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

In 2024, an estimated $7.2 billion of Morocco’s trade passed through the Suez Canal, 5.5% of its seaborne trade. That is $1.4 billion of exports and $5.8 billion of imports. The partners with the most trade through it are Saudi Arabia, China and India.

Summary

Estimated value
$7.2billion
Of its seaborne trade
5.5%
Exports
$1.4billion
Imports
$5.8billion

Trend

Estimated value per year

Morocco’s estimated trade through the Suez Canal fell 48% between 2019 and 2024

Value in USD billions

  • Morocco 7.2

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearEstimated valueOf its seaborne trade
1995$2.3 billion17.4%
1996$2.3 billion17.3%
1997$2.5 billion18.8%
1998$2.6 billion17.1%
1999$3 billion19.4%
2000$3.4 billion20.3%
2001$3.2 billion18.9%
2002$3.3 billion18.7%
2003$3.3 billion16.3%
2004$4.3 billion17.7%
2005$5.9 billion20.7%
2006$7 billion21.6%
2007$8.6 billion20.7%
2008$13.1 billion23.7%
2009$8.7 billion21.6%
2010$10.9 billion23.9%
2011$13.7 billion23.6%
2012$14.4 billion24%
2013$12.8 billion21.3%
2014$12.4 billion20.4%
2015$10.4 billion18.5%
2016$10.9 billion18.7%
2017$10.9 billion17.1%
2018$12.8 billion17.9%
2019$13.9 billion19.2%
2020$12.2 billion18.8%
2021$17.2 billion20%
2022$25.6 billion24%
2023$20.5 billion20%
2024$7.2 billion5.5%

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. Morocco–Saudi Arabia$3.2 billion · 44.4%
  2. Morocco–China$1.5 billion · 20.6%
  3. Morocco–India$498 million · 7%
  4. Morocco–Egypt$286 million · 4%
  5. Morocco–United Arab Emirates$261 million · 3.6%
  6. Morocco–Bangladesh$173 million · 2.4%
  7. Morocco–South Korea$137 million · 1.9%
  8. Morocco–Australia$136 million · 1.9%
  9. Morocco–Jordan$130 million · 1.8%
  10. Morocco–Djibouti$125 million · 1.7%

What crosses it

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

  1. Refined petroleum$1.9 billion · 26%
  2. Mixed fertilizers$522 million · 7.3%
  3. Ammonia$502 million · 7%
  4. Sulfur$313 million · 4.4%
  5. Cars$215 million · 3%
  6. Polyethylene$180 million · 2.5%
  7. Phosphoric acid$142 million · 2%
  8. Polypropylene$133 million · 1.9%
  9. Unwrought aluminum$110 million · 1.5%
  10. Phosphate fertilizers$103 million · 1.4%

If it closes

  • China–Morocco: +3,388 nautical miles, ≈ 10 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; and the Cape of Good Hope
  • India–Morocco: +4,434 nautical miles, ≈ 13 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape of Good Hope
  • United Arab Emirates–Morocco: +4,859 nautical miles, ≈ 14.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Hormuz and the Cape of Good Hope
  • Bangladesh–Morocco: +3,816 nautical miles, ≈ 11.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape of Good Hope
  • South Korea–Morocco: +3,381 nautical miles, ≈ 10 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; and the Cape of Good Hope

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

Reference ports

Tangier (30%) and Casablanca (70%)

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