globaltraffic.earth

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

In 2024, an estimated $177.2 billion of Spain’s trade passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, 30.8% of its seaborne trade. That is $63.4 billion of exports and $113.8 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, Morocco and France.

Summary

Estimated value
$177.2billion
Of its seaborne trade
30.8%
Exports
$63.4billion
Imports
$113.8billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Spain’s estimated trade through the Strait of Gibraltar rose 151% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Spain 177

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$15.6 billion12.1%
1996$17.8 billion12.6%
1997$19.4 billion13%
1998$20.1 billion12.7%
1999$20.4 billion12.4%
2000$23.6 billion13.5%
2001$23.9 billion13.5%
2002$24.4 billion12.7%
2003$28.4 billion12.2%
2004$33 billion12%
2005$40.9 billion13.1%
2006$48.4 billion13.5%
2007$54.1 billion12.9%
2008$63.1 billion14.2%
2009$42.9 billion13.3%
2010$53.2 billion14.4%
2011$65.8 billion15.2%
2012$67.6 billion16.2%
2013$69.3 billion16.3%
2014$70.6 billion15.8%
2015$61.3 billion15.3%
2016$58 billion14.5%
2017$67.2 billion15%
2018$72.2 billion14.7%
2019$70.5 billion15%
2020$61.4 billion15%
2021$80.4 billion15.7%
2022$98.9 billion16.6%
2023$90.9 billion15.6%
2024$177.2 billion30.8%

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. Spain–China$38.8 billion · 21.9%
  2. Spain–Morocco$21.1 billion · 11.9%
  3. Spain–France$15.7 billion · 8.9%
  4. Spain–United States$11.6 billion · 6.5%
  5. Spain–Brazil$10.1 billion · 5.7%
  6. Spain–Portugal$6.9 billion · 3.9%
  7. Spain–India$5.5 billion · 3.1%
  8. Spain–Nigeria$5.2 billion · 3%
  9. Spain–Japan$5.1 billion · 2.9%
  10. Spain–South Korea$4.2 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$16 billion · 9%
  2. Refined petroleum$11 billion · 6.2%
  3. Cars$7.1 billion · 4%
  4. Auto parts$3.8 billion · 2.2%
  5. Natural gas and LPG$3 billion · 1.7%
  6. Cables and wire$2.9 billion · 1.6%
  7. Copper ore$2.2 billion · 1.2%
  8. Women's suits and dresses$2.1 billion · 1.2%
  9. Soybeans$1.7 billion · 0.97%
  10. Pork$1.7 billion · 0.95%

If it closes

  • Spain–Morocco: +11,808 nautical miles, ≈ 35 days more at 14 knots, via the Suez Canal, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Cape of Good Hope

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

Reference ports

Valencia (54%) and Bilbao (46%)

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