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

In 2024, an estimated $6.4 billion of Sri Lanka’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 23.8% of its seaborne trade. That is $4.8 billion of exports and $1.6 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Summary

Estimated value
$6.4billion
Of its seaborne trade
23.8%
Exports
$4.8billion
Imports
$1.6billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Sri Lanka’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 4,228% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Sri Lanka 6.4

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$101 million1.7%
1996$80 million1.3%
1997$120 million1.7%
1998$110 million1.5%
1999$119 million1.3%
2000$57 million0.6%
2001$58 million0.7%
2002$70 million0.7%
2003$43 million0.4%
2004$146 million1.2%
2005$166 million1.3%
2006$165 million1.1%
2007$113 million0.7%
2008$123 million0.7%
2009$194 million1.3%
2010$216 million1.2%
2011$174 million0.7%
2012$190 million0.8%
2013$219 million0.9%
2014$230 million0.9%
2015$219 million0.9%
2016$290 million1.2%
2017$250 million1%
2018$143 million0.6%
2019$149 million0.6%
2020$147 million0.7%
2021$172 million0.6%
2022$192 million0.7%
2023$176 million0.7%
2024$6.4 billion23.8%

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. Sri Lanka–United States$1.5 billion · 22.6%
  2. Sri Lanka–Germany$730 million · 11.3%
  3. Sri Lanka–United Kingdom$702 million · 10.9%
  4. Sri Lanka–Italy$545 million · 8.5%
  5. Sri Lanka–Russia$433 million · 6.7%
  6. Sri Lanka–Netherlands$321 million · 5%
  7. Sri Lanka–France$274 million · 4.3%
  8. Sri Lanka–Canada$191 million · 3%
  9. Sri Lanka–Belgium$180 million · 2.8%
  10. Sri Lanka–Turkey$162 million · 2.5%

What crosses it

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

  1. Tea$479 million · 7.4%
  2. Used and retreaded tires$288 million · 4.5%
  3. Knitted gloves$270 million · 4.2%
  4. Women's suits and dresses$246 million · 3.8%
  5. Men's suits and trousers$239 million · 3.7%
  6. Men's knitted underwear and pajamas$233 million · 3.6%
  7. Women's knitted underwear and pajamas$211 million · 3.3%
  8. T-shirts$205 million · 3.2%
  9. Rubber gloves and clothing$202 million · 3.1%
  10. Coal$183 million · 2.9%

Reference ports

Colombo (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