globaltraffic.earth

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

In 2024, an estimated $7.7 billion of Iran’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 29.5% of its seaborne trade. That is $2.3 billion of exports and $5.4 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Brazil, Turkey and Germany.

Summary

Estimated value
$7.7billion
Of its seaborne trade
29.5%
Exports
$2.3billion
Imports
$5.4billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Iran’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 149% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Iran 7.7

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$1.1 billion5.2%
1996$1.5 billion5.7%
1997$1.9 billion6.5%
1998$1.6 billion6.6%
1999$978 million3.5%
2000$981 million2.7%
2001$1.4 billion3.8%
2002$1.2 billion3.2%
2003$1.2 billion2.3%
2004$1.5 billion2.2%
2005$1.3 billion1.7%
2006$2 billion2.2%
2007$2.3 billion2.1%
2008$2.3 billion1.6%
2009$2.1 billion2.2%
2010$3.8 billion2.7%
2011$3.6 billion2%
2012$3.2 billion2.7%
2013$2.9 billion2.6%
2014$2.5 billion2.1%
2015$2.5 billion3%
2016$2.8 billion3.2%
2017$3.3 billion2.8%
2018$3 billion2.6%
2019$3.1 billion4.4%
2020$1.9 billion3.4%
2021$3.2 billion4.2%
2022$5.3 billion5.9%
2023$2.3 billion7.8%
2024$7.7 billion29.5%

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. Iran–Brazil$3 billion · 39.2%
  2. Iran–Turkey$1.2 billion · 16.1%
  3. Iran–Germany$611 million · 7.9%
  4. Iran–Italy$419 million · 5.4%
  5. Iran–Uzbekistan$325 million · 4.2%
  6. Iran–Kazakhstan$288 million · 3.7%
  7. Iran–Georgia$270 million · 3.5%
  8. Iran–Canada$172 million · 2.2%
  9. Iran–Spain$167 million · 2.2%
  10. Iran–Bulgaria$166 million · 2.2%

What crosses it

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

  1. Corn$1 billion · 13.7%
  2. Soybean meal and pellets$982 million · 12.8%
  3. Soybeans$980 million · 12.7%
  4. Cane and beet sugar$420 million · 5.5%
  5. Polyethylene$378 million · 4.9%
  6. Other nuts (almonds, walnuts)$152 million · 2%
  7. Polystyrene$139 million · 1.8%
  8. Steel bars$128 million · 1.7%
  9. Sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oil$117 million · 1.5%
  10. Barley$97 million · 1.3%

Reference ports

Khorramshahr (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