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How much of Egypt’s trade passes through the Suez Canal?

In 2024, an estimated $34.1 billion of Egypt’s trade passed through the Suez Canal, 26% of its seaborne trade. That is $14.6 billion of exports and $19.5 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Saudi Arabia, the United States and China.

Summary

Estimated value
$34.1billion
Of its seaborne trade
26%
Exports
$14.6billion
Imports
$19.5billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Egypt’s estimated trade through the Suez Canal fell 31% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Egypt 34.1

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$6.5 billion33.9%
1996$6.9 billion34%
1997$7.8 billion35%
1998$8.3 billion36.9%
1999$8.5 billion37.6%
2000$8.6 billion39.2%
2001$7.9 billion38.5%
2002$8.2 billion38.7%
2003$8.4 billion37%
2004$11.3 billion37.4%
2005$15.3 billion39.7%
2006$19.7 billion40.5%
2007$25.2 billion42.4%
2008$37.8 billion42.4%
2009$31.3 billion42%
2010$38.2 billion43.2%
2011$44.1 billion43.4%
2012$45.6 billion44.2%
2013$42.2 billion45.2%
2014$47.6 billion44.8%
2015$42.2 billion46%
2016$39.3 billion44.4%
2017$43.2 billion45.8%
2018$51.8 billion46%
2019$49.2 billion45.5%
2020$45 billion46.2%
2021$59.3 billion46.8%
2022$66.5 billion47.2%
2023$56.2 billion46.7%
2024$34.1 billion26%

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. Egypt–Saudi Arabia$12.8 billion · 37.4%
  2. Egypt–United States$1.8 billion · 5.4%
  3. Egypt–China$1.8 billion · 5.2%
  4. Egypt–Turkey$1.7 billion · 4.9%
  5. Egypt–Russia$1.2 billion · 3.4%
  6. Egypt–Italy$1.1 billion · 3.1%
  7. Egypt–Brazil$982 million · 2.9%
  8. Egypt–Germany$934 million · 2.7%
  9. Egypt–Jordan$794 million · 2.3%
  10. Egypt–United Kingdom$675 million · 2%

What crosses it

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

  1. Refined petroleum$9.1 billion · 26.8%
  2. Wheat$965 million · 2.8%
  3. Natural gas and LPG$946 million · 2.8%
  4. Crude petroleum$836 million · 2.5%
  5. Copper wire$649 million · 1.9%
  6. Polyethylene$617 million · 1.8%
  7. Cars$594 million · 1.7%
  8. Polypropylene$498 million · 1.5%
  9. Cables and wire$371 million · 1.1%
  10. Corn$369 million · 1.1%

If it closes

  • China–Egypt: +7,471 nautical miles, ≈ 22 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Cape of Good Hope; and the Strait of Gibraltar
  • Egypt–India: +8,508 nautical miles, ≈ 25.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Gibraltar and the Cape of Good Hope
  • United Arab Emirates–Egypt: +8,988 nautical miles, ≈ 26.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Hormuz, the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Gibraltar
  • Egypt–Indonesia: +6,697 nautical miles, ≈ 20 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Gibraltar and the Cape of Good Hope
  • Egypt–South Korea: +7,470 nautical miles, ≈ 22 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Gibraltar; the Cape of Good Hope; and the Strait of Malacca and Singapore

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

Reference ports

Alexandria (80%) and Ain Sokhna (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