Cape of Good Hope
low riskNot a strait but the alternative to Suez. Used by VLCCs and whenever the Red Sea is dangerous.
Answer
About 5.9 million barrels of crude and fuels pass through here every day – ~6% of seaborne trade, or 3 supertankers a day. The map shows 3.5 million of that in crude oil routes. The countries most dependent on the Cape of Good Hope are South Korea (19% of imports), China (15% of imports), India (13% of imports) and USA (8% of imports).
U.S. EIA 2023 · UN Comtrade 2025
Key figures
- Oil and products a day, barrels per day
- 5.9 million
- Most dependent country
- South Korea · 19%
- Largest supplier through it
- Brazil · 30%
Open on the interactive map →✕ What if it closes?
How much oil passes through the Cape of Good Hope?
About 5.9 million barrels of crude and fuels pass through here every day – ~6% of seaborne trade, or 3 supertankers a day. The map shows 3.5 million of that in crude oil routes.
U.S. EIA · 2023
Why is the Cape of Good Hope a risk?
Open ocean – there is nothing to block; the only cost is a longer voyage.
The countries most dependent on the Cape of Good Hope are South Korea (19% of imports), China (15% of imports), India (13% of imports) and USA (8% of imports).
Which countries depend on the Cape of Good Hope?
| Country | share | thousand b/d |
|---|---|---|
| South Korea | 19% of imports | 535 |
| China | 15% of imports | 1,773 |
| India | 13% of imports | 632 |
| USA | 8% of imports | 519 |
UN Comtrade, JODI-Oil · 2025
Whose oil is it?
| Supplier | share | thousand b/d |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 30% | 1,035 |
| USA | 22% | 765 |
| Angola | 21% | 710 |
| Saudi Arabia | 9% | 310 |
| Iraq | 6% | 209 |
| Congo | 5% | 181 |
| Nigeria | 4% | 150 |
| Colombia | 2% | 68 |
| Venezuela | 1% | 31 |
UN Comtrade, JODI-Oil · 2025
Sources
- U.S. EIA – crude oil and petroleum products passing through maritime chokepoints · 2023
- UN Comtrade – crude oil imports by country of origin (HS 2709), as reported by the importing country · 2025
- JODI-Oil – national crude oil production, imports and exports · 2025
Related questions
Download the data
CSV and JSON, CC BY 4.0 – credit “chokepoints.io” with a link. Volumes in thousand barrels per day, 2025 annual averages.
Countries (CSV)Trade routes (CSV)Chokepoints (CSV)Everything (JSON)DOI 10.5281/zenodo.23267750 (Zenodo)