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How much of the United Arab Emirates’ trade passes through the Cape of Good Hope?

In 2024, an estimated $65.9 billion of the United Arab Emirates’ trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 17.5% of its seaborne trade. That is $28.1 billion of exports and $37.8 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are the United States, Germany and Brazil.

Summary

Estimated value
$65.9billion
Of its seaborne trade
17.5%
Exports
$28.1billion
Imports
$37.8billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

The United Arab Emirates’ estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 558% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • United Arab Emirates 65.9

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$198 million0.6%
1996$309 million0.8%
1997$384 million0.9%
1998$354 million0.9%
1999$319 million0.8%
2000$474 million0.9%
2001$790 million1.4%
2002$1.1 billion1.9%
2003$891 million1.2%
2004$1.2 billion1.2%
2005$1.8 billion1.5%
2006$2.1 billion1.4%
2007$3.2 billion1.8%
2008$3.9 billion1.6%
2009$3.3 billion2%
2010$4.5 billion1.9%
2011$4.7 billion1.6%
2012$7.1 billion2.2%
2013$7.3 billion2.5%
2014$9 billion3%
2015$7.1 billion3%
2016$6.1 billion2.9%
2017$7.6 billion2.8%
2018$9.2 billion3%
2019$10 billion3.3%
2020$8.7 billion3.5%
2021$10.8 billion3.2%
2022$16.5 billion3.5%
2023$15.9 billion3.7%
2024$65.9 billion17.5%

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. United Arab Emirates–United States$9.8 billion · 14.9%
  2. United Arab Emirates–Germany$6.5 billion · 9.9%
  3. United Arab Emirates–Brazil$5.2 billion · 7.9%
  4. United Arab Emirates–Italy$4.6 billion · 6.9%
  5. United Arab Emirates–United Kingdom$4.5 billion · 6.8%
  6. United Arab Emirates–France$4.3 billion · 6.5%
  7. United Arab Emirates–Turkey$4.1 billion · 6.2%
  8. United Arab Emirates–Netherlands$2.9 billion · 4.3%
  9. United Arab Emirates–Egypt$2.5 billion · 3.8%
  10. United Arab Emirates–Spain$1.9 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. Refined petroleum$12.8 billion · 19.4%
  2. Cars$4.5 billion · 6.8%
  3. Unwrought aluminum$3.9 billion · 6%
  4. Crude petroleum$1.8 billion · 2.7%
  5. Cane and beet sugar$1.2 billion · 1.9%
  6. Poultry meat$1.1 billion · 1.7%
  7. Steel structures$942 million · 1.4%
  8. Perfumes$911 million · 1.4%
  9. Auto parts$854 million · 1.3%
  10. Makeup and skin care$591 million · 0.9%

Reference ports

Jebel Ali (86%) and Khor Fakkan (14%)

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