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

In 2024, an estimated $62.8 billion of Switzerland’s trade passed through the Strait of Dover, 74.3% of its seaborne trade. That is $24.9 billion of exports and $37.9 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, the United States and Zambia.

Summary

Estimated value
$62.8billion
Of its seaborne trade
74.3%
Exports
$24.9billion
Imports
$37.9billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Switzerland’s estimated trade through the Strait of Dover rose 16% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Switzerland 62.8

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$28.5 billion65%
1996$30.7 billion62.8%
1997$32.2 billion63.7%
1998$31.3 billion63.3%
1999$31.7 billion63.1%
2000$22.6 billion64%
2001$22.3 billion64.2%
2002$23.8 billion65.1%
2003$26.1 billion64.7%
2004$32.2 billion66.6%
2005$36.1 billion66.7%
2006$37.4 billion66.8%
2007$40.8 billion66.9%
2008$48.8 billion68.3%
2009$37.4 billion69%
2010$46.5 billion71.4%
2011$55.4 billion72.8%
2012$56 billion74.4%
2013$61.9 billion76.6%
2014$61.4 billion76.8%
2015$55.4 billion76.3%
2016$52.7 billion75.8%
2017$59.8 billion77.1%
2018$57.3 billion74.3%
2019$54 billion73.5%
2020$53.4 billion75.1%
2021$63.3 billion74.6%
2022$69.1 billion76.1%
2023$61.5 billion73.3%
2024$62.8 billion74.3%

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. Switzerland–China$10.3 billion · 16.4%
  2. Switzerland–United States$6.6 billion · 10.5%
  3. Switzerland–Zambia$4.9 billion · 7.7%
  4. Switzerland–Spain$4.2 billion · 6.7%
  5. Switzerland–Slovenia$3.4 billion · 5.4%
  6. Switzerland–Israel$2.3 billion · 3.6%
  7. Switzerland–Turkey$2 billion · 3.2%
  8. Switzerland–Japan$1.6 billion · 2.6%
  9. Switzerland–India$1.6 billion · 2.5%
  10. Switzerland–Slovakia$1.4 billion · 2.2%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cars$4.5 billion · 7.2%
  2. Unrefined copper$3.8 billion · 6%
  3. Nitrogen heterocyclic compounds$3.2 billion · 5.1%
  4. Coffee$2.2 billion · 3.5%
  5. Crude petroleum$1.7 billion · 2.7%
  6. Refined petroleum$1.1 billion · 1.7%
  7. Refined copper$1 billion · 1.6%
  8. Soft drinks$852 million · 1.4%
  9. Fragrance mixtures$781 million · 1.2%
  10. Furniture$699 million · 1.1%

Reference ports

Rotterdam (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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