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Mapped: The World’s Biggest Importers in 2018

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Mapped: The World's Biggest Importers

Mapped: The World’s Biggest Importers in 2018

If a country’s economy was entirely self-sufficient and independent, it wouldn’t ever need to import goods from elsewhere.

While the prospect of insulating yourself from the turbulence of global markets may sound alluring at first glance, it would come with considerable caveats, risks, and downsides.

Not only would it mean missing out on the world’s best foreign products, but it would likely translate to incredibly expensive goods domestically. Meanwhile, highly specialized products would be unavailable, and unforeseen events (natural disasters, labor strikes, droughts, etc.) would have the potential to disrupt supply chains in ways that lead to economic chaos.

For these reasons — along with many others — most economies opt to import in billions of dollars of goods each year from their international trading partners.

Which Countries Import the Most Goods?

Today’s map comes from HowMuch.net, and it resizes countries based on the value of their annual imports in 2018. The visualization is based on data from the World Trade Organization.

Let’s take a look at the 15 countries that are the world’s biggest importers:

Rank
Country
Imports (2018, $M)
Share of Global Total
#1🇺🇸 United States$2,614,32713.2%
#2🇨🇳 China$2,135,90510.8%
#3🇩🇪 Germany$1,285,6446.5%
#4🇯🇵 Japan$748,7353.8%
#5🇬🇧 United Kingdom$673,549
3.4%
#6🇫🇷 France$672,593
3.4%
#7🇳🇱 Netherlands$646,029
3.3%
#8🇭🇰 Hong Kong, China$627,517
3.2%
#9🇰🇷 Korea, Republic of$535,202
2.7%
#10🇮🇳 India$510,665
2.6%
#11🇮🇹 Italy$500,795
2.5%
#12🇲🇽 Mexico$476,569
2.4%
#13🇨🇦 Canada$469,000
2.4%
#14🇧🇪 Belgium$450,116
2.3%
#15🇪🇸 Spain$388,044
2.0%

In combination, economies around the world import a total of $19.9 trillion in goods each year.

The world’s largest single importer is the United States, with a 13.4% share of global imports equal to $2.6 trillion of goods. Following the U.S. are two other significant economies, each which import over $1 trillion in goods every year: China ($2.1 trillion), and Germany ($1.3 trillion).

Finally, it’s worth noting that if the numbers for the European Union (28) were combined into a single entity, it’d be the world’s biggest importer by far with nearly $6.5 trillion of imports.

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Markets

The Most Popular TV Brands in the U.S.

Korean brands dominate the U.S. TV market.

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A stacked bar chart ranking the most popular TV brands in the U.S.

The Most Popular TV Brands in the U.S.

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Every year, over 40 million TVs are sold in the U.S., making the device a flagship technology in many American homes.

In this graphic, we illustrate the most popular TV brands in the U.S. based on a 2023 Statista survey of over 8,000 American adults. Respondents were asked, ‘What brand is your main TV?’

Korean Brands Dominate the U.S. TV Market

Samsung and LG combined account for 52% of the TV market share. Interestingly, the two firms have a partnership in place, with LG supplying OLED TV panels to Samsung since 2023.

TV BrandCountry% of Respondents
Samsung🇰🇷 South Korea33
LG🇰🇷 South Korea19
Vizio🇺🇸 U.S.11
Sony🇯🇵 Japan7
Hisense🇨🇳 China5
TCL🇨🇳 China5
Philips🇳🇱 Netherlands3
Insignia🇺🇸 U.S.2
Sanyo🇯🇵 Japan2
Toshiba🇯🇵 Japan2
Sharp🇯🇵 Japan1
Other or don't know--9

Vizio, a California-based company, holds the third position, but its TVs aren’t manufactured in the United States. Rather, they are produced by Taiwanese companies AmTran Technology and Foxconn, the latter being a major manufacturer of the iPhone.

Further down the ranking is Insignia, owned by U.S. retailer Best Buy. While it’s uncertain who produces Insignia TVs, some speculate they’re made by China’s Hisense.

Despite holding the largest market share, South Korea ranks behind Japan in terms of the number of companies among the top brands. Japan boasts four brands on our list, with Sony ranked 4th overall, capturing 7% of the responses.

Growing Market

The U.S. is witnessing a surge in demand for high-definition televisions, driven by consumers’ desire for a more immersive home viewing experience.

Globally, the U.S. leads in revenue generation, with the American TV market projected to generate $18.2 billion in revenue in 2024.

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