India is the largest exporter of Human Hair in the world
Economy
3 min read
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 :
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China,
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United States of America
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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.
