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How much of Cyprus’ trade passes through the Strait of Gibraltar?

In 2024, an estimated $5.2 billion of Cyprus’ trade passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, 35% of its seaborne trade. That is $1.2 billion of exports and $4 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Summary

Estimated value
$5.2billion
Of its seaborne trade
35%
Exports
$1.2billion
Imports
$4billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Cyprus’ estimated trade through the Strait of Gibraltar rose 44% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Cyprus 5.2

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$2.3 billion44.6%
1996$2.3 billion40.9%
1997$2.2 billion42.5%
1998$2.2 billion36.5%
1999$1.9 billion37.1%
2000$2.4 billion37.4%
2001$2.2 billion35.6%
2002$2 billion32.6%
2003$2.6 billion34.8%
2004$2.5 billion27.4%
2005$3.5 billion30%
2006$3.4 billion29.4%
2007$4.4 billion29.3%
2008$4.5 billion26%
2009$3.6 billion29.5%
2010$3.2 billion24.7%
2011$4.1 billion25.9%
2012$3.2 billion22.2%
2013$3.2 billion25.1%
2014$4.2 billion33.4%
2015$4 billion36.3%
2016$4.1 billion38.3%
2017$3.8 billion31.6%
2018$5 billion32.9%
2019$3.6 billion28.9%
2020$4.1 billion35.6%
2021$3.7 billion29.4%
2022$3.5 billion23%
2023$5.3 billion30.8%
2024$5.2 billion35%

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. Cyprus–China$961 million · 18.5%
  2. Cyprus–Germany$620 million · 11.9%
  3. Cyprus–United Kingdom$584 million · 11.2%
  4. Cyprus–Netherlands$435 million · 8.4%
  5. Cyprus–Poland$214 million · 4.1%
  6. Cyprus–Japan$208 million · 4%
  7. Cyprus–Belgium$205 million · 3.9%
  8. Cyprus–Bermuda$183 million · 3.5%
  9. Cyprus–Sweden$162 million · 3.1%
  10. Cyprus–Marshall Islands$116 million · 2.2%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cargo and cruise ships$1.1 billion · 20.7%
  2. Cars$604 million · 11.6%
  3. Cheese$343 million · 6.6%
  4. Refined petroleum$178 million · 3.4%
  5. Dredgers and floating cranes$123 million · 2.4%
  6. Trucks$71 million · 1.4%
  7. Soybean meal and pellets$71 million · 1.4%
  8. Medicines in measured doses or retail packs$64 million · 1.2%
  9. Ethers and organic peroxides$53 million · 1%
  10. Auto parts$51 million · 0.99%

Reference ports

Limassol (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