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

In 2024, an estimated $33.3 billion of Portugal’s trade passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, 28.4% of its seaborne trade. That is $13.5 billion of exports and $19.8 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Italy, Spain and France.

Summary

Estimated value
$33.3billion
Of its seaborne trade
28.4%
Exports
$13.5billion
Imports
$19.8billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Portugal’s estimated trade through the Strait of Gibraltar fell 3% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Portugal 33.3

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$10.1 billion30.2%
1996$10.5 billion29.7%
1997$10.9 billion29.2%
1998$11.3 billion29.3%
1999$12.2 billion29.9%
2000$12.6 billion30%
2001$12.3 billion29.9%
2002$12.8 billion30.2%
2003$14.4 billion30.8%
2004$18.1 billion32.8%
2005$20.1 billion33.4%
2006$22.9 billion33.7%
2007$25.4 billion33.2%
2008$29 billion33.3%
2009$22 billion32.7%
2010$26.6 billion34.6%
2011$29 billion33.8%
2012$27.9 billion33.9%
2013$27.9 billion32.6%
2014$30.4 billion34.1%
2015$26.8 billion34.4%
2016$27.9 billion36.3%
2017$32.5 billion37%
2018$36.6 billion36.4%
2019$34.1 billion36.1%
2020$28.8 billion35.3%
2021$37.5 billion36.7%
2022$42.9 billion35.5%
2023$42.5 billion36.2%
2024$33.3 billion28.4%

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. Portugal–Italy$7.4 billion · 22.3%
  2. Portugal–Spain$6.9 billion · 20.8%
  3. Portugal–France$4.6 billion · 13.8%
  4. Portugal–Turkey$2.5 billion · 7.5%
  5. Portugal–Algeria$1.7 billion · 5.2%
  6. Portugal–Romania$953 million · 2.9%
  7. Portugal–China$821 million · 2.5%
  8. Portugal–Austria$817 million · 2.5%
  9. Portugal–Saudi Arabia$770 million · 2.3%
  10. Portugal–Hungary$765 million · 2.3%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cars$2.3 billion · 7%
  2. Crude petroleum$1.9 billion · 5.7%
  3. Refined petroleum$1.7 billion · 5.2%
  4. Auto parts$1 billion · 3.1%
  5. Trucks$609 million · 1.8%
  6. Writing and printing paper$469 million · 1.4%
  7. Cigarettes and cigars$434 million · 1.3%
  8. Glass bottles and jars$406 million · 1.2%
  9. Chemical wood pulp$393 million · 1.2%
  10. Cables and wire$388 million · 1.2%

Reference ports

Sines (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