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

In 2024, an estimated $14.9 billion of Hong Kong’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 17.2% of its seaborne trade. That is $6 billion of exports and $8.9 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Brazil, Germany and the Netherlands.

Summary

Estimated value
$14.9billion
Of its seaborne trade
17.2%
Exports
$6billion
Imports
$8.9billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Hong Kong’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 325% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Hong Kong 14.9

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$2.6 billion2%
1996$2.1 billion1.7%
1997$2.2 billion1.7%
1998$1.8 billion1.6%
1999$1.5 billion1.4%
2000$1.4 billion1.4%
2001$1.4 billion1.5%
2002$1.4 billion1.5%
2003$1.5 billion1.6%
2004$1.6 billion1.6%
2005$2.1 billion1.9%
2006$2.3 billion2%
2007$2.5 billion2.2%
2008$3.5 billion3%
2009$3.2 billion3%
2010$3.1 billion2.4%
2011$3.8 billion2.6%
2012$3.6 billion2.5%
2013$4.6 billion3.6%
2014$5 billion3.7%
2015$3.5 billion3.2%
2016$3.3 billion3.2%
2017$3.8 billion3.4%
2018$4 billion3.5%
2019$3.5 billion3.5%
2020$3.3 billion4%
2021$3.8 billion4%
2022$3.7 billion4.4%
2023$4.9 billion6.3%
2024$14.9 billion17.2%

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. Hong Kong–Brazil$2.3 billion · 15.2%
  2. Hong Kong–Germany$2 billion · 13.6%
  3. Hong Kong–Netherlands$1.2 billion · 8%
  4. Hong Kong–Italy$1.2 billion · 8%
  5. Hong Kong–Israel$1.2 billion · 7.8%
  6. Hong Kong–France$1.1 billion · 7.5%
  7. Hong Kong–United Kingdom$1.1 billion · 7.3%
  8. Hong Kong–Switzerland$616 million · 4.1%
  9. Hong Kong–Spain$463 million · 3.1%
  10. Hong Kong–Hungary$400 million · 2.7%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cars$517 million · 3.5%
  2. Gemstones$500 million · 3.4%
  3. Makeup and skin care$362 million · 2.4%
  4. Pork$324 million · 2.2%
  5. Frozen beef$307 million · 2.1%
  6. Aluminum scrap$304 million · 2%
  7. Edible offal$278 million · 1.9%
  8. Animal guts, bladders and stomachs$277 million · 1.9%
  9. Batteries$262 million · 1.8%
  10. Phones and telecom equipment$257 million · 1.7%

Reference ports

Hong Kong (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