India is the largest exporter of Human Hair in the world

Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel  informed the Rajya Sabha that India was the largest exporter of raw human hair in the world..  India exported USD 169.23 million worth of human hair in 2022-23 .

Indian human hair which is thinner than its competitor China  is the most sought after hair in the world . India is the largest exporter of raw human hair in the world followed by Indonesia and China.

Major Buyer of Indian Human hair 

The  major buyer of  Indian human hair in descending orders are :

• China, 

• United States of America 

• Myanmar 

Source of Human hair in India 

In India the major source of human hair is the donation done by the people at temples, selling of hair by womens.

Perhaps the most famous  source of human hair is the Tirumala Tirupati temple  in Andhra Pradesh. Here pilgrims shave their head and donate their hair to Lord Venkatswara. These hairs are auctioned to the highest bidder by the temple authorities.

High quality hair which is taken directly from Indian women are very high in demand overseas.  

However Indian hair  exporters  do not do value addition like making wigs or weaves  from the raw human hairs.. The raw Indian hair is mainly exported to China .Chinese manufacturers of wigs and weaves mixed it with Chinese hair and re-export to the world's major market like the United States of America .

The biggest market for human hair products is the United States, where the products are popular among African-Americans and fashionistas.