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

In 2024, an estimated $8 billion of Libya’s trade passed through the Strait of Dover, 16.8% of its seaborne trade. That is $6.4 billion of exports and $1.5 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Summary

Estimated value
$8billion
Of its seaborne trade
16.8%
Exports
$6.4billion
Imports
$1.5billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Libya’s estimated trade through the Strait of Dover rose 113% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Libya 8

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$2.5 billion20.6%
1996$3.1 billion21.5%
1997$2.8 billion20.2%
1998$2.1 billion20.5%
1999$2.8 billion25%
2000$3.6 billion22.5%
2001$3.2 billion21%
2002$2.8 billion20.4%
2003$3.5 billion20%
2004$5.1 billion21.2%
2005$7.4 billion21.8%
2006$9.5 billion21.5%
2007$6.9 billion15.8%
2008$8.7 billion14.4%
2009$5.7 billion12.5%
2010$5.2 billion9.4%
2011$4.3 billion18%
2012$12 billion16.1%
2013$11.8 billion19.3%
2014$6.2 billion18.4%
2015$2.2 billion11.4%
2016$1.7 billion6.2%
2017$2 billion7.3%
2018$3.2 billion7.9%
2019$3.7 billion8.4%
2020$2.2 billion12.4%
2021$7.8 billion17%
2022$8.7 billion15.7%
2023$8.4 billion15.7%
2024$8 billion16.8%

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. Libya–Germany$5 billion · 62.2%
  2. Libya–Netherlands$1.4 billion · 17%
  3. Libya–Belgium$638 million · 8%
  4. Libya–Sweden$434 million · 5.4%
  5. Libya–United Kingdom$136 million · 1.7%
  6. Libya–Denmark$128 million · 1.6%
  7. Libya–Poland$127 million · 1.6%
  8. Libya–Switzerland$93 million · 1.2%
  9. Libya–Lithuania$36 million · 0.45%
  10. Libya–Norway$26 million · 0.33%

What crosses it

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

  1. Crude petroleum$6.2 billion · 77.3%
  2. Refined petroleum$627 million · 7.9%
  3. Malt extract and food mixes$95 million · 1.2%
  4. Other food preparations$73 million · 0.91%
  5. Medicines in measured doses or retail packs$67 million · 0.84%
  6. Cheese$63 million · 0.79%
  7. Direct-reduced iron$62 million · 0.78%
  8. Powdered and condensed milk$52 million · 0.66%
  9. Cars$51 million · 0.64%
  10. Coal tar oils$50 million · 0.63%

Reference ports

Tripoli (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