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

In 2024, an estimated $6.5 billion of Hong Kong’s trade passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, 7.5% of its seaborne trade. That is $2.7 billion of exports and $3.8 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Italy, Israel and France.

Summary

Estimated value
$6.5billion
Of its seaborne trade
7.5%
Exports
$2.7billion
Imports
$3.8billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Hong Kong’s estimated trade through the Strait of Gibraltar fell 40% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Hong Kong 6.5

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$18.3 billion14.4%
1996$19.5 billion15.4%
1997$20.5 billion15.9%
1998$19.3 billion17.1%
1999$19 billion17.8%
2000$13.4 billion13%
2001$12.5 billion13.5%
2002$12.3 billion13.2%
2003$12.8 billion13.5%
2004$14.1 billion13.5%
2005$14.9 billion13.5%
2006$16.1 billion13.6%
2007$14.9 billion13.2%
2008$14.8 billion12.9%
2009$13.9 billion12.9%
2010$13.5 billion10.5%
2011$15.7 billion10.8%
2012$12.9 billion8.8%
2013$14.2 billion11.1%
2014$15.1 billion11.2%
2015$13.3 billion12.3%
2016$13.3 billion12.9%
2017$13.6 billion12.3%
2018$12.2 billion10.7%
2019$10.8 billion10.9%
2020$9.3 billion11.4%
2021$10.7 billion11.4%
2022$9.1 billion10.9%
2023$8.6 billion11.1%
2024$6.5 billion7.5%

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. Hong Kong–Italy$1.2 billion · 18.2%
  2. Hong Kong–Israel$1.2 billion · 17.9%
  3. Hong Kong–France$1.1 billion · 17.2%
  4. Hong Kong–Spain$463 million · 7.1%
  5. Hong Kong–Hungary$400 million · 6.2%
  6. Hong Kong–Germany$357 million · 5.5%
  7. Hong Kong–Netherlands$211 million · 3.2%
  8. Hong Kong–Turkey$206 million · 3.2%
  9. Hong Kong–United Kingdom$191 million · 2.9%
  10. Hong Kong–Russia$153 million · 2.4%

What crosses it

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

  1. Makeup and skin care$257 million · 4%
  2. Phones and telecom equipment$189 million · 2.9%
  3. Batteries$171 million · 2.6%
  4. Gemstones$142 million · 2.2%
  5. Leather footwear$133 million · 2%
  6. Coated flat steel$132 million · 2%
  7. Cars$117 million · 1.8%
  8. Transformers and power supplies$116 million · 1.8%
  9. Sweaters and pullovers$115 million · 1.8%
  10. Aluminum scrap$113 million · 1.7%

Reference ports

Hong Kong (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