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How much of Israel’s trade passes through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait?

In 2024, an estimated $4.2 billion of Israel’s trade passed through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, 5.7% of its seaborne trade. That is $714 million of exports and $3.5 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea.

Summary

Estimated value
$4.2billion
Of its seaborne trade
5.7%
Exports
$714million
Imports
$3.5billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Israel’s estimated trade through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait fell 78% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Israel 4.2

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$6.7 billion18.6%
1996$7 billion18.4%
1997$6.8 billion17.7%
1998$6.5 billion17.2%
1999$7.7 billion18.9%
2000$8.2 billion19.9%
2001$7.5 billion19.3%
2002$8.6 billion20.8%
2003$8.9 billion20.9%
2004$11 billion21.2%
2005$12.3 billion21.2%
2006$13.5 billion22.2%
2007$10.9 billion21.5%
2008$14.3 billion22.3%
2009$12.9 billion22.3%
2010$17.9 billion25.7%
2011$22.2 billion26.8%
2012$21 billion26.1%
2013$22.3 billion26.9%
2014$21.3 billion25%
2015$18.1 billion25.1%
2016$17.5 billion27%
2017$18 billion26.5%
2018$20.1 billion27.4%
2019$19.2 billion27.9%
2020$14.9 billion23.7%
2021$21.6 billion27.6%
2022$26.1 billion28.2%
2023$25.2 billion30.6%
2024$4.2 billion5.7%

Partners whose trade crosses it

Estimated value of its trade with each partner that crosses the chokepoint; the percentage is the share of all its trade through the chokepoint, not of the pair’s trade.

  1. Israel–China$1.8 billion · 43%
  2. Israel–United Arab Emirates$371 million · 8.9%
  3. Israel–South Korea$347 million · 8.3%
  4. Israel–Japan$262 million · 6.3%
  5. Israel–India$254 million · 6.1%
  6. Israel–Hong Kong$233 million · 5.6%
  7. Israel–Singapore$197 million · 4.7%
  8. Israel–Thailand$150 million · 3.6%
  9. Israel–Australia$87 million · 2.1%
  10. Israel–Taiwan$80 million · 1.9%

What crosses it

The products with the highest estimated value in 2024, with their share of the total through the chokepoint.

  1. Cars$617 million · 14.7%
  2. Refined petroleum$132 million · 3.2%
  3. Steel wire rod$90 million · 2.1%
  4. Cameras and broadcast equipment$71 million · 1.7%
  5. Diamonds$61 million · 1.5%
  6. T-shirts$61 million · 1.5%
  7. Potash fertilizers$56 million · 1.4%
  8. Fruit and vegetable juices$54 million · 1.3%
  9. Coated flat steel$42 million · 1%
  10. Steel bars$40 million · 0.96%

If it closes

  • China–Israel: +7,648 nautical miles, ≈ 23 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Cape of Good Hope; and the Strait of Gibraltar
  • United Arab Emirates–Israel: +9,166 nautical miles, ≈ 27.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Hormuz, the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Gibraltar
  • Israel–South Korea: +7,647 nautical miles, ≈ 23 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Gibraltar; the Cape of Good Hope; and the Strait of Malacca and Singapore
  • Israel–Japan: +7,668 nautical miles, ≈ 23 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Gibraltar; the Cape of Good Hope; and the Strait of Malacca and Singapore
  • India–Israel: +8,687 nautical miles, ≈ 26 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Gibraltar

Estimated sailing detour, without costs, waiting or port capacity.

Reference ports

Haifa (98%) and Eilat (2%)

Each port with the weight it receives from the country’s trade, based on where its GDP is generated and which coast is closest.

Other chokepoints it uses

Sources and method

Sources and licenses

Methodology

We estimate the value crossing each chokepoint from BACI trade that travels by sea according to our mode heuristic, split between each country’s ports by where its GDP is generated and which coast is closest, and routed over our own sea network. It is an estimate, not a count of ships. It covers 99.9% of seaborne trade. The approach follows Verschuur, Lumma and Hall (Nature Communications, 2025). Data up to 2024.

All maritime chokepoints