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

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. Russia–India$7.5 billion · 31.3%
2. Russia–China$4.1 billion · 17.1%
3. Russia–Saudi Arabia$2.5 billion · 10.4%
4. Russia–Turkey$1.4 billion · 5.6%
5. Russia–Egypt$1.2 billion · 4.8%
6. Russia–South Korea$1.1 billion · 4.5%
7. Russia–Japan$757 million · 3.1%
8. Russia–Taiwan$545 million · 2.3%
9. Russia–Singapore$482 million · 2%
10. Russia–Indonesia$435 million · 1.8%

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

1. Crude petroleum$6.2 billion · 25.6%
2. Refined petroleum$3.9 billion · 16.1%
3. Coal$2.2 billion · 9.3%
4. Natural gas and LPG$1.4 billion · 5.8%
5. Wheat$1.3 billion · 5.5%
6. Sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oil$478 million · 2%
7. Barley$430 million · 1.8%
8. Semi-finished steel$404 million · 1.7%
9. Sawn wood$359 million · 1.5%
10. Potash fertilizers$260 million · 1.1%

• India–Russia: +7,812 nautical miles, ≈ 23.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape of Good Hope, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles and the Bosporus
• China–Russia: +6,730 nautical miles, ≈ 20 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Cape of Good Hope; the Strait of Gibraltar; the Dardanelles; and the Bosporus
• Russia–Turkey: +6,782 nautical miles, ≈ 20 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Cape of Good Hope; the Strait of Gibraltar; and the Dardanelles
• South Korea–Russia: +6,777 nautical miles, ≈ 20 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Cape of Good Hope; the Strait of Gibraltar; the Dardanelles; and the Bosporus
• Japan–Russia: +6,741 nautical miles, ≈ 20 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Malacca and Singapore; the Cape of Good Hope; the Strait of Gibraltar; the Dardanelles; and the Bosporus

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

Saint Petersburg (31%), Murmansk (10%), Novorossiysk (32%) and Vladivostok (27%)

Each port with the weight it receives from the country’s trade, based on where its GDP is generated and which coast is closest.

• See Suez Canal
• Russia trade

Other chokepoints it uses

• Strait of Gibraltar · 43%
• Cape of Good Hope · 42%
• Strait of Dover · 42%
• Turkish Straits (Bosporus and Dardanelles) · 38%
• Strait of Malacca and Singapore · 35%
• Øresund · 30%
• Bab-el-Mandeb Strait · 8%

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• World Bank, Global Shipping Traffic Density · CC BY 4.0 (route network derived by this site)
• World Port Index (NGA) · Public domain (US Government work)
• Natural Earth · Public domain
• Kummu et al., gridded GDP · CC BY 4.0 (split between ports done by this site)

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.