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How much of Canada’s trade passes through the Strait of Dover?

In 2024, an estimated $22.5 billion of Canada’s trade passed through the Strait of Dover, 6.4% of its seaborne trade. That is $8.1 billion of exports and $14.4 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Summary

Estimated value
$22.5billion
Of its seaborne trade
6.4%
Exports
$8.1billion
Imports
$14.4billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Canada’s estimated trade through the Strait of Dover rose 8% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Canada 22.5

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$7.4 billion7.9%
1996$7 billion7%
1997$7.7 billion6.9%
1998$7.9 billion7.8%
1999$8 billion7.2%
2000$7.7 billion7.4%
2001$7.7 billion8%
2002$9.1 billion8.1%
2003$9.7 billion7.4%
2004$11.5 billion7.3%
2005$12.8 billion7%
2006$15.4 billion7.4%
2007$17.1 billion7.7%
2008$19.2 billion7.1%
2009$13.8 billion7.4%
2010$15.9 billion6.4%
2011$19.5 billion7%
2012$21.1 billion7.6%
2013$20 billion7.5%
2014$20.2 billion7.8%
2015$16.2 billion6.5%
2016$15.4 billion6.3%
2017$17.2 billion6.7%
2018$20.1 billion6.7%
2019$20.8 billion7.4%
2020$17.2 billion6.5%
2021$20.8 billion6.3%
2022$24.2 billion6.3%
2023$24.5 billion6.7%
2024$22.5 billion6.4%

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–Germany$11.5 billion · 51.4%
  2. Canada–Netherlands$5.7 billion · 25.3%
  3. Canada–Belgium$2.9 billion · 12.7%
  4. Canada–Switzerland$997 million · 4.4%
  5. Canada–Czechia$562 million · 2.5%
  6. Canada–France$411 million · 1.8%
  7. Canada–United Kingdom$295 million · 1.3%
  8. Canada–Luxembourg$124 million · 0.55%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cars$2.9 billion · 12.8%
  2. Iron ore$2 billion · 9%
  3. Refined petroleum$1.8 billion · 8.1%
  4. Crude petroleum$1.4 billion · 6.2%
  5. Harvesters and farm machinery$452 million · 2%
  6. Tractors$370 million · 1.7%
  7. Auto parts$312 million · 1.4%
  8. Trucks$297 million · 1.3%
  9. Chocolate$263 million · 1.2%
  10. Unwrought aluminum$254 million · 1.1%

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