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

In 2024, an estimated $55.4 billion of Mexico’s trade passed through the Panama Canal, 16% of its seaborne trade. That is $27.2 billion of exports and $28.2 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are the United States, Canada and Brazil.

Summary

Estimated value
$55.4billion
Of its seaborne trade
16%
Exports
$27.2billion
Imports
$28.2billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Mexico’s estimated trade through the Panama Canal rose 7% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Mexico 55.4

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$7.2 billion22%
1996$11.4 billion25.7%
1997$11.5 billion24%
1998$10.3 billion22.8%
1999$16.2 billion26.6%
2000$14.1 billion22.5%
2001$14.5 billion21.9%
2002$15.8 billion22.5%
2003$16 billion22.1%
2004$22.3 billion21.9%
2005$22.2 billion20.6%
2006$26.7 billion20.4%
2007$23.8 billion16.8%
2008$29.1 billion17.2%
2009$22.1 billion18.2%
2010$37.7 billion21.8%
2011$34.2 billion17.4%
2012$33.9 billion16.4%
2013$34.9 billion16.6%
2014$32.2 billion16.2%
2015$31.4 billion16.2%
2016$41.4 billion19.5%
2017$47 billion19.1%
2018$38.4 billion15.5%
2019$51.6 billion18.8%
2020$41.8 billion17.4%
2021$52.2 billion17.8%
2022$63 billion18.5%
2023$64.4 billion17.7%
2024$55.4 billion16%

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. Mexico–United States$27.6 billion · 49.7%
  2. Mexico–Canada$20.6 billion · 37.2%
  3. Mexico–Brazil$2.5 billion · 4.4%
  4. Mexico–Colombia$1.4 billion · 2.6%
  5. Mexico–Chile$696 million · 1.3%
  6. Mexico–Peru$504 million · 0.91%
  7. Mexico–Costa Rica$368 million · 0.66%
  8. Mexico–Ecuador$326 million · 0.59%
  9. Mexico–Argentina$308 million · 0.56%
  10. Mexico–South Africa$235 million · 0.42%

What crosses it

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

  1. Refined petroleum$12.6 billion · 22.7%
  2. Cars$4.5 billion · 8%
  3. Trucks$2.6 billion · 4.7%
  4. Auto parts$2 billion · 3.6%
  5. Corn$902 million · 1.6%
  6. Ethers and organic peroxides$772 million · 1.4%
  7. Other fresh vegetables$766 million · 1.4%
  8. Soybeans$754 million · 1.4%
  9. Tractors$710 million · 1.3%
  10. Wheat$663 million · 1.2%

If it closes

  • Mexico–United States: +8,767 nautical miles, ≈ 26 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

Manzanillo (72%) and Veracruz (28%)

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