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How much of Kenya’s trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz?

In 2024, an estimated $3.9 billion of Kenya’s trade passed through the Strait of Hormuz, 15.1% of its seaborne trade. That is $911 million of exports and $2.9 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Summary

Estimated value
$3.9billion
Of its seaborne trade
15.1%
Exports
$911million
Imports
$2.9billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Kenya’s estimated trade through the Strait of Hormuz rose 42% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Kenya 3.9

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$13 million0.4%
1996$12 million0.4%
1997$396 million8.5%
1998$453 million9.8%
1999$326 million8.2%
2000$531 million12.7%
2001$656 million13.3%
2002$399 million9.5%
2003$671 million12.4%
2004$61 million1.2%
2005$1.1 billion13.9%
2006$1.3 billion13.6%
2007$1.6 billion14.4%
2008$2.1 billion14.5%
2009$1.4 billion11.4%
2010$1.7 billion12.1%
2011$164 million1.1%
2012$1.2 billion6.9%
2013$2.1 billion10.8%
2014$1.3 billion6.2%
2015$1.5 billion7.9%
2016$1.6 billion9.2%
2017$2.3 billion11.4%
2018$2.8 billion13%
2019$2.7 billion13.3%
2020$1.8 billion9%
2021$2.5 billion10.8%
2022$4.3 billion16.3%
2023$3.6 billion14.8%
2024$3.9 billion15.1%

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. Kenya–United Arab Emirates$2.8 billion · 71.7%
  2. Kenya–Kuwait$512 million · 13.3%
  3. Kenya–Saudi Arabia$309 million · 8%
  4. Kenya–Bahrain$98 million · 2.5%
  5. Kenya–Qatar$92 million · 2.4%
  6. Kenya–Iran$69 million · 1.8%
  7. Kenya–Iraq$13 million · 0.35%

What crosses it

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

  1. Refined petroleum$2.9 billion · 74%
  2. Tea$131 million · 3.4%
  3. Lamb and goat meat$113 million · 2.9%
  4. Polyethylene$91 million · 2.4%
  5. Avocados, mangoes, pineapples and dates$75 million · 1.9%
  6. Cut flowers$74 million · 1.9%
  7. Polypropylene$57 million · 1.5%
  8. Nitrogen fertilizers$48 million · 1.2%
  9. Copper wire$45 million · 1.2%
  10. Mixed fertilizers$29 million · 0.76%

Reference ports

Mombasa (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