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

In 2024, an estimated $123.7 billion of Saudi Arabia’s trade passed through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, 28.4% of its seaborne trade. That is $84 billion of exports and $39.7 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, Japan and India.

Summary

Estimated value
$123.7billion
Of its seaborne trade
28.4%
Exports
$84billion
Imports
$39.7billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Saudi Arabia’s estimated trade through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait rose 23% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Saudi Arabia 124

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$19.2 billion26.3%
1996$22.3 billion27.6%
1997$22.8 billion28.5%
1998$18.3 billion27.6%
1999$21.7 billion30.6%
2000$31.9 billion30.8%
2001$29.5 billion30.4%
2002$29 billion29.9%
2003$36 billion29.2%
2004$46.2 billion29.7%
2005$64.7 billion30.7%
2006$84.2 billion32.2%
2007$92.4 billion32.2%
2008$129.5 billion31.7%
2009$81.3 billion32.7%
2010$102 billion31.8%
2011$140.7 billion31.1%
2012$162.4 billion32.5%
2013$157.2 billion31.7%
2014$142.4 billion30.5%
2015$89.1 billion28%
2016$78.8 billion29.1%
2017$88.7 billion29.2%
2018$105.2 billion28.3%
2019$101 billion28.8%
2020$80 billion29.5%
2021$105.8 billion29.9%
2022$153 billion29.5%
2023$133.8 billion29.8%
2024$123.7 billion28.4%

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. Saudi Arabia–China$44.2 billion · 35.8%
  2. Saudi Arabia–Japan$16.1 billion · 13%
  3. Saudi Arabia–India$16 billion · 12.9%
  4. Saudi Arabia–South Korea$16 billion · 12.9%
  5. Saudi Arabia–Malaysia$4.3 billion · 3.4%
  6. Saudi Arabia–Taiwan$4.2 billion · 3.4%
  7. Saudi Arabia–Thailand$3.9 billion · 3.2%
  8. Saudi Arabia–Singapore$3.7 billion · 3%
  9. Saudi Arabia–Indonesia$3.4 billion · 2.7%
  10. Saudi Arabia–Pakistan$1.5 billion · 1.3%

What crosses it

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

  1. Crude petroleum$65.7 billion · 53.1%
  2. Cars$6.4 billion · 5.2%
  3. Refined petroleum$4.9 billion · 4%
  4. Polyethylene$2.8 billion · 2.3%
  5. Alcohols$1.9 billion · 1.5%
  6. Natural gas and LPG$1.8 billion · 1.5%
  7. Mixed fertilizers$907 million · 0.73%
  8. Trucks$869 million · 0.7%
  9. Hot-rolled flat steel$799 million · 0.65%
  10. Cyclic hydrocarbons$763 million · 0.62%

If it closes

  • Canada–Saudi Arabia: +3,887 nautical miles, ≈ 11.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Hormuz
  • Saudi Arabia–United States: +3,756 nautical miles, ≈ 11 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Hormuz and the Cape of Good Hope

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

Reference ports

Jeddah (59%) and Ras Tanura (41%)

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