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

In 2024, an estimated $49.4 billion of Japan’s trade passed through the Strait of Dover, 5.3% of its seaborne trade. That is $30.3 billion of exports and $19.1 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Summary

Estimated value
$49.4billion
Of its seaborne trade
5.3%
Exports
$30.3billion
Imports
$19.1billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Japan’s estimated trade through the Strait of Dover fell 17% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Japan 49.4

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$32.4 billion6.9%
1996$33.9 billion7.3%
1997$34.5 billion7.3%
1998$34.4 billion8.1%
1999$35.7 billion8%
2000$35.8 billion7.1%
2001$32.8 billion6.9%
2002$33.1 billion6.8%
2003$37.1 billion6.8%
2004$43.6 billion6.8%
2005$46.7 billion6.5%
2006$49.7 billion6.1%
2007$58.2 billion6.5%
2008$65.2 billion6.1%
2009$45.8 billion6.1%
2010$53 billion5.5%
2011$60 billion5.4%
2012$59 billion5.1%
2013$57.9 billion5.4%
2014$58.7 billion5.6%
2015$48.9 billion5.8%
2016$50.7 billion6.2%
2017$54.7 billion6.1%
2018$58.5 billion6%
2019$59.1 billion6.3%
2020$48.3 billion6.1%
2021$54.4 billion5.7%
2022$58.1 billion5.4%
2023$54.7 billion5.5%
2024$49.4 billion5.3%

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. Japan–Germany$16.4 billion · 33.2%
  2. Japan–Belgium$7.8 billion · 15.8%
  3. Japan–Netherlands$5.6 billion · 11.4%
  4. Japan–Poland$4.3 billion · 8.7%
  5. Japan–Russia$2.8 billion · 5.7%
  6. Japan–Czechia$2.5 billion · 5.1%
  7. Japan–Norway$2.4 billion · 4.8%
  8. Japan–Sweden$2 billion · 4.1%
  9. Japan–Switzerland$1.6 billion · 3.3%
  10. Japan–Finland$1.3 billion · 2.6%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cars$17.2 billion · 34.9%
  2. Auto parts$2.3 billion · 4.6%
  3. Natural gas and LPG$1.5 billion · 3%
  4. Motorcycles$839 million · 1.7%
  5. Printers and printing machines$699 million · 1.4%
  6. Bulldozers and excavators$687 million · 1.4%
  7. New tires$674 million · 1.4%
  8. Sawn wood$631 million · 1.3%
  9. Air pumps, compressors and fans$582 million · 1.2%
  10. Fish fillets$550 million · 1.1%

Reference ports

Yokohama (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.

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