China resumes export growth

The Chinese ceramic tile industry reversed the downward trend in 2023 with 6.2% year-on-year export growth.

Following a decade of steadily declining exports, the Chinese ceramic tile industry reversed this downward trend in 2023 with 6.2% year-on-year export growth, from 579 million sqm in 2022 to 615 million sqm in 2023. This enabled the country’s tile industry to maintain its supremacy as the world’s largest exporter, a position that had been under serious threat from India whose tile exports surged by 39.6% to 589.5 million square meters in 2023.

The Chinese tile industry’s recovery was driven almost exclusively by growth in sales in Latin America (74 million sqm, an increase of 53% or 26 million sqm compared to 2022) and in Africa (48 million sqm, 6 million sqm more than in 2022). Meanwhile, sales in the Asian continent remained steady at 438.6 million sqm, accounting for 71% of China’s total exports.

Asia was home to 13 of the top 20 markets for Chinese ceramic tiles, led by the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.  Australia, the sixth largest market, maintained stable levels of Chinese imports at 30 million sqm.  Significant increases were recorded in several South American countries, including Peru (+37%) and Chile (+47%), which now rank among China’s top ten export destinations, along with the Dominican Republic (+98%) and Colombia (+51%).  The main African destinations were Cameroon, Senegal and South Africa.

A comparison between China and India’s export results shows that China continues to dominate in Asia, South America and Oceania, whereas India has taken the lead in Africa and in non-EU Europe (and obviously also in North America and the European Union, where China has been excluded by the introduction of trade tariffs).