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How much of Belgium’s trade passes through the Øresund?

In 2024, an estimated $25.6 billion of Belgium’s trade passed through the Øresund, 7.4% of its seaborne trade. That is $13.4 billion of exports and $12.2 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Poland, Sweden and Finland.

Summary

Estimated value
$25.6billion
Of its seaborne trade
7.4%
Exports
$13.4billion
Imports
$12.2billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Belgium’s estimated trade through the Øresund rose 19% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Belgium 25.6

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$5.8 billion4.1%
1996$5.9 billion4.1%
1997$6.2 billion4%
1998$6.8 billion4.3%
1999$6.1 billion4%
2000$6.5 billion4%
2001$7 billion4.3%
2002$7.6 billion4.3%
2003$9.7 billion4.9%
2004$12.1 billion5.1%
2005$13.4 billion5.1%
2006$16 billion5.5%
2007$19.3 billion6.1%
2008$22.4 billion6.6%
2009$16.1 billion6.1%
2010$17.3 billion6.7%
2011$20.7 billion7.2%
2012$19.6 billion7.2%
2013$21.2 billion7.4%
2014$21.5 billion7.3%
2015$17.9 billion6.9%
2016$17.8 billion6.8%
2017$20.7 billion7.2%
2018$22.8 billion7.3%
2019$21.5 billion7.2%
2020$20.1 billion7.6%
2021$27.1 billion8.1%
2022$28.4 billion7.3%
2023$26.7 billion7.3%
2024$25.6 billion7.4%

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. Belgium–Poland$13.2 billion · 51.4%
  2. Belgium–Sweden$5.4 billion · 21.1%
  3. Belgium–Finland$3.6 billion · 14%
  4. Belgium–Lithuania$1.3 billion · 5.1%
  5. Belgium–Russia$954 million · 3.7%
  6. Belgium–Latvia$574 million · 2.2%
  7. Belgium–Estonia$559 million · 2.2%
  8. Belgium–Belarus$75 million · 0.29%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cars$2.1 billion · 8.4%
  2. Auto parts$1.3 billion · 5.2%
  3. Refined petroleum$1.3 billion · 5%
  4. Natural gas and LPG$408 million · 1.6%
  5. Polyethylene$405 million · 1.6%
  6. Chocolate$394 million · 1.5%
  7. Trucks$381 million · 1.5%
  8. Coated flat steel$376 million · 1.5%
  9. Pork$368 million · 1.4%
  10. Coal tar oils$314 million · 1.2%

Reference ports

Antwerp (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.

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.

The Great Belt is not included in the estimate: only the trade that crosses the Øresund is counted.

All maritime chokepoints