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

In 2024, an estimated $23.9 billion of Switzerland’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 28.2% of its seaborne trade. That is $5.9 billion of exports and $18 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, Zambia and Japan.

Summary

Estimated value
$23.9billion
Of its seaborne trade
28.2%
Exports
$5.9billion
Imports
$18billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Switzerland’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 579% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Switzerland 23.9

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$560 million1.3%
1996$545 million1.1%
1997$469 million0.9%
1998$556 million1.1%
1999$622 million1.2%
2000$393 million1.1%
2001$293 million0.8%
2002$314 million0.9%
2003$371 million0.9%
2004$535 million1.1%
2005$1.1 billion2.1%
2006$2 billion3.5%
2007$2.3 billion3.8%
2008$2.8 billion3.9%
2009$2.1 billion3.8%
2010$3.6 billion5.5%
2011$5.5 billion7.3%
2012$4.6 billion6.1%
2013$4.6 billion5.6%
2014$4.9 billion6.2%
2015$2.9 billion3.9%
2016$3.1 billion4.4%
2017$4.3 billion5.5%
2018$4.4 billion5.7%
2019$3.5 billion4.8%
2020$4.1 billion5.7%
2021$5.2 billion6.1%
2022$5.4 billion6%
2023$5.1 billion6%
2024$23.9 billion28.2%

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. Switzerland–China$8.8 billion · 36.8%
  2. Switzerland–Zambia$4.9 billion · 20.3%
  3. Switzerland–Japan$1.4 billion · 5.7%
  4. Switzerland–India$1.3 billion · 5.6%
  5. Switzerland–South Korea$773 million · 3.2%
  6. Switzerland–Hong Kong$616 million · 2.6%
  7. Switzerland–Thailand$592 million · 2.5%
  8. Switzerland–United Arab Emirates$553 million · 2.3%
  9. Switzerland–South Africa$532 million · 2.2%
  10. Switzerland–Malaysia$504 million · 2.1%

What crosses it

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

  1. Unrefined copper$3.8 billion · 15.8%
  2. Cars$1.2 billion · 5.1%
  3. Refined copper$973 million · 4.1%
  4. Coffee$582 million · 2.4%
  5. Gemstones$511 million · 2.1%
  6. Other plastic articles$362 million · 1.5%
  7. Bags, suitcases and cases$362 million · 1.5%
  8. Refined petroleum$302 million · 1.3%
  9. Furniture$252 million · 1.1%
  10. Soft drinks$243 million · 1%

Reference ports

Rotterdam (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