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

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. Russia–India$28.2 billion · 23.6%
2. Russia–China$15.4 billion · 12.9%
3. Russia–Turkey$13.7 billion · 11.5%
4. Russia–Brazil$5.5 billion · 4.6%
5. Russia–Germany$4.3 billion · 3.6%
6. Russia–Uzbekistan$4.2 billion · 3.5%
7. Russia–South Korea$4.1 billion · 3.4%
8. Russia–Japan$2.8 billion · 2.4%
9. Russia–France$2.8 billion · 2.3%
10. Russia–Egypt$2.7 billion · 2.2%

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

1. Crude petroleum$25.3 billion · 21.1%
2. Refined petroleum$18.6 billion · 15.6%
3. Natural gas and LPG$11.5 billion · 9.6%
4. Coal$9.1 billion · 7.6%
5. Wheat$3.5 billion · 2.9%
6. Semi-finished steel$2.4 billion · 2%
7. Mixed fertilizers$2 billion · 1.7%
8. Sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oil$1.8 billion · 1.5%
9. Potash fertilizers$1.7 billion · 1.5%
10. Medicines in measured doses or retail packs$1.7 billion · 1.4%

• India–Russia: +271 nautical miles, ≈ 1 day more at 14 knots, via the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Suez Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Øresund

Estimated sailing detour, without costs, waiting or port capacity.

Saint Petersburg (31%), Murmansk (10%), Novorossiysk (32%) and Vladivostok (27%)

Each port with the weight it receives from the country’s trade, based on where its GDP is generated and which coast is closest.

• See Strait of Dover
• Russia trade

Other chokepoints it uses

• Strait of Gibraltar · 43%
• Cape of Good Hope · 42%
• Turkish Straits (Bosporus and Dardanelles) · 38%
• Strait of Malacca and Singapore · 35%
• Øresund · 30%
• Suez Canal · 8%
• Bab-el-Mandeb Strait · 8%

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• World Bank, Global Shipping Traffic Density · CC BY 4.0 (route network derived by this site)
• World Port Index (NGA) · Public domain (US Government work)
• Natural Earth · Public domain
• Kummu et al., gridded GDP · CC BY 4.0 (split between ports done by this site)

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.