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

In 2024, an estimated $71.8 billion of Canada’s trade passed through the Panama Canal, 20.4% of its seaborne trade. That is $32.1 billion of exports and $39.6 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are the United States, Mexico and China.

Summary

Estimated value
$71.8billion
Of its seaborne trade
20.4%
Exports
$32.1billion
Imports
$39.6billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Canada’s estimated trade through the Panama Canal rose 29% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Canada 71.8

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$17.6 billion18.7%
1996$20.1 billion20%
1997$23 billion20.8%
1998$21 billion20.7%
1999$23.8 billion21.4%
2000$21 billion20.1%
2001$19.5 billion20.4%
2002$23.6 billion20.9%
2003$27.6 billion20.9%
2004$32.4 billion20.7%
2005$37.2 billion20.3%
2006$41.8 billion20.2%
2007$42.8 billion19.3%
2008$52.7 billion19.4%
2009$34.9 billion18.7%
2010$50.8 billion20.4%
2011$51.2 billion18.4%
2012$51.1 billion18.4%
2013$50.5 billion18.8%
2014$49.1 billion18.9%
2015$51.5 billion20.6%
2016$51.3 billion21.1%
2017$53.2 billion20.5%
2018$60.6 billion20.3%
2019$55.7 billion19.8%
2020$53.1 billion20%
2021$64.9 billion19.7%
2022$75.8 billion19.7%
2023$73.4 billion20%
2024$71.8 billion20.4%

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. Canada–United States$28.7 billion · 40%
  2. Canada–Mexico$20.6 billion · 28.7%
  3. Canada–China$2.9 billion · 4%
  4. Canada–Brazil$1.9 billion · 2.7%
  5. Canada–Germany$1.6 billion · 2.2%
  6. Canada–Peru$1.4 billion · 1.9%
  7. Canada–Japan$1 billion · 1.4%
  8. Canada–Ecuador$960 million · 1.3%
  9. Canada–Chile$895 million · 1.2%
  10. Canada–Italy$842 million · 1.2%

What crosses it

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

  1. Refined petroleum$9.4 billion · 13.1%
  2. Cars$5.2 billion · 7.2%
  3. Trucks$2.4 billion · 3.4%
  4. Sawn wood$2 billion · 2.8%
  5. Auto parts$1.9 billion · 2.7%
  6. Potash fertilizers$1.8 billion · 2.6%
  7. Wheat$1.6 billion · 2.3%
  8. Polyethylene$1.4 billion · 1.9%
  9. Crude petroleum$1.2 billion · 1.7%
  10. Iron ore$943 million · 1.3%

If it closes

  • Canada–United States: +8,396 nautical miles, ≈ 25 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape Horn
  • Canada–Mexico: +8,259 nautical miles, ≈ 24.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape Horn

Estimated sailing detour, without costs, waiting or port capacity.

Reference ports

Vancouver (61%) and Halifax (39%)

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