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How much of Bolivia’s trade passes through the Panama Canal?

In 2024, an estimated $3.6 billion of Bolivia’s trade passed through the Panama Canal, 37.8% of its seaborne trade. That is $1.9 billion of exports and $1.7 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are the United States, Colombia and Belgium.

Summary

Estimated value
$3.6billion
Of its seaborne trade
37.8%
Exports
$1.9billion
Imports
$1.7billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Bolivia’s estimated trade through the Panama Canal rose 12% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Bolivia 3.6

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$1.1 billion69.9%
1996$1.2 billion68.3%
1997$1.2 billion65%
1998$1.3 billion58.5%
1999$1.1 billion64.7%
2000$1.2 billion66.8%
2001$1 billion69.2%
2002$949 million66%
2003$999 million67%
2004$1.2 billion63.6%
2005$1.3 billion60.5%
2006$1.6 billion58.5%
2007$1.9 billion52.1%
2008$2.6 billion53.2%
2009$2.6 billion58.1%
2010$3.2 billion56.1%
2011$3.8 billion51.3%
2012$3.6 billion49.9%
2013$4.2 billion49.1%
2014$4.2 billion43.9%
2015$3.5 billion43.7%
2016$3.1 billion41.1%
2017$3.2 billion38.9%
2018$3.4 billion38.9%
2019$3.2 billion42.3%
2020$2.3 billion43.1%
2021$3.3 billion40.8%
2022$4.3 billion40.2%
2023$3.6 billion42.2%
2024$3.6 billion37.8%

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. Bolivia–United States$633 million · 17.8%
  2. Bolivia–Colombia$514 million · 14.4%
  3. Bolivia–Belgium$476 million · 13.4%
  4. Bolivia–Netherlands$424 million · 11.9%
  5. Bolivia–Germany$240 million · 6.7%
  6. Bolivia–Spain$206 million · 5.8%
  7. Bolivia–United Kingdom$151 million · 4.2%
  8. Bolivia–Switzerland$126 million · 3.5%
  9. Bolivia–France$125 million · 3.5%
  10. Bolivia–Italy$110 million · 3.1%

What crosses it

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

  1. Refined petroleum$828 million · 23.3%
  2. Unwrought tin$547 million · 15.4%
  3. Zinc ore$305 million · 8.6%
  4. Soybean meal and pellets$177 million · 5%
  5. Soybean oil$175 million · 4.9%
  6. Coconuts, Brazil nuts and cashews$158 million · 4.4%
  7. Lead ore$83 million · 2.3%
  8. Quinoa, millet and other cereals$59 million · 1.7%
  9. Cars$46 million · 1.3%
  10. Sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oil$33 million · 0.92%

Reference ports

Arica (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.

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