How much of the United States’ trade passes through the Panama Canal?

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. United States–China$83.9 billion · 19%
2. United States–South Korea$32.9 billion · 7.5%
3. United States–Japan$31.4 billion · 7.1%
4. United States–Canada$28.7 billion · 6.5%
5. United States–Mexico$27.6 billion · 6.2%
6. United States–Germany$21.6 billion · 4.9%
7. United States–Chile$19.1 billion · 4.3%
8. United States–Brazil$15.2 billion · 3.5%
9. United States–Peru$11.6 billion · 2.6%
10. United States–United Kingdom$11 billion · 2.5%

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

1. Refined petroleum$49.5 billion · 11.2%
2. Cars$35.1 billion · 8%
3. Crude petroleum$30.3 billion · 6.9%
4. Natural gas and LPG$16.2 billion · 3.7%
5. Auto parts$9.7 billion · 2.2%
6. Soybeans$5 billion · 1.1%
7. Polyethylene$4.5 billion · 1%
8. Refined copper$4.5 billion · 1%
9. Toys$3.4 billion · 0.78%
10. Corn$3.3 billion · 0.74%

• China–United States: +1,722 nautical miles, ≈ 5 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait; the Suez Canal; and the Strait of Gibraltar
• South Korea–United States: +2,517 nautical miles, ≈ 7.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait; the Suez Canal; and the Strait of Gibraltar
• Japan–United States: +3,178 nautical miles, ≈ 9.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait; the Suez Canal; and the Strait of Gibraltar
• Canada–United States: +8,396 nautical miles, ≈ 25 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape Horn
• Mexico–United States: +8,767 nautical miles, ≈ 26 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape Horn

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

Los Angeles (48%) and New York (52%)

Each port with the weight it receives from the country’s trade, based on where its GDP is generated and which coast is closest.

• See Panama Canal
• the United States trade

Other chokepoints it uses

• Strait of Gibraltar · 10%
• Strait of Dover · 9%
• Cape of Good Hope · 8%
• Strait of Malacca and Singapore · 5%

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• World Bank, Global Shipping Traffic Density · CC BY 4.0 (route network derived by this site)
• World Port Index (NGA) · Public domain (US Government work)
• Natural Earth · Public domain
• Kummu et al., gridded GDP · CC BY 4.0 (split between ports done by this site)

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.