The Netherlands has displaced Germany as the world’s leading exporter of cocoa products, with official data showing export values hit 12.4 billion euros (14.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) announced on Friday.
Germany had held the top position since 2010, but Dutch exports have now surpassed its 11.4 billion euro total. Products driving the surge include chocolate, cocoa butter, cocoa powder and cocoa mass, with exports nearly tripling from 4.2 billion euros in 2020.
The dramatic rise in export value is linked to elevated cocoa bean prices, themselves a consequence of several years of poor harvests across West Africa due to unfavourable weather conditions. About three-quarters of Dutch cocoa exports consisted of semi-manufactured products, with the remainder made up of finished goods such as chocolate.
The Netherlands also holds the position of the world’s largest importer of cocoa beans, making it the most important global trader in this market overall, ahead of Germany, Belgium and the United States. The Port of Amsterdam, together with Zaanstad, forms the largest cocoa cluster in the world, with large-scale processing and manufacturing facilities that handle much of the global supply.
Germany remains the single largest destination for Dutch cocoa exports, absorbing roughly 25 percent of the total, followed by Belgium at 13 percent. France, Britain and the United States are also major markets.
On the supply side, 27 percent of cocoa imports into the Netherlands originate from Cote d’Ivoire, with additional volumes sourced from Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria. Cocoa exports generated around 3 billion euros (3.46 billion dollars) in net earnings for the Dutch economy in 2025, according to CBS.
Belgium, widely regarded globally as a chocolate powerhouse, does not rank in the top three cocoa products exporters despite its strong reputation.
