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How much of Belgium’s trade passes through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore?

In 2024, an estimated $32.9 billion of Belgium’s trade passed through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, 9.6% of its seaborne trade. That is $7.7 billion of exports and $25.2 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, Japan and South Korea.

Summary

Estimated value
$32.9billion
Of its seaborne trade
9.6%
Exports
$7.7billion
Imports
$25.2billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Belgium’s estimated trade through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore in 2024 was about the same as in 2019

Value in USD billions

  • Belgium 32.9

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$13.4 billion9.6%
1996$13.6 billion9.3%
1997$15.3 billion9.8%
1998$14.4 billion9%
1999$15.2 billion9.8%
2000$16.6 billion10.2%
2001$17 billion10.5%
2002$19.8 billion11.3%
2003$23.5 billion11.9%
2004$28.6 billion12%
2005$32.5 billion12.4%
2006$36.9 billion12.5%
2007$39.7 billion12.6%
2008$45.6 billion13.4%
2009$37.7 billion14.4%
2010$29.6 billion11.4%
2011$33.9 billion11.8%
2012$32.5 billion11.9%
2013$32.5 billion11.3%
2014$34 billion11.5%
2015$27.7 billion10.7%
2016$29.2 billion11.2%
2017$31.7 billion11.1%
2018$32.5 billion10.4%
2019$32.6 billion10.8%
2020$31.5 billion11.8%
2021$37.5 billion11.2%
2022$41.6 billion10.6%
2023$36.5 billion10%
2024$32.9 billion9.6%

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. Belgium–China$15.5 billion · 47%
  2. Belgium–Japan$7.8 billion · 23.7%
  3. Belgium–South Korea$3.2 billion · 9.8%
  4. Belgium–Taiwan$1.3 billion · 4.1%
  5. Belgium–Thailand$1.1 billion · 3.4%
  6. Belgium–Vietnam$1 billion · 3.1%
  7. Belgium–Russia$831 million · 2.5%
  8. Belgium–Singapore$780 million · 2.4%
  9. Belgium–Hong Kong$393 million · 1.2%
  10. Belgium–Philippines$381 million · 1.2%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cars$7.9 billion · 24%
  2. Auto parts$943 million · 2.9%
  3. Batteries$766 million · 2.3%
  4. Refined petroleum$703 million · 2.1%
  5. Bulldozers and excavators$666 million · 2%
  6. Cargo and cruise ships$475 million · 1.4%
  7. New tires$368 million · 1.1%
  8. Natural gas and LPG$344 million · 1%
  9. Polyethers, polyesters and epoxy resins$321 million · 0.98%
  10. Air pumps, compressors and fans$304 million · 0.92%

Reference ports

Antwerp (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