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

In 2024, an estimated $5.3 billion of Zambia’s trade passed through the Strait of Dover, 25.9% of its seaborne trade. That is $4.9 billion of exports and $402 million of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Switzerland, Germany and Finland.

Summary

Estimated value
$5.3billion
Of its seaborne trade
25.9%
Exports
$4.9billion
Imports
$402million

Trend

Estimated value per year

Zambia’s estimated trade through the Strait of Dover rose 51% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Zambia 5.3

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$232 million12.9%
1996$267 million15%
1997$169 million8.6%
1998$181 million11.7%
1999$328 million22.5%
2000$206 million14.4%
2001$216 million10.7%
2002$197 million9.3%
2003$248 million11.3%
2004$367 million11.6%
2005$936 million21.3%
2006$1.8 billion25.1%
2007$2.2 billion26.4%
2008$2.6 billion26.3%
2009$2 billion24%
2010$3.5 billion28.5%
2011$5.2 billion31%
2012$4.7 billion25.4%
2013$4.8 billion26.5%
2014$4.9 billion25.2%
2015$2.6 billion18.3%
2016$3.1 billion24.5%
2017$4.1 billion25.7%
2018$4.5 billion28.1%
2019$3.5 billion27.1%
2020$4 billion34.1%
2021$5.2 billion31.8%
2022$5 billion26.9%
2023$4.8 billion24.3%
2024$5.3 billion25.9%

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. Zambia–Switzerland$4.9 billion · 90.8%
  2. Zambia–Germany$178 million · 3.3%
  3. Zambia–Finland$99 million · 1.8%
  4. Zambia–Belgium$44 million · 0.83%
  5. Zambia–Sweden$42 million · 0.79%
  6. Zambia–Netherlands$41 million · 0.77%
  7. Zambia–Poland$18 million · 0.35%
  8. Zambia–Denmark$18 million · 0.35%
  9. Zambia–Lithuania$16 million · 0.31%
  10. Zambia–Russia$16 million · 0.3%

What crosses it

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

  1. Unrefined copper$3.8 billion · 70.6%
  2. Refined copper$898 million · 16.8%
  3. Nickel ore$127 million · 2.4%
  4. Raw tobacco$91 million · 1.7%
  5. Sorting and crushing machines$45 million · 0.83%
  6. Refined petroleum$31 million · 0.58%
  7. Industrial fatty acids and oils$25 million · 0.47%
  8. Wheat$19 million · 0.36%
  9. Parts for cranes and excavators$18 million · 0.34%
  10. Medicines in measured doses or retail packs$18 million · 0.34%

Reference ports

Durban (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