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How much of Bulgaria’s trade passes through the Strait of Gibraltar?

In 2024, an estimated $33.8 billion of Bulgaria’s trade passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, 52.4% of its seaborne trade. That is $14.1 billion of exports and $19.8 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Germany, China and Poland.

Summary

Estimated value
$33.8billion
Of its seaborne trade
52.4%
Exports
$14.1billion
Imports
$19.8billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Bulgaria’s estimated trade through the Strait of Gibraltar rose 84% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Bulgaria 33.8

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$2.6 billion47.8%
1996$3.4 billion41.1%
1997$3.6 billion41.4%
1998$3.3 billion41.9%
1999$3.3 billion44.2%
2000$3.5 billion45.2%
2001$2.5 billion41.9%
2002$4 billion41.7%
2003$5.2 billion42.3%
2004$7.1 billion42.8%
2005$8.5 billion40.6%
2006$11.1 billion41.7%
2007$13.7 billion41.4%
2008$15.9 billion40.1%
2009$10.6 billion39%
2010$11.2 billion36.1%
2011$15.1 billion36.3%
2012$15.6 billion37.3%
2013$16.7 billion38.8%
2014$16.6 billion38%
2015$14.9 billion38.8%
2016$15.3 billion39.6%
2017$18.3 billion41%
2018$19 billion40.7%
2019$18.4 billion38.6%
2020$18.3 billion41.9%
2021$22.7 billion40.7%
2022$27.9 billion39.6%
2023$25.5 billion40.4%
2024$33.8 billion52.4%

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. Bulgaria–Germany$8.5 billion · 25.3%
  2. Bulgaria–China$4.4 billion · 13.1%
  3. Bulgaria–Poland$2.5 billion · 7.3%
  4. Bulgaria–Netherlands$1.5 billion · 4.5%
  5. Bulgaria–Belgium$1.5 billion · 4.3%
  6. Bulgaria–Czechia$1.4 billion · 4.2%
  7. Bulgaria–United States$1.3 billion · 3.7%
  8. Bulgaria–United Kingdom$1.2 billion · 3.7%
  9. Bulgaria–Iraq$821 million · 2.4%
  10. Bulgaria–Brazil$660 million · 2%

What crosses it

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

  1. Copper ore$2.3 billion · 6.9%
  2. Unrefined copper$1.6 billion · 4.8%
  3. Crude petroleum$1.3 billion · 3.8%
  4. Cars$1.1 billion · 3.2%
  5. Refined petroleum$762 million · 2.3%
  6. Auto parts$633 million · 1.9%
  7. Cables and wire$619 million · 1.8%
  8. Medicines in measured doses or retail packs$571 million · 1.7%
  9. Parts for switchgear$414 million · 1.2%
  10. Sunflower seeds$405 million · 1.2%

Reference ports

Varna (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