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

In 2024, an estimated $119.9 billion of France’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 20.1% of its seaborne trade. That is $27.8 billion of exports and $92.1 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, India and South Korea.

Summary

Estimated value
$119.9billion
Of its seaborne trade
20.1%
Exports
$27.8billion
Imports
$92.1billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

France’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 12,406% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • France 120

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$547 million0.3%
1996$528 million0.3%
1997$552 million0.3%
1998$612 million0.3%
1999$534 million0.2%
2000$522 million0.2%
2001$556 million0.2%
2002$611 million0.2%
2003$757 million0.3%
2004$1 billion0.3%
2005$957 million0.3%
2006$1.1 billion0.3%
2007$1.1 billion0.3%
2008$1.2 billion0.2%
2009$869 million0.2%
2010$953 million0.2%
2011$1.1 billion0.2%
2012$951 million0.2%
2013$951 million0.2%
2014$938 million0.2%
2015$868 million0.2%
2016$768 million0.2%
2017$928 million0.2%
2018$1.1 billion0.2%
2019$959 million0.2%
2020$584 million0.1%
2021$729 million0.1%
2022$955 million0.2%
2023$1 billion0.2%
2024$119.9 billion20.1%

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. France–China$55.1 billion · 46%
  2. France–India$8.1 billion · 6.8%
  3. France–South Korea$7.1 billion · 5.9%
  4. France–Japan$6.5 billion · 5.5%
  5. France–Vietnam$4.6 billion · 3.8%
  6. France–United Arab Emirates$4.3 billion · 3.6%
  7. France–Bangladesh$3.7 billion · 3.1%
  8. France–Kuwait$3.4 billion · 2.8%
  9. France–Australia$3 billion · 2.5%
  10. France–Singapore$2.5 billion · 2.1%

What crosses it

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

  1. Refined petroleum$10 billion · 8.3%
  2. Cars$4.3 billion · 3.6%
  3. Cargo and cruise ships$2.9 billion · 2.4%
  4. Wine$2.5 billion · 2.1%
  5. Computer and office machine parts$2.4 billion · 2%
  6. Batteries$2.1 billion · 1.7%
  7. Crude petroleum$1.9 billion · 1.6%
  8. Auto parts$1.9 billion · 1.6%
  9. Women's suits and dresses$1.6 billion · 1.3%
  10. Sweaters and pullovers$1.6 billion · 1.3%

Reference ports

Le Havre (29%), Dunkirk (20%) and Marseille (50%)

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