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How much of Australia’s trade passes through the Cape of Good Hope?

In 2024, an estimated $42.4 billion of Australia’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 8.2% of its seaborne trade. That is $13.4 billion of exports and $29 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy.

Summary

Estimated value
$42.4billion
Of its seaborne trade
8.2%
Exports
$13.4billion
Imports
$29billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Australia’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 956% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Australia 42.4

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$1.2 billion1.4%
1996$1.4 billion1.5%
1997$1.3 billion1.4%
1998$1.2 billion1.3%
1999$1.2 billion1.3%
2000$1.3 billion1.2%
2001$1.2 billion1.1%
2002$1.3 billion1.2%
2003$1.4 billion1.2%
2004$1.8 billion1.2%
2005$2.5 billion1.3%
2006$2.6 billion1.2%
2007$3 billion1.2%
2008$4.3 billion1.4%
2009$3.1 billion1.2%
2010$5.2 billion1.6%
2011$7.9 billion2%
2012$8.7 billion2.1%
2013$7.1 billion1.8%
2014$6.6 billion1.7%
2015$4 billion1.3%
2016$3.8 billion1.3%
2017$4.9 billion1.3%
2018$4.9 billion1.2%
2019$4 billion1%
2020$3.2 billion0.9%
2021$4.5 billion0.9%
2022$6.9 billion1.1%
2023$5.8 billion1%
2024$42.4 billion8.2%

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. Australia–Germany$8.7 billion · 20.5%
  2. Australia–United Kingdom$3.9 billion · 9.2%
  3. Australia–Italy$3.5 billion · 8.4%
  4. Australia–France$3 billion · 7.2%
  5. Australia–Netherlands$2.3 billion · 5.4%
  6. Australia–Spain$2.1 billion · 5%
  7. Australia–Brazil$2.1 billion · 5%
  8. Australia–Belgium$2.1 billion · 5%
  9. Australia–United States$1.8 billion · 4.2%
  10. Australia–Turkey$1.8 billion · 4.1%

What crosses it

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

  1. Coal$6 billion · 14.2%
  2. Cars$3.3 billion · 7.9%
  3. Rapeseed (canola)$1.1 billion · 2.7%
  4. Trucks$1.1 billion · 2.5%
  5. Mixed fertilizers$777 million · 1.8%
  6. Wine$762 million · 1.8%
  7. Auto parts$666 million · 1.6%
  8. Crude petroleum$568 million · 1.3%
  9. Parts for cranes and excavators$540 million · 1.3%
  10. Bulldozers and excavators$467 million · 1.1%

Reference ports

Sydney (80%) and Fremantle (20%)

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