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

In 2024, an estimated $122.4 billion of the Netherlands’ trade passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, 19% of its seaborne trade. That is $59.7 billion of exports and $62.7 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Italy, Turkey and China.

Summary

Estimated value
$122.4billion
Of its seaborne trade
19%
Exports
$59.7billion
Imports
$62.7billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

The Netherlands’ estimated trade through the Strait of Gibraltar fell 39% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Netherlands 122

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$50.7 billion30.2%
1996$53 billion30.3%
1997$55.8 billion30.5%
1998$55.1 billion30.6%
1999$58.4 billion31.7%
2000$64 billion32.1%
2001$62.6 billion32%
2002$64.2 billion31.5%
2003$69.2 billion30.2%
2004$85.9 billion31.4%
2005$104.9 billion32.6%
2006$124.9 billion32.6%
2007$155.1 billion34.6%
2008$177.8 billion34.5%
2009$143.5 billion35.5%
2010$167.5 billion34.8%
2011$201.3 billion35.6%
2012$208.9 billion36.6%
2013$197.4 billion35.9%
2014$207.8 billion36.2%
2015$166.1 billion35.3%
2016$158.2 billion35.2%
2017$188 billion37.1%
2018$203.9 billion35.9%
2019$201.8 billion36.4%
2020$178.2 billion36%
2021$231.5 billion36.6%
2022$257.9 billion35.1%
2023$228.8 billion34.4%
2024$122.4 billion19%

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. Netherlands–Italy$33 billion · 27%
  2. Netherlands–Turkey$11.8 billion · 9.7%
  3. Netherlands–China$7.4 billion · 6%
  4. Netherlands–Austria$7.2 billion · 5.9%
  5. Netherlands–Saudi Arabia$6.3 billion · 5.1%
  6. Netherlands–Hungary$6 billion · 4.9%
  7. Netherlands–Romania$5.8 billion · 4.7%
  8. Netherlands–Kazakhstan$5.3 billion · 4.3%
  9. Netherlands–Greece$4.3 billion · 3.5%
  10. Netherlands–Israel$2.9 billion · 2.4%

What crosses it

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

  1. Crude petroleum$10.2 billion · 8.3%
  2. Refined petroleum$7.8 billion · 6.4%
  3. Computer and office machine parts$2.3 billion · 1.9%
  4. Cars$2.1 billion · 1.7%
  5. Tractors$1.6 billion · 1.3%
  6. Ferrous scrap$1.5 billion · 1.3%
  7. Industrial fatty acids and oils$1.5 billion · 1.2%
  8. Transformers and power supplies$1.3 billion · 1.1%
  9. Unwrought aluminum$1.3 billion · 1.1%
  10. Pork$1.2 billion · 0.98%

If it closes

  • Italy–Netherlands: +11,024 nautical miles, ≈ 33 days more at 14 knots, via the Suez Canal, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Dover

Estimated sailing detour, without costs, waiting or port capacity.

Reference ports

Rotterdam (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