Strait of Malacca
high riskThe shortest route from the Persian Gulf to China, Japan and Korea. Only 2.7 km wide at its narrowest point.
Answer
About 23.7 million barrels of crude and fuels pass through here every day – the world's busiest chokepoint, or 12 supertankers a day. The map shows 10.3 million of that in crude oil routes. The countries most dependent on the Strait of Malacca are Japan (90% of imports), South Korea (69% of imports) and China (54% of imports).
U.S. EIA 2023 · UN Comtrade 2025
Key figures
- Oil and products a day, barrels per day
- 23.7 million
- Most dependent country
- Japan · 90%
- Largest supplier through it
- Saudi Arabia · 34%
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How much oil passes through the Strait of Malacca?
About 23.7 million barrels of crude and fuels pass through here every day – the world's busiest chokepoint, or 12 supertankers a day. The map shows 10.3 million of that in crude oil routes.
U.S. EIA · 2023
Why is the Strait of Malacca a risk?
The world's busiest shipping lane, narrow and shallow – risk of collisions, piracy and blockade in a South China Sea conflict.
The countries most dependent on the Strait of Malacca are Japan (90% of imports), South Korea (69% of imports) and China (54% of imports).
Which countries depend on the Strait of Malacca?
| Country | share | thousand b/d |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 90% of imports | 2,153 |
| South Korea | 69% of imports | 1,916 |
| China | 54% of imports | 6,212 |
UN Comtrade, JODI-Oil · 2025
Whose oil is it?
| Supplier | share | thousand b/d |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 34% | 3,488 |
| UAE | 20% | 2,049 |
| Iraq | 16% | 1,609 |
| Iran | 13% | 1,300 |
| Kuwait | 7% | 771 |
| Oman | 7% | 710 |
| Qatar | 3% | 354 |
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)