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

In 2024, an estimated $2.8 billion of Benin’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 53.3% of its seaborne trade. That is $1 billion of exports and $1.8 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are India, China and Bangladesh.

Summary

Estimated value
$2.8billion
Of its seaborne trade
53.3%
Exports
$1billion
Imports
$1.8billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Benin’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope fell 2% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Benin 2.8

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$293 million33.7%
1996$334 million34.7%
1997$396 million35.2%
1998$339 million25.9%
1999$366 million29.8%
2000$490 million39%
2001$542 million42.6%
2002$516 million38.7%
2003$814 million46.6%
2004$855 million46.2%
2005$983 million46.8%
2006$1.1 billion46.3%
2007$1.7 billion51%
2008$2 billion49.2%
2009$1.8 billion49.1%
2010$2.2 billion40.8%
2011$2.8 billion42.4%
2012$2.5 billion49.6%
2013$3.7 billion61.1%
2014$3.9 billion56%
2015$3 billion52.1%
2016$3.1 billion64.6%
2017$3.9 billion67.1%
2018$3.7 billion63.5%
2019$2.9 billion58.3%
2020$2.4 billion54.9%
2021$3.1 billion58%
2022$3.7 billion59.3%
2023$3.3 billion56.4%
2024$2.8 billion53.3%

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. Benin–India$877 million · 31.2%
  2. Benin–China$694 million · 24.7%
  3. Benin–Bangladesh$481 million · 17.1%
  4. Benin–Pakistan$249 million · 8.9%
  5. Benin–Thailand$159 million · 5.7%
  6. Benin–United Arab Emirates$107 million · 3.8%
  7. Benin–Russia$44 million · 1.6%
  8. Benin–Malaysia$40 million · 1.4%
  9. Benin–Singapore$34 million · 1.2%
  10. Benin–South Korea$19 million · 0.68%

What crosses it

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

  1. Rice$871 million · 31%
  2. Raw cotton$493 million · 17.5%
  3. Soybeans$247 million · 8.8%
  4. Refined petroleum$93 million · 3.3%
  5. Soybean meal and pellets$53 million · 1.9%
  6. Coconuts, Brazil nuts and cashews$36 million · 1.3%
  7. Frozen fish$29 million · 1%
  8. Soybean oil$29 million · 1%
  9. Steel structures$29 million · 1%
  10. Steel wire rod$26 million · 0.91%

Reference ports

Cotonou (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