Lettuce salad (Pixabay.com)

Globally, lettuce exports by country totaled US$3.51 billion in 2025.

That dollar amount results from an average 4.9% gain for all lettuce shippers over a five-year period starting from $3.34 billion in 2021.

Year over year, worldwide sales of exported lettuce fell by -3.4% compared to $3.63 billion in revenues for 2024.

The 5 most lucrative suppliers of lettuce on international markets are Spain, United States of America, Mexico, Netherlands and mainland China. Combined, that quintet of leading exporters generated over three-quarters (76.6%) of globally exported lettuce during 2025.

Among continents, suppliers in European countries sold the highest dollar worth of exported lettuce during 2025 with shipments valued at $2.1 billion or over half (58.6%) of the worldwide total. In second place were exporters located in North America at 30% with another 10% of international lettuce shipments originating from Asia.

Smaller percentages came from sellers in Africa (0.9%), Latin America (0.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.1%) mostly Australia and, to a lesser extent, New Zealand.

For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 0705 for fresh or chilled lettuce.

Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of lettuce during 2025.

1. Spain: US$1.1 billion (32.4% of total lettuce exports)
2. United States: $595.1 million (17%)
3. Mexico: $380.8 million (10.9%)
4. Netherlands: $296.4 million (8.5%)
5. mainland China: $276.6 million (7.9%)
6. Italy: $256.9 million (7.3%)
7. France: $92.6 million (2.6%)
8. Canada: $76.8 million (2.2%)
9. Belgium: $64.2 million (1.8%)
10. Germany: $61.3 million (1.7%)
11. Poland: $36.2 million (1%)
12. Egypt: $26.2 million (0.7%)
13. Malaysia: $23.5 million (0.7%)
14. Portugal: $16.8 million (0.5%)
15. Hungary: $15.6 million (0.4%)

Countries Generating Best Trade Surpluses from Lettuce

The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for lettuce during 2025. 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 lettuce and its import purchases for that same commodity.

1. Spain: US$1.1 billion (net export surplus up 8.8% since 2024)
2. Mexico: $334 million (down -22.3%)
3. mainland China: $276.6 million (down -7.9%)
4. Netherlands: $182.8 million (down -13%)
5. United States: $136 million (up 178.9%)
6. Italy: $102.1 million (up 5.3%)
7. Egypt: $26.1 million (up 9.1%)
8. Malaysia: $16.3 million (up 5.6%)
9. Iran: $10.8 million (down -49.3%)
10. Guatemala: $9.3 million (up 0.3%)
11. Jordan: $8.1 million (down -16.2%)
12. Australia: $4.1 million (up 19.5%)
13. Türkiye: $2.5 million (up 40%)
14. South Africa: $2.2 million (up 6.7%)
15. Indonesia: $1.8 million (up 16%)

World-leading lettuce supplier Spain generated the highest surplus in the international trade of lettuce. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms strong Spanish competitive advantages for this specific product category.

Countries Experiencing Worst Trade Deficits from Lettuce

The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for lettuce during 2025. 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 lettuce purchases and its exports for that same commodity.

1. Germany: -US$482.6 million (net export deficit up 5.3% since 2024)
2. Canada: -$429.2 million (down -8.4%)
3. United Kingdom: -$246 million (up 5.7%)
4. France: -$110.1 million (up 17.6%)
5. Poland: -$76.9 million (up 9.3%)
6. Austria: -$74.6 million (up 3.2%)
7. Switzerland: -$72 million (down -1.2%)
8. Sweden: -$46.5 million (up 5.4%)
9. Vietnam: -$44.4 million (up 900.2%)
10. Saudi Arabia: -$40.2 million (down -6.3%)
11. Denmark: -$33.7 million (down -2.2%)
12. Czech Republic: -$31.3 million (down -1.5%)
13. Slovakia: -$31 million (down -1.8%)
14. Finland: -$30.9 million (up 5.1%)
15. Thailand: -$30.3 million (up 34.9%)

Germany and Canada incurred the highest deficits in the international trade of lettuce. In turn, those negative cashflows highlight both countries’ competitive disadvantages for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for supplier countries that help satisfy the powerful consumer demand for lettuce particularly in those two nations.

Lettuce Exporting Companies

According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following suppliers are examples of lettuce-trading exporters. The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.

• AA Group, S. Coop (Spain)
• Algo Imports & Exports (United States)
• Bhuvani Exports (India)
• Javema Holdings Pty Ltd (South Africa)
• Partners for Import Export Trading Agencies & General Supplies (Egypt)
• PC Suppliers Company Ltd (Thailand)
• Tunisia Trade Partners (Tunisia)
• Yunnan Chuntian Agricultural Products (China)