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

In 2024, an estimated $211.9 billion of Saudi Arabia’s trade passed through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, 48.6% of its seaborne trade. That is $145 billion of exports and $66.9 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, Japan and South Korea.

Summary

Estimated value
$211.9billion
Of its seaborne trade
48.6%
Exports
$145billion
Imports
$66.9billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Saudi Arabia’s estimated trade through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore rose 28% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Saudi Arabia 212

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$27.8 billion38.1%
1996$33.2 billion41%
1997$34.8 billion43.7%
1998$25 billion37.6%
1999$29.2 billion41.1%
2000$45 billion43.4%
2001$42.5 billion43.8%
2002$42.7 billion44%
2003$52.9 billion42.9%
2004$67.5 billion43.4%
2005$98 billion46.5%
2006$121.8 billion46.6%
2007$130.1 billion45.3%
2008$194.7 billion47.7%
2009$121.5 billion48.8%
2010$158.6 billion49.5%
2011$221 billion48.8%
2012$244.5 billion49%
2013$232.4 billion46.9%
2014$213.3 billion45.7%
2015$129.6 billion40.7%
2016$122.5 billion45.2%
2017$138.3 billion45.5%
2018$167.6 billion45.1%
2019$166.2 billion47.4%
2020$129.8 billion47.8%
2021$174.1 billion49.3%
2022$250.7 billion48.3%
2023$214.9 billion47.8%
2024$211.9 billion48.6%

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. Saudi Arabia–China$101.9 billion · 48.1%
  2. Saudi Arabia–Japan$37.1 billion · 17.5%
  3. Saudi Arabia–South Korea$36.8 billion · 17.4%
  4. Saudi Arabia–Taiwan$9.6 billion · 4.5%
  5. Saudi Arabia–Thailand$9 billion · 4.3%
  6. Saudi Arabia–Singapore$8.5 billion · 4%
  7. Saudi Arabia–Philippines$2.2 billion · 1%
  8. Saudi Arabia–Vietnam$1.9 billion · 0.88%
  9. Saudi Arabia–Malaysia$1.3 billion · 0.6%
  10. Saudi Arabia–Russia$926 million · 0.44%

What crosses it

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

  1. Crude petroleum$122.7 billion · 57.9%
  2. Cars$12.7 billion · 6%
  3. Polyethylene$4.3 billion · 2.1%
  4. Refined petroleum$4.3 billion · 2%
  5. Alcohols$3.4 billion · 1.6%
  6. Hot-rolled flat steel$1.8 billion · 0.85%
  7. Trucks$1.8 billion · 0.85%
  8. Diodes, transistors and solar cells$1.7 billion · 0.82%
  9. Natural gas and LPG$1.6 billion · 0.74%
  10. Air conditioners$1.5 billion · 0.71%

If it closes

  • China–Saudi Arabia: +747 nautical miles, ≈ 2 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Hormuz
  • Japan–Saudi Arabia: +717 nautical miles, ≈ 2 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Hormuz
  • South Korea–Saudi Arabia: +747 nautical miles, ≈ 2 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Hormuz

Estimated sailing detour, without costs, waiting or port capacity.

Reference ports

Jeddah (59%) and Ras Tanura (41%)

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