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

In 2024, an estimated $2.4 billion of Kenya’s trade passed through the Strait of Dover, 9.4% of its seaborne trade. That is $1.2 billion of exports and $1.2 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

Summary

Estimated value
$2.4billion
Of its seaborne trade
9.4%
Exports
$1.2billion
Imports
$1.2billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Kenya’s estimated trade through the Strait of Dover rose 25% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Kenya 2.4

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$743 million21.7%
1996$744 million23%
1997$824 million17.8%
1998$711 million15.3%
1999$619 million15.5%
2000$669 million16%
2001$678 million13.8%
2002$586 million14%
2003$717 million13.3%
2004$733 million14%
2005$1 billion12.8%
2006$1.1 billion12.2%
2007$1.3 billion11.6%
2008$1.6 billion11%
2009$1.5 billion12.1%
2010$1.7 billion12%
2011$1.6 billion11.1%
2012$1.5 billion8.7%
2013$1.9 billion9.5%
2014$1.7 billion8%
2015$2 billion10.2%
2016$1.9 billion10.5%
2017$2 billion9.8%
2018$1.9 billion9%
2019$1.9 billion9.4%
2020$2.1 billion10.9%
2021$2.2 billion9.6%
2022$2.2 billion8.3%
2023$2.3 billion9.4%
2024$2.4 billion9.4%

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. Kenya–Netherlands$944 million · 39.5%
  2. Kenya–Germany$401 million · 16.7%
  3. Kenya–Belgium$294 million · 12.3%
  4. Kenya–Russia$262 million · 10.9%
  5. Kenya–Switzerland$117 million · 4.9%
  6. Kenya–Poland$114 million · 4.8%
  7. Kenya–Finland$83 million · 3.5%
  8. Kenya–Norway$79 million · 3.3%
  9. Kenya–Sweden$63 million · 2.6%
  10. Kenya–United Kingdom$36 million · 1.5%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cut flowers$485 million · 20.3%
  2. Refined petroleum$397 million · 16.6%
  3. Wheat$215 million · 9%
  4. Coffee$152 million · 6.4%
  5. Avocados, mangoes, pineapples and dates$145 million · 6.1%
  6. Tea$77 million · 3.2%
  7. Live plants and cuttings$50 million · 2.1%
  8. Mixed fertilizers$48 million · 2%
  9. Kraft paper and paperboard$42 million · 1.8%
  10. Ferrous scrap$31 million · 1.3%

Reference ports

Mombasa (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