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

In 2024, an estimated $280 billion of Turkey’s trade passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, 62% of its seaborne trade. That is $126.1 billion of exports and $153.8 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Germany, China and the United States.

Summary

Estimated value
$280billion
Of its seaborne trade
62%
Exports
$126.1billion
Imports
$153.8billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Turkey’s estimated trade through the Strait of Gibraltar rose 125% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Turkey 280

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$20.5 billion45.7%
1996$24.4 billion47.1%
1997$28.5 billion48.1%
1998$27.8 billion48.2%
1999$25.9 billion47.9%
2000$30.1 billion46.5%
2001$26.7 billion46.5%
2002$33.7 billion49%
2003$42.9 billion47.5%
2004$56.8 billion45.7%
2005$63.3 billion44.1%
2006$71.8 billion42.8%
2007$84.8 billion40.6%
2008$95.3 billion38.5%
2009$70.8 billion38.8%
2010$88.1 billion38.6%
2011$107.3 billion39.3%
2012$108.9 billion39.7%
2013$117.9 billion39.5%
2014$121.7 billion40.2%
2015$111.4 billion40.7%
2016$110 billion41.1%
2017$127.3 billion41.8%
2018$132.7 billion41.6%
2019$124.3 billion40.9%
2020$126 billion43%
2021$164.6 billion42.2%
2022$189.8 billion40.9%
2023$188.4 billion40.8%
2024$280 billion62%

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. Turkey–Germany$43 billion · 15.4%
  2. Turkey–China$34.1 billion · 12.2%
  3. Turkey–United States$24.5 billion · 8.7%
  4. Turkey–United Kingdom$22.2 billion · 7.9%
  5. Turkey–Russia$21.4 billion · 7.7%
  6. Turkey–Poland$12.2 billion · 4.3%
  7. Turkey–Netherlands$11.8 billion · 4.2%
  8. Turkey–Belgium$7.3 billion · 2.6%
  9. Turkey–South Korea$7.2 billion · 2.6%
  10. Turkey–India$6.7 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. Refined petroleum$16.7 billion · 6%
  2. Cars$16.6 billion · 5.9%
  3. Auto parts$9.5 billion · 3.4%
  4. Ferrous scrap$7.1 billion · 2.5%
  5. Trucks$6.7 billion · 2.4%
  6. Coal$3.6 billion · 1.3%
  7. Cables and wire$3.3 billion · 1.2%
  8. Engine parts$2.9 billion · 1%
  9. Semi-finished steel$2.7 billion · 0.98%
  10. Unwrought aluminum$2.4 billion · 0.86%

If it closes

  • Germany–Turkey: +9,376 nautical miles, ≈ 28 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Dover, the Cape of Good Hope, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Suez Canal and the Dardanelles
  • Turkey–United States: +8,230 nautical miles, ≈ 24.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Dardanelles, the Suez Canal, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Cape of Good Hope
  • United Kingdom–Turkey: +9,384 nautical miles, ≈ 28 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape of Good Hope, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Suez Canal and the Dardanelles
  • Russia–Turkey: +9,355 nautical miles, ≈ 28 days more at 14 knots, via the Øresund, the Strait of Dover, the Cape of Good Hope, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Suez Canal and the Dardanelles

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

Reference ports

Istanbul (64%), Samsun (6%) and Mersin (29%)

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