Cotton: Movement
How Brazil overtook America as top exporter
What this tab covers How it flows between countries: the largest bilateral trade routes drawn on a world map, 2024 UN Comtrade export and import values with the top exporters and importers by share, plus shipping routes, chokepoints and trade restrictions.UN Comtrade data for raw cotton (HS 5201) show $16.7 billion of exports in 2024. Brazil supplied 30.9% by value, just ahead of the United States at 30.0%, with Australia third at 14.5%. China was by far the largest buyer, taking 46.9% of imports, followed by Türkiye (13.5%), India (8.7%), Indonesia (7.2%) and Pakistan (6.6%). Radetzki & Wårell found the top five exporters held 81% of world cotton exports in 2015-2017, with the United States then the largest. Geman notes that China swings between importer and exporter depending on its crop. US forced-labour rules on Xinjiang-linked goods are reshaping supply chains.
Main trade routes, 2024
Chart: World map of the largest trade flows
Exporter (size = share of world exports) Importer (share of world imports) Largest bilateral flows (width = value) Shipping chokepoint UN Comtrade 2024, reported exports by the top four exporters of each traded form to their partners (US$). Bubbles: shares of reported world exports and imports for the main traded form. Hover a line or circle for values.