globaltraffic.earth

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

In 2024, an estimated $6.6 billion of Lebanon’s trade passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, 42.2% of its seaborne trade. That is $1.6 billion of exports and $5 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, the United States and Germany.

Summary

Estimated value
$6.6billion
Of its seaborne trade
42.2%
Exports
$1.6billion
Imports
$5billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Lebanon’s estimated trade through the Strait of Gibraltar rose 21% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Lebanon 6.6

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$1.9 billion40.1%
1996$2.1 billion39.8%
1997$2.5 billion35.4%
1998$2.4 billion36.5%
1999$2.2 billion36.2%
2000$1.9 billion31.6%
2001$2.1 billion30.3%
2002$2 billion32%
2003$2 billion29%
2004$2.7 billion27.9%
2005$2.7 billion28.2%
2006$3.2 billion30.6%
2007$3.7 billion29.8%
2008$5.1 billion29.8%
2009$5.2 billion32.7%
2010$5.3 billion29.4%
2011$5.6 billion28.5%
2012$6.2 billion28.9%
2013$5.6 billion27.1%
2014$5.9 billion29.2%
2015$5.4 billion29.4%
2016$5.2 billion29.1%
2017$5.8 billion29%
2018$5.4 billion27%
2019$5.4 billion28.5%
2020$2.9 billion26%
2021$3.6 billion25.1%
2022$3.9 billion20.4%
2023$3.7 billion21.8%
2024$6.6 billion42.2%

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. Lebanon–China$1.3 billion · 20.2%
  2. Lebanon–United States$556 million · 8.4%
  3. Lebanon–Germany$426 million · 6.5%
  4. Lebanon–United Arab Emirates$424 million · 6.4%
  5. Lebanon–Brazil$418 million · 6.3%
  6. Lebanon–United Kingdom$296 million · 4.5%
  7. Lebanon–India$244 million · 3.7%
  8. Lebanon–Russia$221 million · 3.4%
  9. Lebanon–Netherlands$194 million · 2.9%
  10. Lebanon–Iraq$177 million · 2.7%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cars$516 million · 7.8%
  2. Refined petroleum$179 million · 2.7%
  3. Live cattle$136 million · 2.1%
  4. Auto parts$127 million · 1.9%
  5. Generating sets$119 million · 1.8%
  6. Coffee$117 million · 1.8%
  7. Cane and beet sugar$94 million · 1.4%
  8. Natural phosphates$87 million · 1.3%
  9. Diesel engines$87 million · 1.3%
  10. Fresh beef$79 million · 1.2%

Reference ports

Beirut (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