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

In 2024, an estimated $22.6 billion of Ireland’s trade passed through the Strait of Dover, 28.2% of its seaborne trade. That is $9.6 billion of exports and $13 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

Summary

Estimated value
$22.6billion
Of its seaborne trade
28.2%
Exports
$9.6billion
Imports
$13billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Ireland’s estimated trade through the Strait of Dover rose 3% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Ireland 22.6

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$6.3 billion28.2%
1996$6.1 billion24.5%
1997$6.7 billion25.2%
1998$6.9 billion26.3%
1999$7.3 billion26.7%
2000$7.3 billion25.2%
2001$7 billion25.8%
2002$7.6 billion25.2%
2003$9.3 billion25.9%
2004$9.6 billion22.3%
2005$10.8 billion22.2%
2006$12.4 billion24.5%
2007$14.4 billion26.8%
2008$13.8 billion25.7%
2009$11.6 billion28.1%
2010$11.7 billion26%
2011$12.8 billion27%
2012$11.6 billion25%
2013$12.8 billion24.5%
2014$12.9 billion25.8%
2015$12.2 billion24.9%
2016$13 billion26%
2017$16.5 billion28.7%
2018$21.3 billion31.2%
2019$22 billion32.9%
2020$20.8 billion32.9%
2021$20.9 billion28.3%
2022$19.7 billion24.5%
2023$24.5 billion29%
2024$22.6 billion28.2%

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. Ireland–Netherlands$7.4 billion · 32.7%
  2. Ireland–Germany$7.2 billion · 31.7%
  3. Ireland–Belgium$5.7 billion · 25.4%
  4. Ireland–Czechia$989 million · 4.4%
  5. Ireland–France$450 million · 2%
  6. Ireland–Switzerland$394 million · 1.7%
  7. Ireland–United Kingdom$326 million · 1.4%
  8. Ireland–Luxembourg$154 million · 0.68%

What crosses it

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

  1. Bulk medicines$2.6 billion · 11.5%
  2. Refined petroleum$2.1 billion · 9.4%
  3. Cars$1.4 billion · 6.2%
  4. Fragrance mixtures$784 million · 3.5%
  5. Cheese$651 million · 2.9%
  6. Butter and milk fats$636 million · 2.8%
  7. Fresh beef$498 million · 2.2%
  8. Industrial fatty acids and oils$453 million · 2%
  9. Malt extract and food mixes$287 million · 1.3%
  10. Other plastic articles$259 million · 1.2%

Reference ports

Dublin (100%)

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