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

In 2024, an estimated $20.3 billion of Libya’s trade passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, 42.8% of its seaborne trade. That is $12.8 billion of exports and $7.5 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Germany, China and the United Kingdom.

Summary

Estimated value
$20.3billion
Of its seaborne trade
42.8%
Exports
$12.8billion
Imports
$7.5billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Libya’s estimated trade through the Strait of Gibraltar rose 231% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Libya 20.3

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$3.5 billion28.4%
1996$4.2 billion28.8%
1997$4 billion28.8%
1998$2.9 billion28%
1999$3.4 billion30.1%
2000$4.3 billion27%
2001$3.9 billion25.5%
2002$3.6 billion25.8%
2003$4.7 billion26.8%
2004$6.9 billion28.8%
2005$10.8 billion31.9%
2006$15.1 billion34.1%
2007$14 billion31.9%
2008$18 billion29.6%
2009$11 billion24.3%
2010$10.4 billion18.5%
2011$6.3 billion26.7%
2012$19.4 billion25.9%
2013$18.9 billion30.9%
2014$8.8 billion26%
2015$3.2 billion16.4%
2016$4.6 billion17%
2017$4.9 billion18.2%
2018$6 billion14.8%
2019$6.2 billion13.8%
2020$3.2 billion18.3%
2021$12.5 billion27.1%
2022$13.7 billion24.7%
2023$13.1 billion24.5%
2024$20.3 billion42.8%

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. Libya–Germany$5 billion · 24.4%
  2. Libya–China$3.9 billion · 19.4%
  3. Libya–United Kingdom$2.9 billion · 14.3%
  4. Libya–United States$1.9 billion · 9.4%
  5. Libya–Netherlands$1.4 billion · 6.7%
  6. Libya–Thailand$720 million · 3.5%
  7. Libya–India$667 million · 3.3%
  8. Libya–Brazil$654 million · 3.2%
  9. Libya–Belgium$638 million · 3.1%
  10. Libya–Sweden$434 million · 2.1%

What crosses it

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

  1. Crude petroleum$12.1 billion · 59.4%
  2. Refined petroleum$741 million · 3.6%
  3. Cars$647 million · 3.2%
  4. Cane and beet sugar$409 million · 2%
  5. Iron ore$326 million · 1.6%
  6. Poultry meat$209 million · 1%
  7. Auto parts$163 million · 0.8%
  8. New tires$162 million · 0.79%
  9. Prepared fish and caviar$157 million · 0.77%
  10. Earthmoving and drilling machines$143 million · 0.7%

Reference ports

Tripoli (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