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

In 2024, an estimated $6.2 billion of Malta’s trade passed through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, 39.8% of its seaborne trade. That is $640 million of exports and $5.6 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, South Korea and Japan.

Summary

Estimated value
$6.2billion
Of its seaborne trade
39.8%
Exports
$640million
Imports
$5.6billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Malta’s estimated trade through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore rose 241% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Malta 6.2

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$451 million16.3%
1996$558 million20.3%
1997$342 million12.9%
1998$621 million20.7%
1999$494 million16.8%
2000$488 million15.2%
2001$834 million23.6%
2002$986 million26.3%
2003$787 million19.8%
2004$1 billion22.1%
2005$943 million20.2%
2006$1.6 billion23.4%
2007$1.3 billion17.7%
2008$3.2 billion26.5%
2009$3.1 billion32.3%
2010$3.5 billion32.6%
2011$4.8 billion35.1%
2012$5.2 billion36.1%
2013$3.5 billion27%
2014$4.1 billion30%
2015$5.2 billion37.2%
2016$3.6 billion28.9%
2017$5 billion35.7%
2018$3.3 billion27.8%
2019$1.8 billion17.7%
2020$2.8 billion30.4%
2021$5.4 billion42.2%
2022$3.9 billion34.2%
2023$2.5 billion20%
2024$6.2 billion39.8%

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. Malta–China$3.3 billion · 52.9%
  2. Malta–South Korea$2.3 billion · 36.9%
  3. Malta–Japan$237 million · 3.8%
  4. Malta–Taiwan$181 million · 2.9%
  5. Malta–Singapore$102 million · 1.6%
  6. Malta–Thailand$72 million · 1.2%
  7. Malta–Philippines$21 million · 0.33%
  8. Malta–Hong Kong$17 million · 0.28%
  9. Malta–Malaysia$6 million · 0.1%
  10. Malta–Marshall Islands$11 thousand · 0%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cargo and cruise ships$4.4 billion · 71.3%
  2. Dredgers and floating cranes$755 million · 12.2%
  3. Refined petroleum$192 million · 3.1%
  4. Fish fillets$174 million · 2.8%
  5. Natural gas and LPG$120 million · 1.9%
  6. Cars$61 million · 0.98%
  7. Electric motors and generators$25 million · 0.41%
  8. Air conditioners$23 million · 0.36%
  9. Stamps and banknotes$18 million · 0.3%
  10. Generating sets$11 million · 0.18%

Reference ports

Valletta (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