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

In 2024, an estimated $3 billion of Sudan’s trade passed through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, 52% of its seaborne trade. That is $1.4 billion of exports and $1.6 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, India and Malaysia.

Summary

Estimated value
$3billion
Of its seaborne trade
52%
Exports
$1.4billion
Imports
$1.6billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Sudan’s estimated trade through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait fell 51% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Sudan 3

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$621 million32.6%
1996$627 million35.6%
1997$893 million38.4%
1998$1.3 billion42.8%
1999$869 million43.2%
2000$3.6 billion71.6%
2001$4 billion72.6%
2002$3.6 billion65.9%
2003$5.7 billion72.3%
2004$6.8 billion70.5%
2005$10.1 billion71.6%
2006$12.7 billion76.4%
2007$16.5 billion82.6%
2008$17.5 billion78.9%
2009$11.7 billion76%
2010$15.1 billion74.7%
2011$17.9 billion79.2%
2012$7.2 billion66.7%
2013$8.7 billion68%
2014$9.4 billion67%
2015$7.2 billion64.9%
2016$6.8 billion56.3%
2017$7.7 billion61.7%
2018$8.1 billion61.6%
2019$6 billion65.5%
2020$6.3 billion67.2%
2021$5.9 billion65.4%
2022$7.5 billion67.1%
2023$5.5 billion63.9%
2024$3 billion52%

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. Sudan–China$1.3 billion · 44.7%
  2. Sudan–India$932 million · 31.3%
  3. Sudan–Malaysia$328 million · 11%
  4. Sudan–Singapore$93 million · 3.1%
  5. Sudan–Uganda$67 million · 2.2%
  6. Sudan–Japan$58 million · 1.9%
  7. Sudan–Kenya$37 million · 1.2%
  8. Sudan–Thailand$30 million · 1%
  9. Sudan–Indonesia$25 million · 0.85%
  10. Sudan–South Korea$21 million · 0.7%

What crosses it

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

  1. Crude petroleum$407 million · 13.6%
  2. Other oilseeds$349 million · 11.7%
  3. Peanuts$340 million · 11.4%
  4. Cane and beet sugar$285 million · 9.6%
  5. Dried legumes (beans, lentils, peas)$208 million · 7%
  6. Medicines in measured doses or retail packs$70 million · 2.4%
  7. Coffee$62 million · 2.1%
  8. Trucks$54 million · 1.8%
  9. Rice$48 million · 1.6%
  10. Cranes$39 million · 1.3%

Reference ports

Bashayer Terminal (100%)

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