.
In Italian cuisine, both fresh and dried pastas are used in 3 categories of prepared dishes. Cooked pasta is plated and accompanied with sauce or condiments. Another type is pasta that is part of a soup dish. A third category is pasta incorporated into a baked dish.
Once again, the 5 biggest exporters of pasta are Italy, mainland China, South Korea, Türkiye and Thailand. Combined, that cohort of major suppliers collected over half (56.2%) of exported pasta by value in 2023.
From a continental perspective, suppliers located in European countries sold the highest dollar worth of exported pasta during 2023 with shipments valued at $8 billion or 53.1% of the global total. In second place were Asian exporters at 37.5% while another 4.6% of international pasta shipments originated from North America.
Smaller percentages came from sellers in Africa (3.2%), Latin America (1.4%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.2%) led by New Zealand, Fiji and Australia.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 1902 including both cooked and uncooked pasta.
Our calculations show that uncooked pasta represents 55.4% of total exported pasta in 2023 compared to 44.6% for 2023.
Note that World Pasta Day is celebrated each October 25.
Top Pasta Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of pasta during 2023.
- Italy: US$4.4 billion (29.6% of total pasta exports)
- mainland China: $1.21 billion (8.1%)
- South Korea: $1.18 billion (7.9%)
- Türkiye: $907.5 million (6%)
- Thailand: $689.7 million (4.6%)
- Germany: $470.7 million (3.1%)
- United States: $462.3 million (3.1%)
- Belgium: $449.8 million (3%)
- Netherlands: $410.8 million (2.7%)
- Indonesia: $409.1 million (2.7%)
- Vietnam: $345.2 million (2.3%)
- France: $274.3 million (1.8%)
- Spain: $264.7 million (1.8%)
- Austria: $239.9 million (1.6%)
- Hungary: $192.5 million (1.3%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 79.6% of global pasta exported in 2023.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing pasta exporters since 2022 were: Austria (up 24.5%), South Korea (up 20.8%), Hungary (up 18.9%) and Indonesia (up 18%).
Two major suppliers posted declines in their exported pasta sales namely Vietnam (down -25.7% from 2022) and Türkiye (down -5.9%).
Searchable List of Pasta Exporting Countries in 2023
The 100 key exporters of pasta in the following automated database account for 99.9% of the value of pasta sold on international markets during 2023.
| Rank | Exporter | Pasta Exports | 2022-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Italy | $4,435,448,000 | +6.4% |
| 2. | mainland China | $1,211,163,000 | +1.3% |
| 3. | South Korea | $1,181,957,000 | +20.8% |
| 4. | Türkiye | $907,497,000 | -5.9% |
| 5. | Thailand | $689,676,000 | +4% |
| 6. | Germany | $470,702,000 | +17.3% |
| 7. | United States | $462,262,000 | +5.3% |
| 8. | Belgium | $449,761,000 | +8.9% |
| 9. | Netherlands | $410,844,000 | +13% |
| 10. | Indonesia | $409,050,000 | +18% |
| 11. | Vietnam | $345,234,000 | -25.7% |
| 12. | France | $274,336,000 | +8.3% |
| 13. | Spain | $264,749,000 | +7% |
| 14. | Austria | $239,932,000 | +24.5% |
| 15. | Hungary | $192,500,000 | +18.9% |
| 16. | Poland | $184,789,000 | +2.6% |
| 17. | Canada | $175,436,000 | +5.2% |
| 18. | Japan | $171,718,000 | +0.1% |
| 19. | Egypt | $127,811,000 | +87% |
| 20. | Lithuania | $118,029,000 | +15.8% |
| 21. | Taiwan | $112,150,000 | -0.6% |
| 22. | Malaysia | $110,638,000 | -2.2% |
| 23. | Greece | $103,089,000 | +17.4% |
| 24. | Czech Republic | $97,685,000 | -2.3% |
| 25. | Switzerland | $96,299,000 | +11.2% |
| 26. | Morocco | $92,334,000 | +21.1% |
| 27. | Singapore | $83,575,000 | +14.2% |
| 28. | Hong Kong | $78,363,000 | -8.9% |
| 29. | Russia | $75,911,000 | -22.4% |
| 30. | Kazakhstan | $65,590,000 | -21.3% |
| 31. | United Kingdom | $65,147,000 | -1.2% |
| 32. | Tunisia | $61,185,000 | -15% |
| 33. | Serbia | $60,869,000 | +11.4% |
| 34. | Latvia | $60,149,000 | +20.8% |
| 35. | Denmark | $58,358,000 | +24.5% |
| 36. | Ireland | $54,922,000 | +11.4% |
| 37. | Ukraine | $52,880,000 | +33% |
| 38. | Mexico | $47,403,000 | +41.1% |
| 39. | India | $46,401,000 | +8.3% |
| 40. | Ivory Coast | $45,249,000 | +25.8% |
| 41. | Portugal | $44,112,000 | +21.5% |
| 42. | Guatemala | $43,485,000 | +18.9% |
| 43. | Philippines | $39,018,000 | +9.1% |
| 44. | South Africa | $38,992,000 | +14.7% |
| 45. | Saudi Arabia | $38,695,000 | -87.2% |
| 46. | Peru | $34,672,000 | +5.8% |
| 47. | Sweden | $33,684,000 | +16.8% |
| 48. | Croatia | $33,573,000 | +17% |
| 49. | Bangladesh | $32,034,000 | +19.1% |
| 50. | Eswatini | $31,969,000 | +57.9% |
| 51. | Costa Rica | $30,856,000 | +13.3% |
| 52. | Romania | $26,234,000 | +11.5% |
| 53. | Brazil | $26,132,000 | +25.5% |
| 54. | Argentina | $23,100,000 | +138.7% |
| 55. | Dominican Republic | $22,986,000 | +27.6% |
| 56. | Mozambique | $21,505,000 | +23.7% |
| 57. | Slovakia | $20,395,000 | +39.4% |
| 58. | Jordan | $18,969,000 | -18.8% |
| 59. | Pakistan | $18,389,000 | -38.4% |
| 60. | Namibia | $17,086,000 | -44.6% |
| 61. | United Arab Emirates | $16,579,000 | -77.9% |
| 62. | Slovenia | $13,545,000 | +2.1% |
| 63. | Nepal | $12,176,000 | -17.9% |
| 64. | New Zealand | $10,547,000 | -15.3% |
| 65. | Mauritius | $9,745,000 | +72.4% |
| 66. | Fiji | $8,493,000 | +11.3% |
| 67. | Australia | $8,206,000 | +25.6% |
| 68. | Kyrgyzstan | $7,819,000 | -8.5% |
| 69. | Chile | $7,673,000 | +21.2% |
| 70. | Kenya | $6,435,000 | +26.1% |
| 71. | Estonia | $6,295,000 | +11.3% |
| 72. | Senegal | $5,790,000 | -1% |
| 73. | Djibouti | $5,053,000 | +55.6% |
| 74. | Bolivia | $5,026,000 | -3.6% |
| 75. | Israel | $4,889,000 | -21.1% |
| 76. | Luxembourg | $4,277,000 | +30% |
| 77. | Algeria | $4,198,000 | -37.4% |
| 78. | Tanzania | $4,108,000 | +168% |
| 79. | Colombia | $3,962,000 | +4.6% |
| 80. | Iran | $3,603,000 | -94.3% |
| 81. | Togo | $3,597,000 | +24.8% |
| 82. | Sri Lanka | $3,391,000 | +14.9% |
| 83. | Bulgaria | $3,361,000 | -18.2% |
| 84. | Ghana | $3,361,000 | -17.7% |
| 85. | Finland | $3,308,000 | +12.4% |
| 86. | Cambodia | $3,108,000 | -15.1% |
| 87. | Azerbaijan | $2,833,000 | +103.1% |
| 88. | Ecuador | $2,687,000 | -17.3% |
| 89. | Trinidad/Tobago | $2,686,000 | +15.4% |
| 90. | Panama | $2,584,000 | +68.3% |
| 91. | Uruguay | $2,546,000 | +107.3% |
| 92. | Guyana | $2,528,000 | +367.3% |
| 93. | Myanmar | $2,447,000 | -6% |
| 94. | Oman | $2,396,000 | -89.7% |
| 95. | Armenia | $1,894,000 | +30.1% |
| 96. | El Salvador | $1,801,000 | -16% |
| 97. | Nigeria | $1,737,000 | -18.1% |
| 98. | Lebanon | $1,736,000 | -74% |
| 99. | Uzbekistan | $1,733,000 | -8% |
| 100. | Niger | $1,729,000 | -39.2% |
Focusing on the 100 main pasta exporters, the greatest gains belong to Guyana (up 367.3%), Tanzania (up 168%), Argentina (up 138.7%), Uruguay (up 107.3%) then Azerbaijan (up 103.1%).
You can change the presentation order in the above table by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2022 data was unavailable.
Countries Reaping Largest Trade Surpluses from Pasta
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for pasta 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 pasta and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- Italy: US$4.3 billion (net export surplus up 6.8% since 2022)
- South Korea: $939.1 million (up 26.4%)
- Türkiye: $892.6 million (down -6.3%)
- mainland China: $813.9 million (down -2.7%)
- Thailand: $623.4 million (up 3.5%)
- Indonesia: $368.1 million (up 25.5%)
- Vietnam: $282.5 million (down -31.8%)
- Hungary: $135.1 million (up 22%)
- Egypt: $125.2 million (up 92.1%)
- Lithuania: $84.5 million (up 19.2%)
- Belgium: $76.6 million (down -7.8%)
- Morocco: $67.3 million (up 14%)
- Greece: $62.1 million (up 23%)
- Tunisia: $57.7 million (down -12.4%)
- Serbia: $44.6 million (up 15.8%)
World leader Italy generated the highest surplus in the international trade of pasta. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms Italy’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Facing Largest Trade Deficits from Pasta
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for pasta 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 pasta purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- United States: -US$1.2 billion (net export deficit down -5.8% since 2022)
- United Kingdom: -$1 billion (up 6.9%)
- France: -$794.2 million (up 7.8%)
- Germany: -$782.4 million (up 12.2%)
- Canada: -$450.5 million (down -0.1%)
- Australia: -$317.6 million (down -0.6%)
- Japan: -$282.7 million (up 0.2%)
- Hong Kong: -$264 million (up 9.5%)
- Netherlands: -$199.5 million (down -2%)
- Sweden: -$163.1 million (down -5.8%)
- Somalia: -$144.4 million (up 23.7%)
- Switzerland: -$112.8 million (up 5%)
- Malaysia: -$108 million (down -3.4%)
- Finland: -$102.5 million (up 16.4%)
- Portugal: -$101.2 million (up 7.9%)
The United States of America incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of pasta. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights America’s competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for pasta-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Pasta Exporting Companies
Below are global pasta-processing businesses that represent established players engaged in the international trade of pasta. Their home country is shown within parenthesis.
- A. Zerega’s Sons, Inc (United States)
- Barilla Group (Italy)
- Buitoni (Italy)
- Colavita (Italy)
- Dakota Growers Pasta Company (United States)
- De Cecco (Italy)
- Divella (Italy)
- Ebro Foods (Spain)
- La Molisana (Italy)
- New World Pasta Company (United States)
- San Remo Macaroni Co (Australia)
- V. La Rosa and Sons Macaroni Co. (United States)
See also Cheese Exports by Country, Wine Importing Countries, International Markets for Imported Tomatoes by Country and Butter Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on August 16, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 16, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 16, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 16, 2024
Wikipedia, Category:Pasta companies. Accessed on August 16, 2024