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

In 2024, an estimated $3.6 billion of Nicaragua’s trade passed through the Panama Canal, 23.6% of its seaborne trade. That is $1.8 billion of exports and $1.9 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Summary

Estimated value
$3.6billion
Of its seaborne trade
23.6%
Exports
$1.8billion
Imports
$1.9billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Nicaragua’s estimated trade through the Panama Canal rose 11% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Nicaragua 3.6

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$396 million27.1%
1996$488 million29.5%
1997$576 million29.8%
1998$595 million27.5%
1999$651 million29.8%
2000$533 million22.9%
2001$561 million23.6%
2002$589 million24.6%
2003$782 million28.5%
2004$910 million27%
2005$924 million24.3%
2006$1.1 billion25.8%
2007$1 billion21.9%
2008$1.3 billion22.6%
2009$1.1 billion21%
2010$1.4 billion22.9%
2011$1.2 billion17.4%
2012$2.9 billion26.2%
2013$2.7 billion24.9%
2014$2.2 billion23.1%
2015$2.4 billion24.5%
2016$2.7 billion25.8%
2017$2.9 billion26.5%
2018$3.3 billion30%
2019$3.3 billion30.7%
2020$2.9 billion28.8%
2021$3.3 billion25.1%
2022$4 billion26.5%
2023$4 billion26.8%
2024$3.6 billion23.6%

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. Nicaragua–United States$3.2 billion · 87.9%
  2. Nicaragua–Mexico$232 million · 6.4%
  3. Nicaragua–Canada$77 million · 2.1%
  4. Nicaragua–Ecuador$39 million · 1.1%
  5. Nicaragua–Russia$18 million · 0.5%
  6. Nicaragua–Costa Rica$15 million · 0.4%
  7. Nicaragua–Peru$14 million · 0.38%
  8. Nicaragua–Colombia$13 million · 0.35%
  9. Nicaragua–Senegal$11 million · 0.31%
  10. Nicaragua–Argentina$6 million · 0.17%

What crosses it

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

  1. T-shirts$496 million · 13.6%
  2. Refined petroleum$395 million · 10.9%
  3. Crude petroleum$333 million · 9.2%
  4. Sweaters and pullovers$198 million · 5.5%
  5. Coffee$162 million · 4.5%
  6. Frozen beef$125 million · 3.4%
  7. Cables and wire$110 million · 3%
  8. Men's suits and trousers$93 million · 2.6%
  9. Fresh beef$91 million · 2.5%
  10. Women's knitted blouses$68 million · 1.9%

Reference ports

Corinto (74%) and Bluefields (26%)

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.

All maritime chokepoints