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

In 2024, an estimated $35.1 billion of Taiwan’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 11.6% of its seaborne trade. That is $16.8 billion of exports and $18.3 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Germany, Brazil and Russia.

Summary

Estimated value
$35.1billion
Of its seaborne trade
11.6%
Exports
$16.8billion
Imports
$18.3billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Taiwan’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 734% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Taiwan 35.1

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$2 billion1.3%
1996$2.1 billion1.4%
1997$2.6 billion1.8%
1998$2.5 billion1.9%
1999$1.8 billion1.3%
2000$4 billion2.5%
2001$3.2 billion2.4%
2002$2.9 billion2%
2003$3.7 billion2.3%
2004$5.2 billion2.6%
2005$4.9 billion2.2%
2006$6.7 billion2.7%
2007$7.3 billion2.7%
2008$11.2 billion3.7%
2009$6.5 billion3%
2010$10.2 billion3.5%
2011$14.1 billion4.2%
2012$13.1 billion3.8%
2013$10.6 billion3%
2014$8.6 billion3%
2015$5.8 billion2.1%
2016$5.2 billion2.1%
2017$6.3 billion2.2%
2018$4 billion1.3%
2019$4.2 billion1.5%
2020$4.4 billion1.7%
2021$6.5 billion1.8%
2022$7 billion1.8%
2023$5.6 billion1.8%
2024$35.1 billion11.6%

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. Taiwan–Germany$7.1 billion · 20.3%
  2. Taiwan–Brazil$3.3 billion · 9.5%
  3. Taiwan–Russia$3.1 billion · 8.8%
  4. Taiwan–United Kingdom$2.5 billion · 7.2%
  5. Taiwan–Italy$2.1 billion · 5.9%
  6. Taiwan–Netherlands$1.9 billion · 5.5%
  7. Taiwan–France$1.7 billion · 5%
  8. Taiwan–Spain$1.4 billion · 4.1%
  9. Taiwan–Belgium$1.1 billion · 3.2%
  10. Taiwan–Poland$1 billion · 2.9%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cars$3.5 billion · 10%
  2. Refined petroleum$1.7 billion · 4.8%
  3. Screws, bolts and nuts$1.6 billion · 4.7%
  4. Auto parts$922 million · 2.6%
  5. Soybeans$693 million · 2%
  6. Coal$656 million · 1.9%
  7. Corn$599 million · 1.7%
  8. Motorcycle and bicycle parts$579 million · 1.7%
  9. Hot-rolled flat steel$547 million · 1.6%
  10. Iron ore$496 million · 1.4%

Reference ports

Kaohsiung (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