With the U.S. residential sector slowed by rising mortgage rates and inflation, supply chain issues, and labor shortages, the U.S. ceramic tile market experienced a slight downturn last year, according to the Tile Council of North America. 

The U.S. Census Bureau reported new home starts declined for the first time since the beginning of the Great Recession. The 1.56 million units started in 2022 were a 2.9% decrease from the preceding year. Hindered by rising mortgage rates and record-high average sales prices, new single-family home sales fell for the second year in a row. The 644,000 units sold in 2022 represented a 16.4% decline from the previous year.

Total U.S. ceramic tile consumption in 2022 was 3.07 billion sq. ft., down 1.3% from the previous year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce and Tile Council of North America. 

The following table shows U.S. ceramic tile shipments, imports, exports, and total consumption in thousands of sq. ft.

The chart below shows total annual U.S. ceramic tile consumption in sq. ft.

U.S. Imports

After reaching a 15-year high in 2021, U.S. imports decreased by volume in 2022. The 2.18 billion sq. ft. of tile imported last year represented a 2.3% decline from 2021. 

Spain remained the largest exporter of ceramic tile to the U.S. in 2022 despite its exports’ falling 12.8% by volume vs. the previous year. Spanish imports in 2022 held a 19.8% share of total U.S. imports by volume, down from a 22.2% share in 2021.

Italy was the second largest exporter to the U.S. in 2022 by volume, although Italian ceramic tile exports declined 2.9% from 2021. Italian tile comprised 17.3% of the U.S. import market last year, down slightly from 17.4% in 2021. 

Mexico was the third largest exporter to the U.S. in 2022 with a 16.6% share of total U.S. imports. Tile imports from Mexico were up 1.0% by volume vs. 2021.

With a 13.0% share of 2022 imports, India became the fourth largest exporter to the U.S., up from sixth position the previous year and its all-time highest position.

Turkey rounded out the list of top five exporters to the U.S. with a 12.3% share in 2022, down from 13.5% in 2021.

The five countries from which the most tiles were imported in 2022 based on volume were:

The average value of tile significantly affected by the mix of tiles imported, with different types of tiles impacting the average value, in addition to differences in pricing for the same types of tile. The average values of tile (including CIF + duty) from the five countries that exported the most tiles to the U.S. in 2022 based on volume were: 

U.S. Shipments

U.S. manufacturers shipped 889.2 million sq. ft. of ceramic tile domestically in 2022, a 1.0% increase from the preceding year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce and Tile Council of North America. 

U.S. shipments’ share of total U.S. consumption was 28.9% by volume in 2022, up from 28.3% the prior year. Domestically produced tiles’ share of total consumption was much higher than the shares of any individual country exporting to the U.S., with the next highest shares of total consumption belonging to Spain (14.1%), Italy (12.3%), and Mexico (11.8%).

U.S. free on board factory sales of domestic shipments in 2022 were $1.48 billion, an 8.6% increase from 2021. U.S. shipments were 33.4% of total 2022 U.S. tile consumption by value, down from 35.2% in 2021. This decrease in domestic market share by value was due in large part to the rising freight costs for imports, which helped push 2022 U.S. imports’ value up 17.5% from the previous year.

The per unit value of domestic shipments was $1.66/sq. ft. last year, up from $1.54/sq. ft. in 2021.

U.S. Exports

U.S. ceramic tile exports in 2022 were 50.8 million sq. ft., a 33.6% increase from the previous year and the highest total on record, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The countries receiving the lion’s share of these exports by volume were our North American neighbors, Canada (70.5%) and Mexico (19.0%).

U.S. exports by value in 2022 were $52.6 million, up 30.1% from 2021.