How much of Turkey’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. Turkey–Saudi Arabia$6.8 billion · 25.1%
2. Turkey–China$6 billion · 22.2%
3. Turkey–Egypt$1.7 billion · 6.1%
4. Turkey–Russia$1.4 billion · 5%
5. Turkey–South Korea$1.3 billion · 4.7%
6. Turkey–India$1.2 billion · 4.4%
7. Turkey–Jordan$1.1 billion · 3.9%
8. Turkey–Iraq$789 million · 2.9%
9. Turkey–United Arab Emirates$717 million · 2.6%
10. Turkey–Yemen$643 million · 2.4%

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

1. Refined petroleum$1.9 billion · 7.1%
2. Polypropylene$1.1 billion · 3.9%
3. Polyethylene$688 million · 2.5%
4. Cars$657 million · 2.4%
5. Semi-finished steel$520 million · 1.9%
6. Auto parts$437 million · 1.6%
7. Steel bars$414 million · 1.5%
8. Hot-rolled flat steel$398 million · 1.5%
9. Unwrought aluminum$363 million · 1.3%
10. Copper wire$350 million · 1.3%

• China–Turkey: +6,731 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
• 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–Turkey: +6,780 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
• India–Turkey: +7,811 nautical miles, ≈ 23 days more at 14 knots, via the Cape of Good Hope, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Dardanelles
• Iraq–Turkey: +8,221 nautical miles, ≈ 24.5 days more at 14 knots, via the Strait of Hormuz, the Cape of Good Hope, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Dardanelles

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

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.

• See Suez Canal
• Turkey trade

Other chokepoints it uses

• Turkish Straits (Bosporus and Dardanelles) · 63%
• Strait of Gibraltar · 62%
• Strait of Dover · 24%
• Cape of Good Hope · 21%
• Strait of Malacca and Singapore · 15%
• Øresund · 7%

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.