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

In 2024, an estimated $9.1 billion of Malta’s trade passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, 58.2% of its seaborne trade. That is $2.4 billion of exports and $6.6 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, South Korea and Nigeria.

Summary

Estimated value
$9.1billion
Of its seaborne trade
58.2%
Exports
$2.4billion
Imports
$6.6billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Malta’s estimated trade through the Strait of Gibraltar rose 203% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Malta 9.1

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$1.1 billion40%
1996$1.1 billion39%
1997$1.1 billion40.8%
1998$1.1 billion36.4%
1999$1.2 billion40.5%
2000$1.2 billion37.6%
2001$1.3 billion36.8%
2002$1.1 billion30.5%
2003$1.4 billion35%
2004$1.8 billion38.5%
2005$1.5 billion33.1%
2006$2.1 billion31.7%
2007$2.2 billion29.4%
2008$2.9 billion24.2%
2009$1.9 billion20.1%
2010$2.1 billion19.1%
2011$2.4 billion17.8%
2012$2.4 billion16.8%
2013$3 billion23.2%
2014$3.5 billion25.9%
2015$2.9 billion20.6%
2016$3.1 billion25.2%
2017$3.1 billion22.1%
2018$3 billion24.8%
2019$3 billion29.2%
2020$2.3 billion24.6%
2021$2.5 billion19.6%
2022$2.4 billion20.6%
2023$4.6 billion36.9%
2024$9.1 billion58.2%

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. Malta–China$2.8 billion · 30.7%
  2. Malta–South Korea$1.9 billion · 21.5%
  3. Malta–Nigeria$802 million · 8.8%
  4. Malta–Germany$570 million · 6.3%
  5. Malta–Netherlands$339 million · 3.7%
  6. Malta–United Kingdom$297 million · 3.3%
  7. Malta–Brazil$207 million · 2.3%
  8. Malta–Sweden$205 million · 2.3%
  9. Malta–Belgium$204 million · 2.3%
  10. Malta–Japan$201 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$3.9 billion · 42.8%
  2. Refined petroleum$1.5 billion · 16.6%
  3. Dredgers and floating cranes$642 million · 7.1%
  4. Natural gas and LPG$277 million · 3.1%
  5. Cars$197 million · 2.2%
  6. Toys$158 million · 1.8%
  7. Fish fillets$150 million · 1.7%
  8. Stamps and banknotes$135 million · 1.5%
  9. Coal tar oils$95 million · 1.1%
  10. Medicines in measured doses or retail packs$95 million · 1.1%

Reference ports

Valletta (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.

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