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

In 2024, an estimated $9.1 billion of Pakistan’s trade passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, 12.8% of its seaborne trade. That is $6.7 billion of exports and $2.5 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Spain, France and Italy.

Summary

Estimated value
$9.1billion
Of its seaborne trade
12.8%
Exports
$6.7billion
Imports
$2.5billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Pakistan’s estimated trade through the Strait of Gibraltar fell 42% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Pakistan 9.1

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$4.4 billion36.2%
1996$4.8 billion37.3%
1997$4.5 billion38.4%
1998$4.4 billion37.9%
1999$4.1 billion37.7%
2000$4.4 billion36.9%
2001$4.7 billion38.5%
2002$5.3 billion39.3%
2003$6.9 billion31.1%
2004$7.9 billion30.9%
2005$10 billion29.5%
2006$10.2 billion26.5%
2007$10.4 billion25.8%
2008$12.6 billion23.9%
2009$10.9 billion26.7%
2010$11.3 billion23.6%
2011$12.5 billion21.6%
2012$11.6 billion21.1%
2013$11.6 billion20.9%
2014$12.8 billion22.1%
2015$12.7 billion24.6%
2016$13.5 billion26.2%
2017$14.9 billion24.6%
2018$16.2 billion24.2%
2019$15.8 billion26.7%
2020$15.4 billion28.4%
2021$19.4 billion23.9%
2022$21 billion23.9%
2023$17.2 billion23.8%
2024$9.1 billion12.8%

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. Pakistan–Spain$1.5 billion · 16%
  2. Pakistan–France$1.3 billion · 14.7%
  3. Pakistan–Italy$1.2 billion · 12.7%
  4. Pakistan–United States$740 million · 8.1%
  5. Pakistan–Turkey$717 million · 7.8%
  6. Pakistan–Germany$475 million · 5.2%
  7. Pakistan–United Kingdom$413 million · 4.5%
  8. Pakistan–Austria$308 million · 3.4%
  9. Pakistan–Uzbekistan$300 million · 3.3%
  10. Pakistan–Ukraine$282 million · 3.1%

What crosses it

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

  1. Bed, table and kitchen linen$1.3 billion · 13.9%
  2. Men's suits and trousers$760 million · 8.3%
  3. Women's suits and dresses$503 million · 5.5%
  4. Sweaters and pullovers$451 million · 4.9%
  5. Rice$329 million · 3.6%
  6. Wheat$275 million · 3%
  7. Dried legumes (beans, lentils, peas)$200 million · 2.2%
  8. Men's knitted suits and trousers$198 million · 2.2%
  9. Women's knitted suits and dresses$190 million · 2.1%
  10. Lightweight cotton fabric$189 million · 2.1%

Reference ports

Karachi (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