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

In 2024, an estimated $13.4 billion of Iran’s trade passed through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, 51.4% of its seaborne trade. That is $4.6 billion of exports and $8.8 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, Thailand and Australia.

Summary

Estimated value
$13.4billion
Of its seaborne trade
51.4%
Exports
$4.6billion
Imports
$8.8billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Iran’s estimated trade through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore fell 58% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Iran 13.4

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$6.4 billion31.1%
1996$8.9 billion35.1%
1997$11.1 billion37.9%
1998$8.5 billion35.1%
1999$10.1 billion36.4%
2000$16.7 billion45.2%
2001$15.4 billion41.9%
2002$14.7 billion40.1%
2003$22.3 billion42.5%
2004$26.1 billion38.8%
2005$33.1 billion40.5%
2006$40.9 billion44.6%
2007$51.5 billion46%
2008$69.9 billion48.5%
2009$47.1 billion49.4%
2010$60.9 billion42.7%
2011$85.8 billion48.3%
2012$64.3 billion53.8%
2013$58.4 billion53.7%
2014$64.3 billion54.7%
2015$42.8 billion52.6%
2016$43.6 billion49.8%
2017$54.9 billion46.7%
2018$47.7 billion41.9%
2019$31.5 billion45.1%
2020$27.4 billion49.3%
2021$35.8 billion46.5%
2022$41.6 billion46.8%
2023$14.1 billion47.8%
2024$13.4 billion51.4%

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. Iran–China$12.6 billion · 94.1%
  2. Iran–Thailand$188 million · 1.4%
  3. Iran–Australia$131 million · 0.98%
  4. Iran–South Korea$105 million · 0.78%
  5. Iran–Canada$101 million · 0.76%
  6. Iran–Malaysia$73 million · 0.55%
  7. Iran–Philippines$66 million · 0.5%
  8. Iran–Taiwan$58 million · 0.44%
  9. Iran–Japan$45 million · 0.34%
  10. Iran–Hong Kong$12 million · 0.09%

What crosses it

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

  1. Polyethylene$1.4 billion · 10.1%
  2. Iron ore$1.1 billion · 8.5%
  3. Auto parts$672 million · 5%
  4. Vehicle bodies and cabs$618 million · 4.6%
  5. Alcohols$589 million · 4.4%
  6. Synthetic filament fabric$306 million · 2.3%
  7. Other nuts (almonds, walnuts)$283 million · 2.1%
  8. Spark-ignition engines$212 million · 1.6%
  9. Unwrought aluminum$183 million · 1.4%

Reference ports

Khorramshahr (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.

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