Agarwood by region: a comparison guide

This hub covers seven producing origins individually: Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, alongside the guide to the two genera, Aquilaria and Gyrinops, that produce agarwood in all of them. Each regional guide answers what is documented about one country. This guide answers a different question: how do they compare when you put them side by side.

Nothing here is new research. Every point is drawn from the regional guide it summarises, where the detail and sources sit. If a line here raises a question, follow the link to that guide.

All seven origins at a glance

Species: fewer than the names suggest

Seven origin names rest on surprisingly few species. Aquilaria crassna is the main species of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, three neighbouring countries that share both the tree and parts of the same supply chain. Aquilaria malaccensis is the main species in Assam, the main traded species in Malaysia, and part of western Indonesia's Malaccensis group.

Indonesia stands apart as the most species-diverse origin, with its trade conventionally split into a western Malaccensis group and an eastern Filaria group that includes several Gyrinops species. Papua New Guinea is the one origin in this hub built mainly on Gyrinops, through Gyrinops ledermannii. The genus background, including why the two genera may not be as distinct as they look, is in Aquilaria vs Gyrinops.

What each region calls agarwood

Regional names are one of the more confusing parts of agarwood for new buyers. Vietnam uses trầm hương as its general word, with kỳ nam reserved for a rare, separate category rather than simply the top grade. In Assam the tree is called agar, sharing a root with the Sanskrit aguru, and also sanchi.

Gaharu is the word that travels furthest. It is the general term in Indonesia and Malaysia and is used in the Papua New Guinea trade, reflecting a shared Malay trade language across the archipelago. Malaysia also uses karas for the tree itself, and PNG commonly uses eaglewood. None of these names, on its own, tells you which species or grade you are looking at.

Wild vs plantation supply

How much of each origin still comes from wild trees varies widely, and it is one of the more practical comparisons for buyers, covered in general in wild vs plantation agarwood. Legitimately traded Vietnamese agarwood is now overwhelmingly plantation grown. Cambodia has moved the same way, and a recent survey in its Cardamom Mountains found at most about three native agarwood trees per hectare even in the best sites. India's export quota covers plantation material only, with homegardens in Assam supplying much of it.

Indonesia and Malaysia sit further toward the wild end. Analysis of trade data from 2010 to 2020 found that about 57 percent of A. malaccensis and nearly 97 percent of A. filaria in international trade came from the wild. Laos was historically a wild-harvest origin, with plantations spreading since. Papua New Guinea's trade began as wild harvest in the late 1990s, and cultivation there is still at the pilot stage.

Conservation status

Both of the main traded species are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Aquilaria crassna, behind Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, was assessed in 2018. Aquilaria malaccensis was assessed as Vulnerable in 1998 and reassessed as Critically Endangered in 2018, and in Assam it is reported to be close to extinct in the wild.

Rarity tells its own story in two cases. Aquilaria rostrata, known only from Peninsular Malaysia, went unrecorded for about a century before being found again around 2015. In Papua New Guinea, early surveys found up to 39 percent of larger Gyrinops ledermannii trees cut in some sample plots within a few years of the trade starting.

How each country regulates exports

All seven origins sit under the same international framework. Aquilaria malaccensis was the first agarwood species listed in CITES Appendix II, from 1995, following a proposal by India, and every other Aquilaria species and the whole Gyrinops genus followed at the 2004 conference. The framework is covered in agarwood and CITES explained.

How each country applies it differs. India exports under set quotas for plantation chips and oil, with a zero quota for wild material. Indonesia runs one of the more structured systems, with its national science agency assessing sustainable harvest levels, the forestry ministry issuing quotas, and an exporters' association distributing them. Malaysia splits permits between two authorities, one for Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and one for Sarawak, with additional state rules. In PNG, no quotas existed in the early years of the trade, before the genus was listed.

Old origins, new origins

The origins in this hub span a wide range of trade history. Vietnam's agarwood trade reaches back centuries, and historians describe the Nguyễn lords, who ruled the south from the late sixteenth century, controlling it as a source of revenue. Assam's agar tradition is also long established, and its place in CITES history goes back to 1995. Indonesia and Malaysia both have long established industries.

At the other end, Laos's commercial harvest only began in the mid 1970s, and much of it was sold on through Vietnam. Papua New Guinea is the clear outlier: organised trade began in 1997, making it by far the youngest origin covered here.

What this means for buyers

Older, larger origins tend to have more established grading conventions and more documentation to check against, while newer or smaller ones have thinner retail-level records simply because the trade has had less time to develop them. Across every origin, though, the same principle holds: a regional name is shorthand for a species, a supply chain and a set of rules, not proof of where a piece came from. Seller documentation matters more than the name. See questions to ask before you buy oud and the quality and authenticity hub.