The Briefing
- Petroleum is the most popular import across Asia
- China imports the most petroleum in Asia—in 2018, it brought in over $207 billion worth
- China is the world’s second largest importer (the U.S. comes in at number one)
The Top Imports in Asia
By 2040, Asia is projected to make up 40% of worldwide consumption. What types of goods and products are in high demand by the world’s (soon-to-be) largest consumer? One way to tackle this question is by looking at the top imports across Asia.
The map above does just that. For brevity, we’ve excluded regions with a top import value below $1 billion.
Top Imports in Asia, by Country
Just like the Americas, petroleum is the most popular import in Asia. In fact, it’s the top import in 19 of the 34 countries included on this list, including in China where over $200 billion worth of petroleum was imported in 2018:
| Country | Region | Top Import | Import Value (2018, USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇳 China | Eastern Asia | Petroleum | $207.6 B |
| 🇭🇰 China, Hong Kong SAR | Eastern Asia | Electronic integrated circuits | $155.9 B |
| 🇮🇳 India | Southern Asia | Petroleum | $101.4 B |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | Eastern Asia | Petroleum | $74.8B |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | Eastern Asia | Petroleum | $72.3B |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore | South-eastern Asia | Petroleum | $48.0 B |
| 🇲🇾 Malaysia | South-eastern Asia | Electronic integrated circuits | $29.6 B |
| 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | Western Asia | Gold | $ 27.3 B |
| 🇹🇭 Thailand | South-eastern Asia | Petroleum | $23.7 B |
| 🇻🇳 Vietnam | South-eastern Asia | Electronic integrated circuits | $23.0 B |
| 🇵🇭 Philippines | South-eastern Asia | Electronic integrated circuits | $20.1 B |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia | South-eastern Asia | Petroleum | $16.1 B |
| 🇹🇷 Turkey | Western Asia | Petroleum | $12.4 B |
| 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | Western Asia | Vehicles | $8.9 B |
| 🇮🇱 Israel | Western Asia | Petroleum | $7.2 B |
| 🇵🇰 Pakistan | Southern Asia | Petroleum | $5.8 B |
| 🇰🇭 Cambodia | South-eastern Asia | Gold | $5.7 B |
| 🇧🇭 Bahrain | Western Asia | Petroleum | $5.3 B |
| 🇶🇦 Qatar | Western Asia | Aircrafts | $4.5 B |
| 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | Southern Asia | Petroleum | $4.1 B |
| 🇮🇶 Iraq | Western Asia | Broadcasting equipment | $3.8 B |
| 🇮🇷 Iran | Southern Asia | Vehicles | $3.5 B |
| 🇱🇧 Lebanon | Western Asia | Petroleum | $3.5 B |
| 🇰🇼 Kuwait | Western Asia | Vehicles | $3.0 B |
| 🇲🇲 Myanmar | South-eastern Asia | Petroleum | $2.8 B |
| 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | Southern Asia | Petroleum | $2.3 B |
| 🇴🇲 Oman | Western Asia | Vehicles | $2.2 B |
| 🇨🇾 Cyprus | Western Asia | Petroleum | $2.2 B |
| 🇯🇴 Jordan | Western Asia | Vehicles | $1.5 B |
| 🇳🇵 Nepal | Southern Asia | Petroleum | $1.4 B |
| 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan | Western Asia | Gold | $1.3 B |
| 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | Central Asia | Petroleum | $1.1 B |
| 🇲🇳 Mongolia | Eastern Asia | Petroleum | $1.0 B |
Vehicles are the second most popular, ranking first in five countries. Saudi Arabia is the top importer of vehicles, with an import value of $8.9 billion in 2018.
In third place, electronic integrated circuits, which are small chips used in electronic devices, rank as the top import in four countries. Three of those are in South-eastern Asia, which makes sense considering the region is becoming Asia’s manufacturing hub.
Hong Kong is the top importer of integrated circuits—not just across Asia, but worldwide. Interestingly, integrated circuits are also Hong Kong’s top export. Because many of Hong Kong’s manufacturing facilities have been relocated to China, the region’s electronics industry focuses on R&D, product design, and logistics.
>> Interested in global trade? You should check out this article: The Top Import for Each Country: The Americas
Where does this data come from?
Source: BACI, UN Comtrade
Details: BACI is an international trade database, providing information on bilateral trade flows for more than 5000 products and 200 countries. It pulls data directly from the United Nations Statistical Division (UN Comtrade)
Notes: For more information on methodology, visit the CEPII website
