Analysis and Studies - Products analysis

Umbrellas: import and export

Umbrellas are an accessory that have been keeping our heads nice and dry for thousands of years.

Coming from the Latin word “umbra”, which means shadow, primal forms of umbrellas were used by servants to protect their rulers from the sun. In fact, these parasols made their first appearance in ancient Egypt and were then taken up and customized by Chinese wealthy people, usually women, to show their status symbol.

In the 1800s, umbrellas became popular thanks to a noted philanthropist, Jonas Hanway. He would walk around London carrying his 10 pounds umbrella and making it a trend for both women and men. Years later, Samuel Fox used steel to make umbrellas more stable, flexible and lighter.

Today, there are many types of umbrellas with different designs for all tastes and pockets. That is why almost everyone owns at least one umbrella to flaunt outside when the weather gets bad or when the sun beats down.

Looking at numbers, umbrellas are indeed one of the most traded products all around the world, ranking 91st in 2020 and generating a total trade of $3.15B in the same year. Despite the -13.8% export decrease between 2019 and 2020, the trade of umbrellas represents 0.019% of total world trade.

In 2020 umbrellas were mostly exported by China ($2.43B), Germany ($88.2M), Netherlands ($86.5M), Cambodia ($53.9M) and Austria ($45.2M). In the meantime, United States ($547M), Germany ($289M), Japan ($246M), France ($152M), and South Korea ($128M) were the top importers of this product.

Between 2019 and 2020, the exports of Umbrellas grew the fastest in Cambodia ($3.57M), Switzerland ($2.4M), Belgium ($1.99M), Slovakia ($1.1M) and Bangladesh ($919k), while the fastest growing importers were Vietnam ($7.65M), Burma ($5.19M), Belgium ($4.49M), Switzerland ($3.18M) and Cote d'Ivoire ($1.61M).

SKYMINDER: know your business partner!

SkyMinder is the business information platform powered by CRIF, giving access to in-depth credit and financial data on companies all over the world. Thanks to our international presence and long-standing experience with local information providers, every country is available on SkyMinder, without data accessibility limits or updating issues. If you are evaluating the possibility of doing business with a company in this industry, SkyMinder can help you assess your potential partner. Discover more about our solutions and don't hesitate to contact us!