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

In 2024, an estimated $8.8 billion of Sri Lanka’s trade passed through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, 32.7% of its seaborne trade. That is $1.7 billion of exports and $7.1 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, Singapore and the United States.

Summary

Estimated value
$8.8billion
Of its seaborne trade
32.7%
Exports
$1.7billion
Imports
$7.1billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Sri Lanka’s estimated trade through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore fell 2% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Sri Lanka 8.8

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$2.3 billion37.9%
1996$2.3 billion36.9%
1997$2.8 billion40.6%
1998$3.1 billion42.5%
1999$3.2 billion36.5%
2000$3.6 billion37.4%
2001$3.1 billion34.7%
2002$3.1 billion31.9%
2003$3.3 billion33.1%
2004$3.9 billion31.8%
2005$4 billion30.9%
2006$4.7 billion30.9%
2007$4.9 billion29.1%
2008$5.8 billion30.6%
2009$4.3 billion29.5%
2010$6.1 billion33.5%
2011$8.2 billion31.9%
2012$7.5 billion31.8%
2013$8.3 billion35.7%
2014$9 billion34.7%
2015$9.4 billion37.1%
2016$9.1 billion36.7%
2017$9.3 billion35.3%
2018$9.8 billion38.7%
2019$9 billion33.2%
2020$7.7 billion34.1%
2021$9.6 billion33.2%
2022$7.9 billion28.7%
2023$7.1 billion29.6%
2024$8.8 billion32.7%

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. Sri Lanka–China$4.1 billion · 46.5%
  2. Sri Lanka–Singapore$1.3 billion · 14.4%
  3. Sri Lanka–United States$718 million · 8.1%
  4. Sri Lanka–Japan$424 million · 4.8%
  5. Sri Lanka–Taiwan$351 million · 4%
  6. Sri Lanka–Thailand$314 million · 3.6%
  7. Sri Lanka–South Korea$284 million · 3.2%
  8. Sri Lanka–Hong Kong$282 million · 3.2%
  9. Sri Lanka–Vietnam$264 million · 3%
  10. Sri Lanka–New Zealand$231 million · 2.6%

What crosses it

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

  1. Refined petroleum$1.2 billion · 13.8%
  2. Other knitted fabric$529 million · 6%
  3. Tea$221 million · 2.5%
  4. Powdered and condensed milk$189 million · 2.1%
  5. Synthetic filament fabric$169 million · 1.9%
  6. Synthetic filament yarn$169 million · 1.9%
  7. Electric motors and generators$118 million · 1.3%
  8. Cranes$115 million · 1.3%
  9. Natural rubber$101 million · 1.1%
  10. Alloy steel sheet$99 million · 1.1%

Reference ports

Colombo (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