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

In 2024, an estimated $15.6 billion of Ghana’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 56.4% of its seaborne trade. That is $3.5 billion of exports and $12.1 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, India and Malaysia.

Summary

Estimated value
$15.6billion
Of its seaborne trade
56.4%
Exports
$3.5billion
Imports
$12.1billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Ghana’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 42% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Ghana 15.6

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$599 million20.9%
1996$714 million18%
1997$857 million18.3%
1998$861 million20.2%
1999$926 million21.1%
2000$760 million18.2%
2001$902 million20%
2002$855 million20.4%
2003$1.3 billion25.3%
2004$1.6 billion30.5%
2005$2.1 billion25.8%
2006$2.4 billion28.6%
2007$3.7 billion33%
2008$4.2 billion33.4%
2009$3.1 billion31.5%
2010$4 billion33.1%
2011$6.6 billion31.9%
2012$8.5 billion38.7%
2013$8 billion39.1%
2014$9.7 billion40.4%
2015$8.3 billion39.6%
2016$7.4 billion43.1%
2017$9.4 billion43.8%
2018$10.8 billion47.4%
2019$11 billion42.8%
2020$12.9 billion58.3%
2021$13.4 billion45.2%
2022$11.8 billion37.7%
2023$11.9 billion42%
2024$15.6 billion56.4%

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. Ghana–China$11.5 billion · 73.5%
  2. Ghana–India$1.8 billion · 11.4%
  3. Ghana–Malaysia$499 million · 3.2%
  4. Ghana–South Africa$489 million · 3.1%
  5. Ghana–Japan$319 million · 2%
  6. Ghana–South Korea$227 million · 1.5%
  7. Ghana–Indonesia$209 million · 1.3%
  8. Ghana–Singapore$197 million · 1.3%
  9. Ghana–Thailand$145 million · 0.93%
  10. Ghana–Pakistan$109 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$1.7 billion · 11.2%
  2. Bulldozers and excavators$568 million · 3.6%
  3. Manganese ore$534 million · 3.4%
  4. Cocoa beans$328 million · 2.1%
  5. Coated flat steel$291 million · 1.9%
  6. Rubber and plastic footwear$279 million · 1.8%
  7. Trucks$268 million · 1.7%
  8. Motorcycles$218 million · 1.4%
  9. Pesticides and herbicides$218 million · 1.4%
  10. Medicines in measured doses or retail packs$217 million · 1.4%

Reference ports

Takoradi (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