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Cotton sewing threadsGlobal purchases of imported cotton cost a total US$45.3 billion in 2025.
Overall, the value of cotton bought by all importing countries deflated by an average -17.6% from 5 years earlier in 2021 when globally imported cotton was valued at $54.9 billion.
Year over year, the value of worldwide cotton imports slowed by -3.2% compared to $46.8 billion starting from 2024.
The 5 biggest buyers of imported cotton are Bangladesh, mainland China, Vietnam, Türkiye and India. Collectively, that quintet bought almost half (49.4%) of worldwide spending on cotton imported in 2025.
From a continental perspective, countries located in Asia bought over two-thirds (67.9%) of overall cotton imports.
Smaller percentages of the global total were imported by cotton buyers based in Europe (11.6%), Africa (10%), Latin America (7.2%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, North America (3.2%) then Oceania (0.2%) led by Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
For research purposes, the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System code for cotton is 52. This broad category includes raw cotton, cotton yarn, thread and woven fabrics.
Below are the 15 countries that purchased the highest dollar value worth of imported cotton during 2025.
- Bangladesh: US$7.5 billion (16.6% of total imported cotton)
- mainland China: $5.6 billion (12.4%)
- Vietnam: $4.7 billion (10.5%)
- Türkiye: $2.3 billion (5%)
- India: $2.2 billion (4.9%)
- Pakistan: $2.1 billion (4.6%)
- Indonesia: $1.4 billion (3.1%)
- Egypt: $1 billion (2.3%)
- Nigeria: $936.98 million (2.1%)
- Italy: $911.51 million (2%)
- Cambodia: $826.1 million (1.8%)
- United States: $747.9 million (1.7%)
- Honduras: $736.4 million (1.6%)
- South Korea: $692.5 million (1.5%)
- Mexico: $608.8 million (1.3%)
By value, the listed 15 countries purchased 71.4% of all cotton imported in 2025.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for cotton from 2024 to 2025 were: Honduras (up 5,726%), Nigeria (up 1,990%), Pakistan (up 128.4%) and India (up 80.8%).
Those countries that posted year-over-year declines in their imported cotton purchases were led by: mainland China (down -39.8%), Mexico (down -24.5%), South Korea (down -11.9%) and Bangladesh (down -9.8%).
The 100 major importers of cotton in the table below represent 99.2% of the overall amount spent on imported cotton during 2025.
| 1 | Bangladesh | $7,527,275,000 | -9.8% |
| 2 | mainland China | $5,619,724,000 | -39.8% |
| 3 | Vietnam | $4,744,474,000 | +5.5% |
| 4 | Türkiye | $2,276,481,000 | -4.3% |
| 5 | India | $2,203,265,000 | +80.8% |
| 6 | Pakistan | $2,070,257,000 | +128.4% |
| 7 | Indonesia | $1,396,985,000 | -6.4% |
| 8 | Egypt | $1,019,344,000 | +17.4% |
| 9 | Nigeria | $936,982,000 | +1990% |
| 10 | Italy | $911,509,000 | -6.7% |
| 11 | Cambodia | $826,122,000 | +7.8% |
| 12 | United States | $747,907,000 | -8.2% |
| 13 | Honduras | $736,419,000 | +5726% |
| 14 | South Korea | $692,544,000 | -11.9% |
| 15 | Mexico | $608,758,000 | -24.5% |
| 16 | Germany | $599,871,000 | -5.5% |
| 17 | Morocco | $585,760,000 | +0.8% |
| 18 | Sri Lanka | $562,047,000 | -6% |
| 19 | Portugal | $532,108,000 | -5.9% |
| 20 | Thailand | $481,858,000 | -1.7% |
| 21 | Colombia | $473,803,000 | +6% |
| 22 | Spain | $420,741,000 | +3.3% |
| 23 | Peru | $419,503,000 | +15.8% |
| 24 | Tunisia | $419,282,000 | -28% |
| 25 | France | $413,417,000 | +2.2% |
| 26 | Guatemala | $394,680,000 | -16.3% |
| 27 | Malaysia | $391,628,000 | +2.6% |
| 28 | Japan | $369,649,000 | -1.2% |
| 29 | Dominican Republic | $341,449,000 | -10.3% |
| 30 | United Arab Emirates | $287,639,000 | +64.2% |
| 31 | Myanmar | $284,745,000 | +132.1% |
| 32 | United Kingdom | $245,861,000 | +2.7% |
| 33 | Austria | $223,077,000 | -15.3% |
| 34 | Russia | $204,072,000 | -71% |
| 35 | Ghana | $203,095,000 | +530.8% |
| 36 | Hong Kong | $202,024,000 | -21.7% |
| 37 | Mali | $200,839,000 | +1710% |
| 38 | Poland | $190,618,000 | -17.4% |
| 39 | Romania | $189,011,000 | -9.7% |
| 40 | Netherlands | $184,991,000 | +5.3% |
| 41 | El Salvador | $158,675,000 | -25.6% |
| 42 | Brazil | $148,854,000 | -22.3% |
| 43 | Gambia | $134,079,000 | +25734% |
| 44 | South Africa | $131,908,000 | -8.3% |
| 45 | Belgium | $127,763,000 | -11.2% |
| 46 | Bulgaria | $127,532,000 | +2.8% |
| 47 | Czech Republic | $117,129,000 | -1.5% |
| 48 | Madagascar | $115,197,000 | -9.7% |
| 49 | Taiwan | $114,422,000 | -20.4% |
| 50 | Nicaragua | $109,507,000 | +11.3% |
| 51 | Mauritius | $104,433,000 | -9.2% |
| 52 | Haiti | $97,554,000 | -20.8% |
| 53 | Algeria | $92,881,000 | +50.9% |
| 54 | Canada | $92,316,000 | +1.2% |
| 55 | Philippines | $90,801,000 | +22.6% |
| 56 | Argentina | $86,105,000 | +58.8% |
| 57 | Nepal | $84,551,000 | +2.2% |
| 58 | Switzerland | $79,846,000 | -7.9% |
| 59 | Jordan | $77,381,000 | +211.8% |
| 60 | Greece | $71,531,000 | -11.1% |
| 61 | Iran | $69,565,000 | -75% |
| 62 | Paraguay | $65,704,000 | +10.3% |
| 63 | Ukraine | $62,550,000 | -42.6% |
| 64 | Kenya | $62,109,000 | -0.1% |
| 65 | Denmark | $55,817,000 | +9% |
| 66 | Costa Rica | $55,165,000 | +10% |
| 67 | Ecuador | $53,940,000 | -16% |
| 68 | Togo | $50,225,000 | +31.1% |
| 69 | Guinea | $49,579,000 | +15.3% |
| 70 | Serbia | $48,702,000 | -11.5% |
| 71 | Hungary | $47,874,000 | -12.9% |
| 72 | Albania | $45,199,000 | -6.9% |
| 73 | Australia | $43,068,000 | -6.5% |
| 74 | North Macedonia | $42,515,000 | -14.5% |
| 75 | Chile | $42,511,000 | +9.3% |
| 76 | Lithuania | $41,447,000 | -8.1% |
| 77 | Israel | $41,060,000 | -11.7% |
| 78 | Uzbekistan | $40,899,000 | +36.7% |
| 79 | Sweden | $37,497,000 | +32.8% |
| 80 | Ivory Coast | $36,075,000 | +14% |
| 81 | Cameroon | $34,400,000 | +30.7% |
| 82 | Saudi Arabia | $34,047,000 | -4.3% |
| 83 | Mauritania | $33,764,000 | +101.4% |
| 84 | Belarus | $32,972,000 | -35.7% |
| 85 | Lesotho | $32,185,000 | -26.2% |
| 86 | Kazakhstan | $31,452,000 | -37.4% |
| 87 | Venezuela | $31,011,000 | -5% |
| 88 | Croatia | $30,996,000 | -5% |
| 89 | Estonia | $30,071,000 | +14.7% |
| 90 | Tanzania | $28,251,000 | -5.9% |
| 91 | Sudan | $24,747,000 | -44.1% |
| 92 | Eswatini | $23,603,000 | -64.9% |
| 93 | Moldova | $22,402,000 | +0.6% |
| 94 | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $20,988,000 | -5.7% |
| 95 | Benin | $19,558,000 | -0.9% |
| 96 | Syria | $19,146,000 | +40.1% |
| 97 | Congo | $18,826,000 | +2182% |
| 98 | Slovakia | $18,762,000 | -25.5% |
| 99 | Norway | $18,565,000 | +5.8% |
| 100 | Afghanistan | $17,857,000 | -54.1% |
Enlarging the scope to encompass the 100 major importers, the strongest increases in purchases of imported cotton were posted by buyers in: Gambia (up 25,734% from 2024), Honduras (up 5,726%), Congo (up 2,182%), Nigeria (up 1,990%), Mali (up 1,710%) and Ghana (up 530.8%).
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the above table’s columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means 2024 data was unavailable.
See also Cotton Exports by Country, T-shirt Exports by Country, Leather Shoes Exports by Country, Top Exported Hats by Country and Top Exported Baby Clothing Sales by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on August 11, 2026
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 11, 2026
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 11, 2026
Wikipedia, Cotton. Accessed on August 11, 2026
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