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

In 2024, an estimated $24.3 billion of Pakistan’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 33.9% of its seaborne trade. That is $16.8 billion of exports and $7.5 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Summary

Estimated value
$24.3billion
Of its seaborne trade
33.9%
Exports
$16.8billion
Imports
$7.5billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Pakistan’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 1,413% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Pakistan 24.3

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$289 million2.4%
1996$285 million2.2%
1997$281 million2.4%
1998$338 million2.9%
1999$312 million2.8%
2000$210 million1.8%
2001$222 million1.8%
2002$169 million1.3%
2003$313 million1.4%
2004$629 million2.5%
2005$843 million2.5%
2006$764 million2%
2007$673 million1.7%
2008$1.4 billion2.7%
2009$626 million1.5%
2010$965 million2%
2011$823 million1.4%
2012$737 million1.3%
2013$857 million1.6%
2014$1.1 billion1.9%
2015$1.3 billion2.6%
2016$1.3 billion2.5%
2017$1.3 billion2.2%
2018$1.6 billion2.4%
2019$1.6 billion2.7%
2020$1.8 billion3.3%
2021$2.9 billion3.5%
2022$2.9 billion3.3%
2023$1.6 billion2.3%
2024$24.3 billion33.9%

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. Pakistan–United States$4.2 billion · 17.3%
  2. Pakistan–Germany$2.7 billion · 11.1%
  3. Pakistan–United Kingdom$2.3 billion · 9.6%
  4. Pakistan–Spain$1.5 billion · 6%
  5. Pakistan–France$1.3 billion · 5.5%
  6. Pakistan–Italy$1.2 billion · 4.8%
  7. Pakistan–Netherlands$1.1 billion · 4.4%
  8. Pakistan–Poland$876 million · 3.6%
  9. Pakistan–Brazil$873 million · 3.6%
  10. Pakistan–Turkey$717 million · 3%

What crosses it

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

  1. Bed, table and kitchen linen$3.4 billion · 13.8%
  2. Men's suits and trousers$1.8 billion · 7.3%
  3. Women's suits and dresses$1.2 billion · 4.9%
  4. Rice$1.2 billion · 4.9%
  5. Sweaters and pullovers$1.1 billion · 4.6%
  6. Raw cotton$950 million · 3.9%
  7. Ferrous scrap$659 million · 2.7%
  8. Socks and tights$545 million · 2.3%
  9. T-shirts$479 million · 2%
  10. Soybeans$473 million · 2%

Reference ports

Karachi (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