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

In 2024, an estimated $7.3 billion of Bulgaria’s trade passed through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, 11.3% of its seaborne trade. That is $1.9 billion of exports and $5.4 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, South Korea and Thailand.

Summary

Estimated value
$7.3billion
Of its seaborne trade
11.3%
Exports
$1.9billion
Imports
$5.4billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Bulgaria’s estimated trade through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore rose 48% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Bulgaria 7.3

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$219 million4.1%
1996$894 million10.8%
1997$916 million10.5%
1998$626 million7.9%
1999$592 million7.9%
2000$382 million4.9%
2001$293 million4.9%
2002$479 million5%
2003$759 million6.2%
2004$1.2 billion7.1%
2005$1.7 billion8.4%
2006$2.5 billion9.4%
2007$3.8 billion11.6%
2008$4.7 billion12%
2009$2.9 billion10.8%
2010$2.7 billion8.8%
2011$3.7 billion8.8%
2012$4.1 billion9.7%
2013$4.4 billion10.2%
2014$5.3 billion12.1%
2015$3.8 billion10%
2016$3.4 billion8.8%
2017$4 billion8.9%
2018$4.5 billion9.6%
2019$4.9 billion10.3%
2020$4.5 billion10.4%
2021$5.9 billion10.5%
2022$6.9 billion9.8%
2023$6.4 billion10.1%
2024$7.3 billion11.3%

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. Bulgaria–China$5.2 billion · 71.4%
  2. Bulgaria–South Korea$418 million · 5.7%
  3. Bulgaria–Thailand$336 million · 4.6%
  4. Bulgaria–Vietnam$324 million · 4.4%
  5. Bulgaria–Singapore$303 million · 4.2%
  6. Bulgaria–Japan$284 million · 3.9%
  7. Bulgaria–Russia$174 million · 2.4%
  8. Bulgaria–Taiwan$165 million · 2.3%
  9. Bulgaria–Cambodia$30 million · 0.41%
  10. Bulgaria–Philippines$17 million · 0.24%

What crosses it

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

  1. Copper ore$413 million · 5.7%
  2. Refined petroleum$294 million · 4%
  3. Diodes, transistors and solar cells$266 million · 3.7%
  4. Air conditioners$237 million · 3.3%
  5. Wheat$215 million · 2.9%
  6. Transformers and power supplies$199 million · 2.7%
  7. Batteries$189 million · 2.6%
  8. Cars$188 million · 2.6%
  9. Toys$136 million · 1.9%
  10. Precious metal ore$133 million · 1.8%

Reference ports

Varna (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