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

In 2024, an estimated $69.3 billion of Turkey’s trade passed through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore, 15.4% of its seaborne trade. That is $9.8 billion of exports and $59.5 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, Russia and South Korea.

Summary

Estimated value
$69.3billion
Of its seaborne trade
15.4%
Exports
$9.8billion
Imports
$59.5billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Turkey’s estimated trade through the Strait of Malacca and Singapore rose 85% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Turkey 69.3

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$4.6 billion10.3%
1996$5 billion9.7%
1997$6.2 billion10.4%
1998$5.6 billion9.8%
1999$4.5 billion8.4%
2000$5.7 billion8.8%
2001$4.6 billion8%
2002$5.7 billion8.3%
2003$8.1 billion9%
2004$12.6 billion10.1%
2005$15.6 billion10.9%
2006$20.3 billion12.1%
2007$26.6 billion12.8%
2008$32.2 billion13%
2009$22.9 billion12.6%
2010$31.5 billion13.8%
2011$38.4 billion14.1%
2012$37.9 billion13.8%
2013$42.7 billion14.3%
2014$42 billion13.9%
2015$39.4 billion14.4%
2016$38.7 billion14.5%
2017$42.5 billion14%
2018$41.4 billion13%
2019$37.5 billion12.3%
2020$38.4 billion13.1%
2021$53 billion13.6%
2022$67.8 billion14.6%
2023$71.2 billion15.4%
2024$69.3 billion15.4%

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. Turkey–China$40.1 billion · 57.9%
  2. Turkey–Russia$9.1 billion · 13.1%
  3. Turkey–South Korea$8.5 billion · 12.2%
  4. Turkey–Japan$3.7 billion · 5.3%
  5. Turkey–Vietnam$2.2 billion · 3.1%
  6. Turkey–Thailand$1.6 billion · 2.3%
  7. Turkey–Singapore$1.3 billion · 1.8%
  8. Turkey–Taiwan$1.1 billion · 1.6%
  9. Turkey–Malaysia$524 million · 0.76%
  10. Turkey–Marshall Islands$327 million · 0.47%

What crosses it

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

  1. Refined petroleum$4.2 billion · 6%
  2. Cars$2.7 billion · 4%
  3. Auto parts$1.8 billion · 2.6%
  4. Hot-rolled flat steel$1.7 billion · 2.5%
  5. Polycarboxylic acids$1.6 billion · 2.3%
  6. Bulldozers and excavators$961 million · 1.4%
  7. Semi-finished steel$878 million · 1.3%
  8. Air pumps, compressors and fans$825 million · 1.2%
  9. Alloy steel sheet$824 million · 1.2%
  10. Transformers and power supplies$814 million · 1.2%

If it closes

  • China–Turkey: +745 nautical miles, ≈ 2 days more at 14 knots, via the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Suez Canal and the Dardanelles

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

Reference ports

Istanbul (64%), Samsun (6%) and Mersin (29%)

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