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

In 2024, an estimated $12.5 billion of Ireland’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 15.5% of its seaborne trade. That is $3 billion of exports and $9.5 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, Japan and India.

Summary

Estimated value
$12.5billion
Of its seaborne trade
15.5%
Exports
$3billion
Imports
$9.5billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Ireland’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 4,823% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Ireland 12.5

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$115 million0.5%
1996$114 million0.5%
1997$123 million0.5%
1998$118 million0.5%
1999$106 million0.4%
2000$115 million0.4%
2001$107 million0.4%
2002$116 million0.4%
2003$136 million0.4%
2004$179 million0.4%
2005$160 million0.3%
2006$183 million0.4%
2007$271 million0.5%
2008$328 million0.6%
2009$212 million0.5%
2010$235 million0.5%
2011$257 million0.5%
2012$298 million0.6%
2013$304 million0.6%
2014$214 million0.4%
2015$250 million0.5%
2016$197 million0.4%
2017$227 million0.4%
2018$247 million0.4%
2019$253 million0.4%
2020$235 million0.4%
2021$331 million0.5%
2022$330 million0.4%
2023$306 million0.4%
2024$12.5 billion15.5%

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. Ireland–China$5.5 billion · 44.1%
  2. Ireland–Japan$1.1 billion · 8.5%
  3. Ireland–India$714 million · 5.7%
  4. Ireland–South Korea$644 million · 5.2%
  5. Ireland–Kuwait$609 million · 4.9%
  6. Ireland–Bangladesh$396 million · 3.2%
  7. Ireland–United Arab Emirates$364 million · 2.9%
  8. Ireland–Singapore$318 million · 2.6%
  9. Ireland–Vietnam$300 million · 2.4%
  10. Ireland–Thailand$298 million · 2.4%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cars$1 billion · 8.4%
  2. Refined petroleum$823 million · 6.6%
  3. Malt extract and food mixes$520 million · 4.2%
  4. Sweaters and pullovers$223 million · 1.8%
  5. Fragrance mixtures$222 million · 1.8%
  6. Toys$187 million · 1.5%
  7. Furniture$172 million · 1.4%
  8. Nucleic acids and other heterocycles$166 million · 1.3%
  9. Spirits$164 million · 1.3%
  10. Seats and chairs$156 million · 1.3%

Reference ports

Dublin (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