Coconut oil which is considered a superfood in the Asia Pacific region and the Islands (South Pacific and Papua New Guinea)  has also been a main source of revenue in these regions and the rest of the world through the sale of coconut oils.  And again, the same coconut fruit is used to obtain other traded commodities like coconut milk, Juice, water, and creams.

Back in the US 72% of Americans, classified coconut oil as a healthy food, including 37% of nutrition experts. The same claim has been validated by numerous research studies and even recent publications affirming the health benefits of coconut oil.

The global virgin coconut oil market is expected to grow at about a 10.04% cumulative annual growth rate from 2020 to 2027. The market is valued at over $1,250 million in 2019 expected to reach about $2,870 million by the year 2027. 

Health Benefits As A Contributing Factor To Global Importation

Coconut oil is well known to provide endless health benefits as a functional food and widely used in traditional medicines in Asia and the Pacific region. With the outstanding health benefits, coupled with the emergence of the use of organic products as a new preference explains the dramatic export growth of coconut oil in the global market.

Many health enthusiasts today are now shifting towards a more organic and clean way of eating. Coconut oil is widely used in Keto diets and also used in the production of fitness products.

Industrial Contribution To the Value Import

Apart from the food industry, coconut oil is well used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. In the cosmetic industry, the oil is used in hair cream, body lotions, and even lipsticks. For the pharmaceutical industry, many companies are now drifting towards the production of Bio-pharma products with the use of healthy vegetable oils like coconut oil.

Major Exporters

The top key exporters of coconut oil globally are the Philippines, Indonesia, Netherlands, and Malaysia. The Philippines stands at the forefront with an export market share of 24.9%, followed by Indonesia, Netherlands, and Malaysia with an export market share of 21.9%, 18.9% 10.1% respectively. All four countries combined control over 75.8% of the market share as of 2019 (Sources: ITC calculations based on UN COMTRADE and ITC statistics.)

Despite the data provided for the export values of coconut oil, our main focus here is for the top importers of coconut oil around the world.

Top 10 global Importers of coconut oil

Below is the list of the top importers of coconut oil by market share.

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The United States

The United States is the top importer of coconut oil in the world as of 2019. Over 301 thousand tons of coconut oil was imported by the United state with an import value of about $398.9 million USD. The United States currently holds about a 30.5% share in world imports of coconut oil. This can be attributed to the emergence of interest in bio-organics cosmetics as is the case with all the other markets but in low records.

China

At the second position is China with a world import share value of 11.6% which is almost 200% less of what the United States is importing. China imports about 167 thousand tons of coconut oil with an import value of over $151.3 million. The majority of the coconut oil imported by China is for the food industry and cosmetics.

Germany

Germany comes in third with an import value of $65.7 million spent for the importation of 58,112 tons of coconut oil. Almost 203% difference with China on import value in dollar amount and about 600% difference with the US. Germany holds about a 5% share in world imports value for coconut oil.

Republic of Korea

The Republic of Korea is in the fourth position with a world import share value of 3.7%. The Korea Republic, imports about 56,641 tons of coconut oil with an import value of $48.9 million USD. The Republic of Korea is well known for its cosmetics and health products.

Belgium

Belgium is the fifth largest importer of Coconut oil in the world. Belgium imports about 44,673 tons of coconut oil with an import value of about $47.1 million, holding a 3.6% share in the world’s import of coconut oil.

Canada

Canada is the 6th importer of coconut oil in the world, importing about 20,753 tons with an import value of about $45.1 million. This enabled Canada to hold a 3.5% share of the world importation of coconut oil.

Singapore

At 7th place is Singapore with a 3% market share. Singapore imports about 32,790 tons of coconut oil with a market import value of about $38.751 million. A minor significant change of 0.6% of world import share value with Canada.

Japan

Japan is at the 8th position with a market share of 2.9%, a 0.1% difference from Singapore. As of 2019, Japan’s import value for coconut oil was about $37.448 million USD for about 39,097 tons.

France

France comes in at the 9th spot with an import value of $36.371 million and a world import share value of 2.8%. As of 2019, France imported 30,154 tons of coconut oil.

Italy

Italy holds 2.8% of the world’s import share value of coconut oil the same as France but with a $36.069 million import value as of 2019. In the same year, Italy imports 30,906 tons of coconut oil at a unit cost of $1,167 USD as opposed to France with a unit cost of $1,206 USD.

From the above table, the United States, China, Germany, and Korea Republic hold over half the import market share value which is seen at 50.8%. All four countries hold an import value of $664.961 million USD, and importing about 582,937 tons, paying an average price of $1,057 USD per ton.

The trade balance is the difference between export and import and a negative trade balance indicates more coconut oil is being imported than exported in the respective countries. The global world import of coconut oil as of 2019 was at an import value of about $1,308,133 billion. The industry is currently experiencing some growth and with related products like MCT oil which is pulling the market today.