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

In 2024, an estimated $3.1 billion of Namibia’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 42.5% of its seaborne trade. That is $701 million of exports and $2.4 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

Summary

Estimated value
$3.1billion
Of its seaborne trade
42.5%
Exports
$701million
Imports
$2.4billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Namibia’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 66% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Namibia 3.1

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$00%
1996$00%
1997$00%
1998$00%
1999$00%
2000$296 million29.8%
2001$484 million39.1%
2002$406 million35.9%
2003$430 million31.9%
2004$439 million25.4%
2005$592 million31.2%
2006$903 million41.3%
2007$1.2 billion38.2%
2008$1.4 billion39.3%
2009$2 billion40.2%
2010$1.4 billion33.8%
2011$1.4 billion28.9%
2012$1.3 billion27.3%
2013$1.7 billion30.5%
2014$2.9 billion39.2%
2015$1.6 billion29.6%
2016$1.2 billion25.2%
2017$1.5 billion27.2%
2018$3.3 billion38.7%
2019$1.9 billion38%
2020$1.6 billion35.9%
2021$2.1 billion40.5%
2022$2.7 billion41.6%
2023$3.2 billion49.8%
2024$3.1 billion42.5%

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. Namibia–China$989 million · 31.6%
  2. Namibia–South Africa$370 million · 11.8%
  3. Namibia–United Arab Emirates$342 million · 10.9%
  4. Namibia–India$326 million · 10.4%
  5. Namibia–Oman$208 million · 6.7%
  6. Namibia–Bahrain$172 million · 5.5%
  7. Namibia–Japan$121 million · 3.9%
  8. Namibia–Malaysia$120 million · 3.8%
  9. Namibia–Singapore$82 million · 2.6%
  10. Namibia–Thailand$63 million · 2%

What crosses it

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

  1. Refined petroleum$1 billion · 32.5%
  2. Copper ore$110 million · 3.5%
  3. Nickel ore$103 million · 3.3%
  4. Cobalt oxides$101 million · 3.2%
  5. Corn$70 million · 2.2%
  6. New tires$58 million · 1.9%
  7. Frozen fish$52 million · 1.7%
  8. Trucks$42 million · 1.4%
  9. Bulldozers and excavators$41 million · 1.3%
  10. Cars$40 million · 1.3%

Reference ports

Walvis Bay (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