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

In 2024, an estimated $4.8 billion of Israel’s trade passed through the Suez Canal, 6.5% of its seaborne trade. That is $995 million of exports and $3.8 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are China, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea.

Summary

Estimated value
$4.8billion
Of its seaborne trade
6.5%
Exports
$995million
Imports
$3.8billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Israel’s estimated trade through the Suez Canal fell 76% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Israel 4.8

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$7.2 billion19.8%
1996$7.5 billion19.7%
1997$7.3 billion19%
1998$7 billion18.5%
1999$8.2 billion20.2%
2000$8.7 billion21.2%
2001$8.1 billion20.6%
2002$9 billion22%
2003$9.4 billion22.1%
2004$11.6 billion22.4%
2005$13 billion22.4%
2006$14.2 billion23.4%
2007$11.5 billion22.7%
2008$15.2 billion23.5%
2009$13.6 billion23.5%
2010$18.6 billion26.7%
2011$23.1 billion27.8%
2012$21.8 billion27.1%
2013$23.1 billion27.9%
2014$22.3 billion26.1%
2015$18.9 billion26.2%
2016$18.2 billion28%
2017$18.7 billion27.6%
2018$20.8 billion28.4%
2019$19.9 billion28.9%
2020$15.7 billion24.8%
2021$22.4 billion28.5%
2022$27 billion29.1%
2023$26 billion31.5%
2024$4.8 billion6.5%

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. Israel–China$1.6 billion · 33.1%
  2. Israel–United Arab Emirates$327 million · 6.8%
  3. Israel–South Korea$305 million · 6.4%
  4. Israel–Japan$231 million · 4.8%
  5. Israel–India$224 million · 4.7%
  6. Israel–Hong Kong$205 million · 4.3%
  7. Israel–United States$180 million · 3.8%
  8. Israel–Singapore$174 million · 3.6%
  9. Israel–Thailand$132 million · 2.8%
  10. Israel–Germany$89 million · 1.9%

What crosses it

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

  1. Cars$588 million · 12.3%
  2. Refined petroleum$164 million · 3.4%
  3. Steel wire rod$81 million · 1.7%
  4. Steel bars$75 million · 1.6%
  5. Potash fertilizers$63 million · 1.3%
  6. Cameras and broadcast equipment$63 million · 1.3%
  7. T-shirts$60 million · 1.3%
  8. Diamonds$58 million · 1.2%
  9. Fruit and vegetable juices$52 million · 1.1%
  10. Furniture$45 million · 0.93%

If it closes

  • China–Israel: +7,648 nautical miles, ≈ 23 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Cape of Good Hope; and the Strait of Gibraltar
  • United Arab Emirates–Israel: +9,166 nautical miles, ≈ 27.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Hormuz, the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Gibraltar
  • Israel–South Korea: +7,647 nautical miles, ≈ 23 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Gibraltar; the Cape of Good Hope; and the Strait of Malacca and Singapore
  • Israel–Japan: +7,668 nautical miles, ≈ 23 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Gibraltar; the Cape of Good Hope; and the Strait of Malacca and Singapore
  • India–Israel: +8,687 nautical miles, ≈ 26 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Gibraltar

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

Reference ports

Haifa (98%) and Eilat (2%)

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