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

In 2024, an estimated $142.5 billion of the United Kingdom’s trade passed through the Cape of Good Hope, 20.9% of its seaborne trade. That is $29.7 billion of exports and $112.9 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, India and Japan.

Summary

Estimated value
$142.5billion
Of its seaborne trade
20.9%
Exports
$29.7billion
Imports
$112.9billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

The United Kingdom’s estimated trade through the Cape of Good Hope rose 4,642% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • United Kingdom 143

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$3.6 billion1.1%
1996$3.2 billion0.9%
1997$3.2 billion0.9%
1998$3.1 billion0.9%
1999$3.4 billion1%
2000$2.6 billion0.7%
2001$4.3 billion1.2%
2002$5.7 billion1.5%
2003$3.8 billion0.9%
2004$4.5 billion0.9%
2005$5 billion0.9%
2006$5.3 billion0.9%
2007$5.1 billion0.8%
2008$4.9 billion0.7%
2009$3.2 billion0.6%
2010$3.7 billion0.6%
2011$4.5 billion0.7%
2012$4.5 billion0.7%
2013$4.2 billion0.6%
2014$3.9 billion0.6%
2015$3.5 billion0.6%
2016$3 billion0.5%
2017$3.3 billion0.5%
2018$3.6 billion0.5%
2019$3 billion0.5%
2020$2.7 billion0.5%
2021$3.7 billion0.6%
2022$3.9 billion0.5%
2023$3.8 billion0.5%
2024$142.5 billion20.9%

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. United Kingdom–China$69 billion · 48.4%
  2. United Kingdom–India$12.4 billion · 8.7%
  3. United Kingdom–Japan$8 billion · 5.6%
  4. United Kingdom–South Korea$6.7 billion · 4.7%
  5. United Kingdom–Vietnam$5 billion · 3.5%
  6. United Kingdom–United Arab Emirates$4.5 billion · 3.2%
  7. United Kingdom–Australia$3.9 billion · 2.7%
  8. United Kingdom–Bangladesh$3.7 billion · 2.6%
  9. United Kingdom–Thailand$3.4 billion · 2.4%
  10. United Kingdom–South Africa$3.3 billion · 2.3%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cars$14.9 billion · 10.5%
  2. Refined petroleum$7.9 billion · 5.6%
  3. Spirits$2.9 billion · 2%
  4. Computer and office machine parts$2.5 billion · 1.8%
  5. Auto parts$2.3 billion · 1.6%
  6. Furniture$2.3 billion · 1.6%
  7. Batteries$2.1 billion · 1.4%
  8. Toys$1.9 billion · 1.3%
  9. Crude petroleum$1.7 billion · 1.2%
  10. Seats and chairs$1.6 billion · 1.1%

Reference ports

Felixstowe (33%) and Southampton (67%)

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.

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