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

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. Russia–India$7.5 billion · 34.4%
2. Russia–China$4.1 billion · 18.8%
3. Russia–Turkey$1.4 billion · 6.2%
4. Russia–South Korea$1.1 billion · 5%
5. Russia–Saudi Arabia$926 million · 4.2%
6. Russia–Japan$757 million · 3.5%
7. Russia–Egypt$561 million · 2.6%
8. Russia–Taiwan$545 million · 2.5%
9. Russia–Singapore$482 million · 2.2%
10. Russia–Indonesia$435 million · 2%

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

1. Crude petroleum$6.2 billion · 28.1%
2. Refined petroleum$3.1 billion · 14.2%
3. Coal$2.2 billion · 10.2%
4. Natural gas and LPG$1.4 billion · 6.4%
5. Wheat$769 million · 3.5%
6. Sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oil$395 million · 1.8%
7. Sawn wood$347 million · 1.6%
8. Semi-finished steel$328 million · 1.5%
9. Potash fertilizers$260 million · 1.2%
10. Unwrought aluminum$239 million · 1.1%

• India–Russia: +7,812 nautical miles, ≈ 23.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape of Good Hope, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles and the Bosporus
• China–Russia: +6,730 nautical miles, ≈ 20 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Cape of Good Hope; the Strait of Gibraltar; the Dardanelles; and the Bosporus
• Russia–Turkey: +6,782 nautical miles, ≈ 20 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Cape of Good Hope; the Strait of Gibraltar; and the Dardanelles
• South Korea–Russia: +6,777 nautical miles, ≈ 20 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Cape of Good Hope; the Strait of Gibraltar; the Dardanelles; and the Bosporus
• Japan–Russia: +6,741 nautical miles, ≈ 20 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Cape of Good Hope; the Strait of Gibraltar; the Dardanelles; and the Bosporus

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

Saint Petersburg (31%), Murmansk (10%), Novorossiysk (32%) and Vladivostok (27%)

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

• See Bab-el-Mandeb Strait
• Russia trade

Other chokepoints it uses

• Strait of Gibraltar · 43%
• Cape of Good Hope · 42%
• Strait of Dover · 42%
• Turkish Straits (Bosporus and Dardanelles) · 38%
• Strait of Malacca and Singapore · 35%
• Øresund · 30%
• Suez Canal · 8%

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• World Bank, Global Shipping Traffic Density · CC BY 4.0 (route network derived by this site)
• World Port Index (NGA) · Public domain (US Government work)
• Natural Earth · Public domain
• Kummu et al., gridded GDP · CC BY 4.0 (split between ports done by this site)

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.