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

In 2024, an estimated $46.2 billion of South Africa’s trade passed through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, 30% of its seaborne trade. That is $22.7 billion of exports and $23.5 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, Japan and South Korea.

Summary

Estimated value
$46.2billion
Of its seaborne trade
30%
Exports
$22.7billion
Imports
$23.5billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

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

Value in USD billions

  • South Africa 46.2

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$10.4 billion24.6%
1996$10.1 billion23.3%
1997$9.7 billion23.4%
1998$8.5 billion21.3%
1999$9 billion20.8%
2000$8.7 billion20.6%
2001$7.8 billion17.8%
2002$8.3 billion18.9%
2003$11.3 billion21.1%
2004$14.7 billion21.1%
2005$18.1 billion22.3%
2006$22 billion22.7%
2007$26.7 billion23.8%
2008$30 billion22.8%
2009$21.7 billion22.8%
2010$31.5 billion26.7%
2011$42.3 billion29.2%
2012$38.5 billion27.2%
2013$40.3 billion28.4%
2014$38.2 billion27.2%
2015$38.5 billion31.3%
2016$30.8 billion28.3%
2017$37.2 billion28.9%
2018$36.5 billion26.4%
2019$36 billion27.6%
2020$30.3 billion28.5%
2021$38.9 billion28.2%
2022$48.9 billion29.1%
2023$46.4 billion29.2%
2024$46.2 billion30%

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. South Africa–China$32.7 billion · 70.8%
  2. South Africa–Japan$3.9 billion · 8.4%
  3. South Africa–South Korea$2.8 billion · 6%
  4. South Africa–Thailand$2.6 billion · 5.6%
  5. South Africa–Vietnam$1.2 billion · 2.7%
  6. South Africa–Taiwan$1.1 billion · 2.3%
  7. South Africa–Singapore$897 million · 1.9%
  8. South Africa–Hong Kong$340 million · 0.74%
  9. South Africa–Russia$225 million · 0.49%
  10. South Africa–Malaysia$205 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. Chromium ore$4.9 billion · 10.6%
  2. Iron ore$4.8 billion · 10.4%
  3. Manganese ore$2.3 billion · 4.9%
  4. Ferroalloys$2 billion · 4.3%
  5. Coal$1.9 billion · 4.1%
  6. Cars$1.6 billion · 3.4%
  7. Auto parts$731 million · 1.6%
  8. Bulldozers and excavators$584 million · 1.3%
  9. Trucks$572 million · 1.2%
  10. Transformers and power supplies$511 million · 1.1%

If it closes

  • China–South Africa: +1 nautical mile, less than half a day more at 14 knots

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

Reference ports

Durban (80%) and Cape Town (20%)

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