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Here’s the share of global trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz

April 18, 2026

The Strait of Hormuz, located between Oman and Iran, connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The strait is deep enough and wide enough to handle the world’s largest crude oil tankers, and it is one of the world’s most important oil passageways.

On Saturday the Iranian Navy fired on ships in the Strait and halted vessels.

At its narrowest point, the Strait is only 29 nautical miles wide and it consists of 2-mile-wide navigable channels for inbound and outbound shipping as well as a 2-mile-wide buffer zone.

On Monday, President Donald Trump’s administration ordered the U.S. Navy to blockade the Iranian ports across the country and in the Strait of Hormuz. Peace talks with Iran are in process. Some tankers bound for China were allowed to pass through the Strait as of Wednesday while the U.S. Navy has said it stopped 13 ships as of Thursday.

Negotiations

On Friday, Iranian officials said they would not blockade the Strait again, but that did not last long. A diplomat from one of the mediating countries said Tehran and Washington have agreed in principle to hold the talks to secure a deal to end the six-week war before the ceasefire expires April 21.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which an average of 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and oil products were shipped in 2025, is one of the world’s most critical oil transit chokepoints. With around 25% of the world’s seaborne oil trade transiting the Strait, and options to bypass it being limited, any disruption to flows through the Strait would have huge consequences for world oil markets.

While Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have some oil export routes that do not transit the Strait of Hormuz, other countries including Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain rely on the Strait to deliver the vast majority of their oil exports.

On Wednesday, Iran’s armed forces threatened to block shipping from the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea if the U.S. continues its blockade and “creates insecurity for Iranian commercial ships and oil tankers.”

Here’s a look at the economic significance of the area.

Higher energy, fertilizer and transport costs – including freight rates, bunker fuel prices and insurance premiums – may increase food costs and intensify cost-of-living pressures, particularly for the most vulnerable.

Here’s the share of global trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz Orange County Register

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Here’s the share of global trade passing through the Strait of Hormuz

Negotiations

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